Marramiero Dama 2007 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

Nearly opaque, deep purple red color.

Blackberry and black cherry smell, some oak.

Rich black cherry flavor, blackberry, blueberry. A touch of oak in the warm alcohol finish. Restrained tannins. Decidedly food-friendly.

A very nice bottle for $14.99, I approve entirely.

Jean-Francois Merieau 2007 Le Bois Jacou Touraine Gamay

I don't think I've before had a Gamay from anywhere except Beaujolais, certainly not from France.

Medium-dark cherry red color. Strawberry smell, leather, hint of banana.

Strawberry/banana flavor, hint of peach, some carbonic maceration character, not a bit of oak. There's a little thinness in the finish. I can't distinguish this from a fair-to-good Beaujolais-Villages.

At $14.95, it's a fair buy but a dollar or two less would make it seem much more of a bargain. Still, I suppose real Beaujolais for $15 would be quite a find lately. I suffer from too clear a memory of the days of the wine lake, since drained to distill bioethanol.

Pierre Sparr 2006 Alsace One

Pale golden color, some pinpoint bubbles visible.

Peach, pear, apple, melon, and floral smells.

Slightly off-dry pear and peach flavors, slightly petillant, tart like a Granny Smith apple.

This blend of unspecified amounts of Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Muscat, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris cost $16.95 and seemed a fair buy.

Bonny Doon 2007 Vin Gris de Cigare

Orange/salmon-pink color.

Smell of watermelon, strawberry, and peach.

Dry flavors of strawberry, cherry, Provençal herbs, surprisingly full-bodied for a pink wine. Tart with food-friendly acid.

A blend of 47% Grenache, 27% Cinsault, 14% Syrah, 7% Grenache Blanc, and 5% Roussanne, this is a rewarding bottle for $16.99.

Meta

As a result of my latest shopping, I'm increasing my upper limit for reasonably-priced wine to $25/bottle.

Domaines Schlumberger 2006 Alsace Riesling Grand Cru Saering

Pale straw color.

Exuberant Riesling fruit smell: apple and melon, spices and citrus rind.

Dry flavor of apple and mekon, traces of petillance.

A bargain at $14.99, more and more I greatly appreciate Alsace wine and intend to try more.

Sogrape 2005 Dão Callabriga

Drinkers of a certain age will remember Sogrape from the bottle of Mateus. Sogrape is the largest wine producer in Portugal, and produces some interesting dry wines worth tasting even after one's outgrown Mateus.

I aerated this vigorously and let it rest for most of the day after opening.

Near-opaque purple/red color.

Plum and prune smell, oak underneath that.

Full flavor of black cherry and plum, nicely balanced with just a bit of oak. That this wine is so balanced is what most impresses me. I have lately been pleased by each of my bottles of dry Portuguese wines.

A very good bottle for $16.99, worked well with lasagna dinner.

The Black Chook nv South-eastern Australia Sparkling Shiraz

Dark red / purple color with a vigorous purple head.

Black cherry smell with a big whiff of oak.

Bitter splintery mouthful of oaky flavor of black cherry, plum, sweet fruit.

A fun bottle for $16.99, but suffers from aggressive unbalanced use of raw-tasting new oak, would be better with that toned down a bit.

Hiedler 2007 Kamptal Grüner Veltliner Loess

This is my first experience with Austrian wine, since my early years of wine learning were when Austria was still suffering from a tainted wine scandal.

Very pale straw color.

Full-bodied smell, melon and apple, floral hints.

Melon and apple flavors dominate the fruity dry flavor, medium bodied, pear and flint flavors develop. Touch of petillance.

A very good bottle for $16.95. More body than I'd been lead to expect, but still graceful. This is a Terry Theise Estate Selection, which I've learned is a mark of certain excellence in German wines, I see no reason to doubt this does not extend to his selections from outside Germany.