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It's
beaujolais nouveau season. By law, the quickly harvested
wine is released from the Beaujolais region of France one
minute past midnight on the third Thursday of November.
The
wine's claim to fame is the whiteness of this red: It's
fruity but smooth, devoid of the astringent tannins found
in reds. Best consumed chilled in large gulping quantities.
Comparison
shopping on Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau 2000:
Cost
Plus World Market: $7.99
Fred
Meyer: $8.79
Zupan's,
Burlingame, Nature's: $9.99
Elephant's
Delicatessen: $10
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There's a reason Cost Plus is your cheap-wine headquarters:
They don't mark the stuff up much. "It's not a huge money-maker,
but it draws people into the store," says Robert McNary, the
Northwest store's beverage manager. In other words, if you
go in for a few reds, you might come out with some artful
cocktail napkins, candles and a chair; all those purchases
help subsidize the 500-plus wine inventory.
This is something the cute wine shop on the corner hates
to hear. Still, most people I know don't spend more than
$10 on a retail bottle of wine and are usually quite pleased
with tasty $9 Ravenswood, Prosperity and Taurino varieties.
But at discount merchants such as Cost Plus, and in some
cases, Trader Joe's, customers can consume the same quality
for around $5-$6 per jug, or up the ante for finer wines
at prices they're used to paying for table wines. Half the
wines at Cost Plus are priced below $10, while sublime champagnes
like Veuve Clicquot and Moët & Chandon are about
$35.
Once I bought a $5 wine at my corner store. It had a plain
brown label with block letters reading "Cheap Red Wine."
It wasn't the worst grape I've ever had, but it only went
down smoothly because I willed it to. With that same $5,
I can happily pick up my delicious red stand-by, Georges
Duboeuf '98 Merlot at CP and Trader Joe's. Its consistent
flavor is rich and velvety, and it goes with whatever meal.
I can also grab a L'Orval Syrah, Duboeuf Chardonnay or Walnut
Crest Cabernet Sauvignon for about $5 a pop and drink to
my liver's content (all at Cost Plus; Walnut Crest also
at Trader Joe's). And for a couple more dollars, there's
the Taurino Salice Salentino (divine), Torres Sangre de
Toro (smoky, dry and festive), Di Majo Norante Sangiovese
(always a steal) and Bonny Doon's Big House Red, which McNary
describes as a top red for the money.
Besides convenience, I don't see much point in wine-shopping
anywhere other than Cost Plus. Just like that little wine
shop on the corner, all of the bottles carry mini-description
cards, some with more detailed bios, to help customers make
informed choices. Each month, various wines are tagged as
"Hot Buys," "Import of the Month" and "May We Recommend."
In addition to a list of regulars drawn up by the corporate
headquarters, McNary stocks requests and "wines we believe
in."
Trader Joe's carries only a fraction the selection of Cost
Plus, and it fluctuates monthly so it's more hit-or-miss.
An unscientific taste test of two bargain-basement French
reds, for example, produced very mixed results. A Belle
Sirène '96 cabernet sauvignon ($3.99) was berry and
smoky, very drinkable, while the Réserve Henri Marc
'98 Syrah was intolerably vinegary and suitable only for
cooking.
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