Our approach to food production and food service is not value neutral. Through the creation of food, from raw ingredients to finished products, and through the giving or serving of food, we express a myriad of mores, social and cultural norms, anxieties, and personal neurosis. Though these webs of interrelated processes may be socially and personally challenging, their examination fosters community awareness and the opportunity to live, produce and consume with greater care and understanding, both socially and personally.

15 February 2010

Table Wine

Edwin and I are, like many of you, big on wine but low on cash.  We have recently been exploring the $10 and under bins and have found several surprisingly tasty gems.  Nothing fancy, nothing special...but well balanced, easy to pair with foods and thoroughly enjoyable.  My favorite of the moment is Le Vieille Ferme, Cotes du Ventoux.  It is a pleasant, not cloyingly berried, medium/full-bodied red, with nice tannin, which retails at our local liquor store for $8.99 plus tax.  We had it the other night with an aged Vermont cheddar which was fine, though a nice, stinky camembert would have been better.  It does not take much to make me feel content...a warm apartment, an affectionate pup, good company and decent wine.  This bottle fits the bill and the budget.  Let me know what you have found in the $10 and under....Happy drinking!

5 comments:

marshape said...

Years ago my husband and I would host wine tastings. We would select a wine type (e.g., chardonnay, cabernet, pinot, etc.) and send each participant a different list of three possible wines ranging in price. Guests would choose from their list and bring one bottle in a brown paper bag. We served cheese and bread with the wines, rating each bottle as it was tasted. By the end of the evening we had a rank order of wines. When we uncovered them we often found the preferred wines were the least expensive. Makes for a great, relatively inexpensive social event. The only confounding variable: as the evening progressed our ability to discern was a bit compromised. :)

Edwin said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Edwin said...

I loved our wine the other night. It went well with our red bean soup and "stinky" cheese. What was the name of the bread we had?

It was an excellent bottle for under $10.

Mikha Diaz said...

The bread was Semolina with Japanese Black Sesame.

Emily and Dan's Big Adventure said...

This isn't quite under $10, but Trader Joe's is now carrying a bottle of Domaine Alfred Syrah for $14.99. I've been going to this small, family owned winery on the Central Coast of California for years now, and it is such a treat to access such a wonderful wine at such a low price!