The Daily Sauce :: A Daily Sip of Hip

January 10th, 2008 edition of The Daily Sauce: Food and Wine. Visit Our Food and Wine Archive.

Cheap Juice VII

Our periodic series on cheap gulpers continues. In this installment, we even splurged just a hair over our $6 limit.

Red Diamond 2003 Merlot (Randall's Wine and Spirits, $6.01). From the Ste. Michelle folks comes this supersoft, superjuicy supervalue; a diamond in the rough amid the world of yawn-inducing Merlot. All-around crowd pleaser with a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc for added backbone. Even snooty oenophiles will be surprised by its "display of black cherry and spice with a hint of mocha and cola."

Santa Ema 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon (Randall's, $4.99). A deep red hue denotes its youth, a rustic finish exudes rebellion, but, boy, is this a good, chewy wine with gobs of fruit, dryness and balance.

Purple Moon 2005 Merlot (Trader Joe's, $3.99). "Tastes cheap, but not in a bad way," one fellow quaffer said of this wine. All the modern wine descriptors fit here: fruit-forward, jammy, approachable.

Sauce pick: Cheap, gulpable reds

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