Camp du Rouss Barbera d'Asti 2007 (about $16)

About the Wine:  I picked this up when I interviewed at a posh wine shop a while back.  It took a while to find anything in my price range but even the most upscale stores apparently have to cater to us peasants.  Barbera is a very robust Italian red.  I have enjoyed Alba Barberas greatly but have been less thrilled with offerings from Asti.  Perhaps this one will break the trend and perhaps not.

About THIS Wine:  In the glass it is opaque with a dark purple rim.  The nose is thick with jammy raspberry and currant with notes of forest floor.  The palate is jammy, almost creamy with intermingled notes of red fruit and dark fruit.  Supple tannins round out the finish, which is not nearly as dry as I would expect from this type of wine.

Drinking This Wine:  It's pretty good as a sipping wine but it is divine with spaghetti and meatsauce and would probably do well with any Italian red sauce dish.

Overall Impression:  The wine is very good and the price is reasonable.  This one is good for the price.

Chateau de Grandchamp Montagne Saint-Emilion 2009 (about $20)

About the Wine:  Saint Emilion is a subregion of Bordeaux, one of the classic French appellations.  Saint-Emilions can run into dozens or hundreds of dollars in cost, so this could be a very good deal.

About THIS Wine:  The center is dark red with a pink rim.  The legs run down like maple syrup.  Raspberry, dark cherry, cassis, and oak are all present on the nose.  Thick, creamy red fruit defines the palate with a dry finish.  The wine tastes good now but I expect that a few years in a cellar would do it some good.  The price range I deal with doesn't include a lot of age worthy wines but this one is a good candidate.

Drinking This Wine:  Too dry and tannic for a sipping wine, this one would do well with roast duck, steak and onions, or lamb.

Overall Impression:  Great wine, good price.  This one is good for the price.

Gilgal Chardonnay 2009 (about $15)

About the Wine:  Israeli wine is an interesting animal.  Most of the areas where the grapes are cultivated did not come under Israeli control until 1967, so the growing regions are relatively young.  This makes it something of a hipster paradise since there are many new takes on old varietals and they are almost always reasonably priced.

About THIS Wine:  The wine is amber in the glass with no distinct rim.  Cream and mineral notes are prominent on the nose.  The palate is thick, rich, and buttery with prominent citrus.  Buttery notes blend with minerality for an interesting finish.

Drinking This Wine:  This is the perfect Kosher wine for lobster.  (The Wine Hipster is not an observant Jew and his grasp of Kosher laws may be a bit vague.)  It would also go very well with chicken.

Overall Impression:  I have had twenty dollar bottles that were not nearly as good.  This one is a steal.

HaSod Shiraz 2010 (about $10)

About the Wine:  There are different levels of Kosher wine.  Basic Kosher is acceptable to most people who keep Kosher at any time other than Passover.  Kosher for Passover is acceptable on Passover.  Mevushal is a distinction for wine that has been intentionally cooked as a form of ritual purification and it the only wine that Hasidic (Chasidic?  Hassidic?) Jews will drink.  Assessments of mevushal wines range from "No difference in taste," to "Undrinkable."  We will see what the case is with this wine.

About THIS Wine:  The wine is purple in the glass with strong notes of tomato, cooking spice, and green pepper on the nose.  Green pepper and red fruit make up the palate.  The finish is flat and kind of unpleasant, perhaps as a result of the cooking.

Drinking This Wine:  This is definitely steak wine.  The finish is too harsh for sipping.

Overall Impression:  This is not a great bottle but neither is it terrible and the price is certainly right.  For anyone buying for religious reasons it is a good value.  For the rest of us it is reasonable for the price.

Casa d'Orsini Pinot Grigio NV (about $10)

About the Wine:  Pinot Grigio is normally grown in the more northerly reaches of Italy.  A southern Pinot Grigio promises a hotter growing season and perhaps a sweeter wine.  The importer assured me that this is a 2011 but neither of us could find it on the bottle.

About THIS Wine:  The wine is straw colored in the glass.  Pine wood is prominent of the nose and soft citrus defines the palate.  Light acidity is present on the finish.

Drinking This Wine:  Being less sharp and acidic than most Pinot Grigios this one could work as a sipping wine.  It would also go well with white fish.

Overall Impression:  This is not a bad bottle of wine and it is dirt cheap.  This one is good for the price.

Nicolas Vouvray 2011 (about $13)

About the Wine:  Vouvray is a name for late harvest Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley.  Chenin Blanc has become more or less the official grape of South Africa and is also cultivated in California.  California Chenin Blanc has never really caught on and South African wines in general have struggled recently, so momentum may be shifting back to France.

About THIS Wine:  The wine is dark, almost amber in the glass.  Honeydew and floral notes make up the nose.  The palate is slightly tart with prominent notes of apricot.  The finish is mildly acidic.

Drinking This Wine:  This wine has a little too much acidity for a sipping wine.  It work well with spicy chicken or grilled chicken.

Overall Impression:  The wine is good but very simple.  This strikes me as ten dollar bottle.  At thirteen it is a little overpriced.

Antano Rioja Reserva 2007 (about $13)

About the Wine:  Shipping wine is a tricky thing.  It is very easy for cooling units to fail or for delays in customs to allow storage containers to be open long enough for wine to get cooked.  A contact in the business told me that this had happened with this shipment.  It was not a commentary on the wine, just a statement that the particular batch in the store where I work had been ruined due to circumstances beyond the winemaker's control.

About THIS Wine:  A ruby red center fades to a clear rim.  The nose is bold and rich with lots of cherry and cassis with hints of forest floor.  Layers of thick coffee and red fruit make up an interesting and complex palate.  Firm tannins and dark fruit round out the finish.

Drinking This Wine:  This wine is good by itself but I think it would be better with lamb.

Overall Impression:  It is important to remember that wine aficionados, especially those who make their living in the business, can be as full of it as anyone else.  This wine is great and would not be overpriced at twenty dollars.  At thirteen it is a great value.