By Bruce Watson of White Stone Wine & Cheese

The summer of 2010 seems to be loaded with great values in wine.  The worldwide glut of wine has forced most producers to look to second labels or release some excellent wines at prices reduced by as much as 50 per cent.  California has been hit very hard by the surplus of grapes and wine. As a result there are some real deals to be had.

Villa Mt. Eden is releasing some of their older vintages.  It is the 18^th Bonded Winery in California – one of the oldest around – and has been making some very upscale wines for many years.  This Summer they released two wines of interest:

Villa Mt. Eden Grand Reserve Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir 2006 is a classic California Pinot from the Santa Maria Valley.  Aromas of cherry and dried spice with a touch of earthiness and, as typical with a California wine, some cherry flavors wrapped with some of soft tannins make this wine very easy to enjoy. 

Villa Mt. Eden Grand Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 is an unbelievable wine – rich as you would expect from Napa but the finish is remarkable. 2005 was a great year in California and I have been told by several customers that this was a $40 bottle.  Both of these wines are a great value at $19.99.

From the Kendall Jackson Family of wines comes the Camelot line of California Appellation wines.  Tasting the Chardonnay is wonderful; could it be left over K-J juice? Maybe.  The nose is creamy with toasty oak tones and complex. The taste is fruit-forward apple. Pear and citrus flavors with some great oak enriches the finish. You would expect this wine to cost much more that its $10 price tag.  

Venturing to Burgundy in France you find a 2004 Bourgogne Rouge l 'Etalon from Shaps and Rocher. This is a good example of a French Pinot Noir with several years of bottle age.  It takes a few moments for the nose to open, which is typical of Burgundy, but when it does it is rich and not overloaded with the fruit like a similar California wine.  As they say in France, you can taste the earth this wine is made from. It has a touch of elegance only found in Burgundy.  A great summer value at $ 20 or $180 per case.

Enjoy the summer of great values!

Editor’s Note:  We can’t let the mention of “Shaps & Rocher” pass without noting that this wine is produced as a collaborative effort between Virginiawinemaker Michael Shaps and French winemaker Michel Roucher-Sarrazin. We often forget that great wines are produced right in our own back yard! The rest of the wine-loving world knows about Michael Shaps, so it makes sense that we tout his accomplishments on our web site for all our readers who might not yet be familiar with his firm. You can read more about Michael Shaps and his partnership with French winemakers by going to http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=11431101084614805&ShowArticle_ID=11802203102942958