Wine Recommendations

Super Tuscan wines can be expensive and, let's face it, with the Euro kicking the Dollar's butt, finding a Super Tuscan that doesn't break the bank can be a challenge. IntoWine.com asked our panel of wine experts to recommend the best Super Tuscan "Value" wines:

A Sangiovese-less Super Tuscan!?!? Specifically I suggest the 2003 Rocca di Montegrossi "Geremia". I know, I know. There’s no Sangiovese in this Super Tuscan! It’s 60/40 Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, respectively. And truly, it is a brutish wine, filled with tannin and body and yet there is a substantial amount of finesse. The 2003 vintage was a beauty for Northern Italy, unlike 2002. And if we are looking for value in what the Bolghieri coast and satellite appellations are doing with international varieties, well this is a great place to start. For the money (About $30) you can’t find a more solid example of what can the Italians can do with these varieties. Truly an Italian style, you will not find the Bordelaise anywhere in this wine. It is ripe and full-figured and completely worth the price. Where other Super-Tuscans regularly feature triple-digit prices for a single bottle, this little, inexpensive gem is like the Little Engine That Could, and it does. - Ben Spencer, Cellar Master at Bernardus Winery and IntoWine Featured Writer

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Back in the early 1980s, I remember launching, in Canada, for the first time, a delicious and inexpensive wine called Sassicaia.

Nothing says summer time like boiled lobster and drawn butter. IntoWine.com asked our panel of wine experts to recommend the best wines to pair with boiled lobster:

In my opinion, boiled lobster with drawn butter begs for a medium bodied white wine with perhaps subtle nuances of oak ageing. A modicum of delicate fruit and acidity will match the inherent richness of the lobster meat and help cut through the butter that you will most likely be dipping your lobster into. Moreover, judicious amounts of oak and oak ageing will often add a bit of girth and weight to white wines, which is something that might very well be needed with richer dishes like lobster. I recommend the 2006 Ramey Russian River Chardonnay $34.99. - Mulan Chan, Rhône and French Regional Buyer, K&L Wine Merchants

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An annual pilgrimage to St. Bart’s, an annual holiday in Maine, the contrasts could not be much more extreme but the common thread was lobster and wine! To be precise, Sancerre. Any Sauvignon Blanc will go well with lobster, boiled and dipped into melted butter but Sancerre is what immediately jumps to mind. Sancerre tends to be generally attractive and, though some subtleties do separate the good from the best, you can pretty much rely on the competitiveness of the category; if it has reached a store near you, it has to have been through some pretty vigorous selection criteria from importers and wholesalers.

The dog days of August are upon us once again and -with the economy tanking- wine enthusiasts are on the lookout for exceptional wines for a good price with which they can sip away the summer.  IntoWine.com asked our panel of wine experts to recommend the best sauvignon blanc "value" wines:

New Zealand makes outstanding Sauvignon Blanc, as most already know, though they are very good value, they aren’t, as such, “value wines”. What is not commonly known is that a lot of New Zealand wine consumed in New Zealand is blended with outstanding “value” Sauvignon Blanc, imported from Chile! Granted, if they blend in Chilean wines, they aren’t allowed to re-export that wine labeled as New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, but in New Zealand itself, they don’t make mention of the fact that their home grown juice might not be as pure as believed. It is often blended. Such is the quality of Chilean “value” Sauvignon Blanc that, a while back, at Cindy Paulson’s Backstreet Kitchen in the heart of Napa Valley’s town of St. Helena, they were pouring one by the glass. It was the Aresti Sauvignon Blanc! Is this crazy or what? Well, a quick chat to the then wine buyer revealed that, although Napa makes some excellent Sauvignon Blanc, “there is not a single Napa Valley winery that makes a Sauvignon Blanc with such pure varietal character as you get in the Aresti, priced at a “by the glass” price point”! - Bartholomew Broadbent, CEO, Broadbent Selections, San Francisco

Barbeque isn’t just for beef any more. Yes, we all love a great grilled steak with potato salad, but when it’s really hot; it’s fantastic to have a grilled dinner that’s lighter in the tummy – with the right wines, of course.

Tomato cream sauce based dishes are always a challenge for sommeliers. IntoWine.com asked our panel of wine experts to recommend a wine to pair with tomato cream sauce dishes:  

"Tomato cream sauces are notoriously unfriendly to wine pairings. However, in such circumstances, I look at the elements. Cream is soft. Tomato is acidic. My choice would be a good Gewurztraminer from Alsace, or even New Zealand. The Gewurz, with its lychee flavors tend not to compete but add very interesting nuances when paired with tomato cream sauce. From Alsace, try Hugel or Riefle. From New Zealand, try Spy Valley. On the other hand, when in  doubt about a food and wine pairing, I often look towards the Ch. Musar from Lebanon, in the case of a tomato cream sauce, the white to be specific. Lebanon’s cuisine is so incredibly varied, only about 10% of it is found in Lebanese restaurants in America, and so their wines have to be made to be more versatile than other regions. If serving the white Chateau Musar, make sure that you buy the oldest vintage that you can find and serve it at room temperature. Be warned, you may be confused by this wines, they are unique and intriguing, not to everyone’s taste, unless you can hit that perfect food pairing." - Bartholomew Broadbent, CEO, Broadbent Selections, San Francisco