Earth Wise 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

With the recycled looking label and a name like "Earth Wise", this one caters to the ex-hippie baby boomers while meeting the price standards of the green college students. It's a bit of a shocker to see the Harris Teeter logo on the back of the label though. This was priced at $6.99 and found at the grocery store who's logo it bears.

Besides a chuckle at the grocery store logo, the back label also describes the wine with probably every wine descriptor possible:

Soft & fruity, this Cabernet Sauvignon has aromas of blackberries and
cherries. Deep garnet in color, this wine has flavors of black cherries,
raspberries, and vanilla accented with lightly tosasted oak.

Can't miss there. It was the vanilla and oak that stood out nicely for me. Pretty happy with this green red wine for the price. 4.5/10 rating (+5 for being green - it ain't easy). Basically, you get what you pay for.

Mud House 2008 Sauvignon Blanc

$17 at Sam's Wine. I believe this one was on their Top 100 Wines of 2008 list as it's a good one. I haven't met many Sauvignon Blancs from Marlborough, NZ that I haven't enjoyed. In fact, I need to stop wasting my time with Sauvignon Blancs from the US. If you do some price shopping online, it can be found for around $10-14, which would put this in the best inexpensive wines group. I'm convinced Sam's is overpriced, especially on their Top 100 wines.

I'd like to say thanks to Mud House for the handy guide on the back which has three sections: Nose, Palate, & Food Match. That's right, a cheat sheet on the label - brilliant! Zippy and tart lime flavors stand out, but it starts out very smooth. Worked out well with the Fresh Market crab cakes.

Markham Vineyards 2005 Merlot

Very dark berries and quite spicy for a Merlot. Definitely a nice surprise in both. Great with red meat but I don't recommend it with seafood - the crab cakes we had on night one didn't bring out the full potential of this wine. The smoky-ness rivaled that of the cabernet we also had open. the cola flavors in the finish are also notable, but it leaves your mouth a bit gummy.

Good but not great. 5.5/10 rating for this mid-$20's bottle of wine.

Oak Leaf Vineyards Shiraz

This wine is worth triple it's price! (...which would be $9.) My expectations were quite low when I picked up this cheap bottle of wine at Wal-Mart for $2.95. After letting it breathe for about 30 minutes, this turns into an excellent weekday pizza wine. It's day two and the wine is still surprisingly fine (unlike three-buck-chuck, the one-day wonder).

It's a bit tart in the finish, but has nice flavors throughout and the plum stands out. I wouldn't try to pass this off as a more expensive wine - at best, it drinks like a $9 wine, as I mentioned. Heck of a value and great to have on hand when you just need a drink on a Tuesday. Primarily a strong rating for value, this exceeded my expectations and gets a 6/10 rating. I'll be picking up a few bottles next time I visit for those rough weeknights.