Bere Toscana 2009 (about $13)

About the Wine:  The Wine Hipster has recently changed jobs, to start work at a different wine store.  This is good because it means there is a whole new inventory to try.

About THIS Wine:  It is ruby red in the glass with a pink rim.  The nose is a bit tight but bramble berry and cranberry come through fairly strongly.  Red fruit is dominant on the palate with spicy notes in the mid palate.  The finish is dry with very light notes of dark chocolate.

Drinking This Wine:  This would do well with anything meaty.  Pasta with meat sauce seems especially promising.

Overall Impression:  Nothing spectacular, but not bad either.  This an easy drinking wine and it is cheap enough.  This wine is good for the price.

L'Expression de La Croix Lartique Bordeaux 2009 (about $17)

About the Wine:  2009 is a great vintage for Bordeaux, possibly the best ever.  Unfortunately, great vintages tend to lead to soaring prices.  This will either be a great wine at a good price or a ten dollar bottle that someone is trying to turn a ridiculous profit on.

About THIS Wine:  The center is dark red with a violet rim.  A rich blend of cooking spice defines the nose, though hints of sour cherry a present.  The palate is a little tight and comes through with a jumble of red fruit, though dry cherry does stand out and notes of green pepper balance out the fruit.  Red fruit and spice linger in a dry finish.

Drinking This Wine:  I had with a hamburger and it was divine.

Overall Impression:  This drinks like a twenty-five dollar bottle and a few years of proper storage would probably make it drink like forty.  This one is a good value.

Silver Palm Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 (about $18)

About the Wine:  A growing problem in the red wine market it that some products are so successful that makers go through their stock too fast and end up releasing wines before they are ready in order to feed market demand.  2010 is shaping up to be a pretty good year for California Cabernet in the sense that when they are ready, 2010 Cabernets will be very good.  Unfortunately, many of them are not ready.  We will see if this one might is the exception.

About THIS Wine:  A violet rim surrounds a purple center.  Cedar is strong on the nose with prominent notes of forest floor.  The front palate is nutty with sharp acidity in the mid palate ending in a dry raspberry finish.

Drinking This Wine:  This could work as a sipping wine and it would go well with venison or seasoned red meat.

Overall Impression:  The palate is still a little tight and underdeveloped.  Put this is a cellar for two years and it will be fantastic.  For now it's blunt and overpriced.

Louis Latour Pinot Noir 2010 (about $14)

About the Wine:  Burgundy is the birthplace of Pinot Noir and many of the world's best Pinot Noirs still come from there.  Cote d'Or is the premiere region for both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay within Burgundy.  At this price point the wine is almost certainly made from castoff grapes from around the region rather than from a single vineyard or from a collection of the better grapes available.  It is still an opportunity to experience the terroir of one of the world's best appellations on a hipster budget.

About THIS Wine:  It is very light in the glass, almost pink.  The nose is musky and the palate is very light but oddly firm and tannic.  Notes of cherry are present, but the tannins really define this wine in both palate and finish.

Drinking This Wine:  This is very much a food wine.  It would be excellent with honey roasted chicken and might even work with fried chicken.

Overall Impression:  This is definitely not the most accessible wine but it is a good representation of Old Word Pinot Noir.  At fourteen dollars a bottle it is good for the price.

Milcampos Tempranillo NV (about $14)

About the Wine:  It is not generally an encouraging sign when wines are not vintaged.  The changes from year to year are quite noticeable due to weather conditions in which grapes are grown and also due to things like how old the aging barrels are and any number of other variables that affect the process.  However unvintaged wine is not always bad.  Some wine makers prefer to blend a few vintages to get the best qualities of each year in the same way that grape varietals are traditionally blended to get the best of each.

About THIS Wine:  The center is purple and fades to a violet rim.  Jammy red fruit is prominent on the nose with hints of clove.  Thick, syrupy red fruit defines the palate.  On the first sip I got an intense raspberry finish but on subsequent sips the finish was dry.

Drinking This Wine:  It gave me a craving for red beans and rice.

Overall Impression:  I first tasted this wine (though almost certainly a different vintage or combination thereof) when I was new to wine and I very much liked it.  This is a nice entry level wine and as that it is good for the price.  For someone who more of a seasoned drinker it would be a little overpriced.

Clos Robert Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 (about $14)

About the Wine:  2007 was the best year in the last decade and maybe ever for California Cabernet.  2008 was a very good year, especially for those who prefer a dryer, steak wine style cab, but '08 will also be compared to '07 and will thus always been under appreciated.  This is great news for someone looking for a good value.

About THIS Wine:  It is red in the glass with no distinct rim.  Cherry, caramel, smoke, and oak make up a pleasantly complex nose.  The palate delivers a lot of jammy cherry with a dry finish.  I did not get the complexity in the palate that I found on the nose.

Drinking This Wine:  Definitely a steak wine.  This one is a good representation of its vintage.

Overall Impression:  I have had better for the same price but I have also had worse.  This wine is reasonable for the price.