QOTD: Tolva Cab-Merlot, Maule Valley Chile.

DAMN YOU GARY!!! How did I know youd cut out the video just before you were going to eat it!? QOTD: Honestly I cant say. Ive been buying a lot of pricy wines to stash away for 5-10 years ( like d'yquem or 05 Bordeaux's), and not much on the cheap side. I have tasted a fair amount of the wine my parents buy ( usually $10 a bottle and under ), and am rarely impressed. Cant remember the last one that I enjoyed, and never one that I was :O wow!!!

very interesting and entertaining!

The best sub $5 wine that I have tasted is what I am drinking right now. Seriously. RIGHT NOW.

2006 La Berberine Cotes du Rhone
At the local wine store here in San Diego - $4.99.
French wine. $5. Insane.

It's lighter and slighly less polished than a really fine sangiovese, but has lots of the wooden (teak and sandlewood) with cherries and raspberry tartness. Not as good as some other wines I've had, but for the price, one of the best values I've had in a long time. Really quite nuts.

Really like your energy on this show.
Keep up the great work

I brought a bottle of this along with a bottle of 1994 Mondavi Private Reserve (talk about opposite ends of the spectrum!) to an LSU graduation party last week. The Bonarda was a hit... I drink wines at all price points on the spectrum, up to Chateau La Tour. I liked the Bonarda. I bought a case for my cellar.

GV, i picked up this wine when i was at WL on the 29th. really good stuff and 5 bones!!! Really great value thanks for bringing to the public..

Just popped and poured that Bonarda and I am frankly stunned. I paid $5.99 at my local shop (you clearly rock as you've got it priced at $4.99) and it must be the best bottle of $6 wine I've ever had. In fact, it's better than a lot of $20 bottles I've had. My wife and I agree that it's very similar to a spanish garnacha but combined with a little merlot. Loads of fruit on the nose, love the fact that it's unoaked, and enough tannins to balance out the fruit. What a super mid-week quaff!

Too bad the catfood was not eaten on camera.

However, I trust that you actually did it Gary...

QOTD: I have never had a

So, I just tried this wine last night. I felt it was decent for $5-6. A little hot on the finish, quite tannic (green tannins for sure), clear pomegranate taste on the pretty long finish. I'd recommend it to anyone that wants a cheap, daily food wine.

Just found this wine out in Chicago for $9.99 US Dollars. I like it and think its very enjoyable.

Make fun all you want, but for drinking vast amounts of wine for cheap, it doesn't get any better than Casual Garcial Vinho Verde!

hi this is a test :D

Great episode!

Gary, I love Big Bear - please ask him to FRIEND ME UP!

QOTD: Casa Santos Lima 2003 Quinta de Bons-Ventos (Portugal, Estremadura, Alenquer IPR)

I'm sure you knew or you've heard, but it's interesting that you wondered if ants make this wine since that's what "las hormigas" means in Spanish.

I agree with the Viña Antigua comment. It's an amazing wine. One of my favorite under $5. I've found it at Costco for $3.99 a few times. My second favorite is a wine from Castilla-La Mancha, called Casa de La Vega. Also around $4, an amazing find, once again.

QOD: 2001 Owens Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. Closeout $15 down to $5 about 4 years ago. Still rockin' and a poor poor poor man's Margaux. No joke.

@ Ask Gary question re. Pocket wine guide: Gary you are missing the point about wine references, especially for use while buying wine--when faced with a wall of radically different wines at radically different prices, how else are most people to make a purchase? Would you rather a purchase be made on label design?

QOTD - I don't even remember...

Love these shows with the oddball grape variatels.

Great show! Lots of education, interesting that there is more Bonarda than Malbec planted in Argentina.

Q-????

Gary!
don't let anyone pressure you into eating cat food! YOU don't make us go out and eat fistfuls of dirt, WE won't make you eat cat food. Besides...you really never did?? You must not have grown up with cats. For the record, it tastes...exactly like you'd expect. Stanky. ;]

Gary,
You had us all excited to actually see you eat cat food, then you just teased us. I think you owe it to the Vaniacs now in a future episode to actually eat some.


QOTD: 2005 Cote-du-Rhône rouge 3 USD, very fruity but nice

5$ wines!! I can not answer this question since in Canada I've never ever seen a bottle less than 9$ (even those from grocery stores that have no vintage label)!! Glad to know about the Bonarda variety..Cheers

GV - The only wine that I ever bought for under $5 per bottle was a close out deal on an Italian Merlot from a region I can't recall. IT SUCKED!!!

My mom bought me a T-shirt that says - "Life is too short to drink cheap wine."

I don't roll in dough, but I would rather drink less good stuff than a lot of cheap stuff.

See you in Boston!

Espiral Vino Verhde. Trader Joes $3.99. Sparkly yummy drink for the summer. Low alcohol and just refreshing. Lime zesty.

Just tried the bondarda....bought it here in NYC though, so it went for 7.99, but it is AWESOME! Seriously, could become my new house red. Juicy pomegranates. YUM.

Hey Gary,

Under 5 dollars, wow, I don't think I ever come close to that or none are coming to mind right now but under 10 dollars, yes. Recently, I tried Los Molinos, Tempranillo 2004, Valdepenas, Red wine from Spain, 13.5% alc./vol.; it has perfumes of spice, raspberry & blackberry flavors. I find that it's pretty good.

But the one that you reviewed today under 5 dollars is definitely a seeker. Keep it up ! :D

QOTD - less than $5, are you kidding? The only one I've had recently that was any good was a semi-sweet Georgina wine that I bought in Lithuania, in the UK even 5 POUNDS is a threshold I don't go near.

Fun episode and very interesting. I've never tried a Bonardo wine.

QOTD: Well, since the ONLY "under $5" wine I have ever had was the Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon, I guess that would be the best - and worst!

QOTD: I bought about 6 of these... Vinzelo's Tinto Douro, 2005. Granted the cost was under five dollars from the distributor, but in stores it was more like $8+.

Gary- I've been lurking in the background for a while, and love your show. I LOVE this bonarda. I tried the 2005 bottle and it was great, and opened up even more after a few hours open. Thanks for showing some love to the bonarda, and validating my palate in Saint Louis, Mo.

Banrock Station out of Australia

Awesome episode, so much energy!

QOTD: Never had one, wish this one wasn't sold out!

Re: Big Nick

I too have tried the Christobal 1942 bonarda and really enjoyed it. I found it for $5.99 at a close-out. Very impressive.

hey gary you're on globe and mail in canada today, the picture of u and the bear on this bonarda episode!!

QOTD: California State University, Fresno has the only licensed winery in the nation,and they produce a large variety of different wines, but their TailGate Red is the blend that sells the most. You can still pick it up for 4.99 I think but their website has it at 6.99 now. For the CKC, Yhis stuff ROCKS!

Gary, great idea about cork and screw caps. I was thinking about that for my Vayniac Cabernet a few weeks ago. What do you think?

QOD: forty years ago, all the wines I drank were less than $5!

I tried Sur de los Andes Bonarda 2006 last week for the first time. To me, it tasted like some some sangeovese-cab franc-syrah blend which wanted me to have with pizzas or tomato sauce based pasta. It's nice to hear similar things from you :)

qotd: Delicato Merlot, I forgot which vintage it was.

Sorry its late, but nice to see you made it in on Saturday. Not sure I have ever had a $5 bottle of wine. Just cannot find anythin around here for that price. I did have something called 1492.....I believe it was a blend, and it was really young. I bought a few more bottles to age and see if it matures.

I am no wine snob, but I am almost positive I've never had $5 bottle of vino.. I don't even know if they sell anything for that $$$ around here.
http://www.primevine.com/

Hey Gary,

It would have been nice to compare the Altos las Hormigas with the only Italian Bonarda you carry. The 2003 Torti Bonarda. It's a great Lombardi producer. I loved their cask aged 1998 Pinot that we had recently. As good and complex as any 1er Cru Burgundy if not Grand Cru.

QOTD. Under $5 I've had plenty of Spanish wines when I was living back there that were just unbelievable. In the States it becomes a more difficult proposition. Probably something from a closeout. The 2002 Ricasoli Formulae, or 2002 Bouchard Burgogne PN come to mind.

I don't think you ate that cat food, or did you?