Two Really Good Whites & a Great Red Under $20

Pinot Grigio has never been one of my favorite wines. I have never found them very interesting or particularly satisfying. There may be as much bad Pinot Grigio on the market as any other varietal. They are often flabby or flat or thin - just choose your adjective.

But I have two Pinot Grigios as great price points worth your trouble. When the grape is done right, this is a refreshing and lighter white wine for entertaining and lighter meals.

Ca' Montini Terre di Valfredda 2010 Pinot Grigio - This might be, no probably is, the best Pinot Grigio I've ever had. This Italian winery was founded in the 1700s in the Veneto region. This is a family winery known for its Pinot Grigio and it shows up from the first sip until the last drop.

This Pinot Grigio provides a full-flavored wine for the palate. It's golden in color, fragrant with flowers and has a nice hint of lemon with a bit of a sour fruit finish. You'll get a bit of terroir and minerality.

The distinctive bottle will standout on the shelf and prove itself as a distinctive wine to serve your guests this summer season.


Ca' Montini Terre di Valfredda 2010 Pinot Grigio, SRP $14.99, Trade Sample, Highly Recommended.

Robert Mondavi Private Selection 2011 Pinot Grigio - I've become a fan of the Mondavi Private Selection label because it offers good wines for a very affordable price. The Private Selection is available in many liquor stores, supermarkets and any where you might expect to buy value wine.


One of the real attributes of the label is that the different wines are consistently well made. This isn't your typical $10 swill. Now, it's not going to please your taste like a $20 wine either but I'd suggest it competes with the highly competitive $12-$16 market.

Mondavi draws upon vineyards in Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Barbara to make this 12.5 percent alcohol white wine.

To my palate it has hints of grapefruit and lime with really moderate acidity. But this wine as a great value. You might be surprised how refreshing a $10 wine can be!


Robert Mondavi Private Selection 2011 Pinot Grigio, SRP $9.99, Trade Sample, Recommended

Gerard Bertrand Grand Terroir 2007 Tautavel - From the Cotes du Roussillon in Southern France this easy drinking, fruit forward, red is a nice bottle of value wine. I got chocolate and black raspberries on my palate so when I find two of my favorite things - be it dessert or a red wine - I'm going to like it a lot.


Wine Spectator gave the wine a surprising 91 points. But some of the citizen review sites like Snooth and CellarTracker were not quite as kind. CellarTracker contributors gave the wine an average of 88 points but many of the comments were dismissive of the wine as "just okay."

The wine is made of 50 percent Grenache, 35 percent Syrah, and 15 percent Carignan. It's definitely a "ripe fruit" style of wine with hints of spice. 

I'm not sure I'd go as far as 91, if I used such a scale, but I think it's great drinking wine at a good price. If you haven't had much of the Languedoc-Roussillon appellation, this wine is a great introduction.


Gerard Bertrand Grand Terroir 2007 Tautavel, $14.99, Recommended


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