Top 5 Wines So Far

(I do not own the rights to this picture)

So I began thinking about this particular list quite some time ago, but I had the hardest time deciding on only 5 wines. I could come up with 5 wines from each store that I frequent on a regular basis. And with that thought I decided to change my criteria. The following lists, yes lists plural, will list my top 5 wines by location of purchase. That gives my readers more options when purchasing wines. The locations I have chosen are as follows: Total Wine & More, Costco, Trader Joe’s, Fry’s/Kroger’s, and Other. Some of these wines are available at multiple locations; however I am going to compile these lists based on where I would purchase them most often. One more note, these lists are not compiled in a 1 through 5 manner rather they are the 5 wines from each location that are my favorites from those locations at this time; also price point did not go into the construction of any of these lists. Okay, on to the lists!


Total Wine & More
2005 Condado Di Oriza Crianza, Tempranillo, Spain
2008 Anakena Ona, (55% Cabernet Sauvignon/25% Carmenere/20 %Syrah), Chile
2008 Courtney Benham Cabernet Sauvignon, California
2009 Maipe Cabernet Sauvignon, Argentina
2009 Castle Rock by Cramele Recas Cabernet Sauvignon, Romania


Costco
2006 Clos Pegase Cabernet Sauvignon, California
2007 Bodega Flechas de los Andes Gran Malbec, Argentina
2008 Concha y Toro Trio Reserva (70 % Cabernet Sauvignon/15% Syrah/15% Cabernet Franc), Chile
2009 Kirkland Signature Rutherford Meritage (70% Cabernet Sauvignon/15% Merlot/12% Petit Verdot/3% Cabernet Franc), California
2009 Crios de Susana Balbo Cabernet Sauvignon, Argentina


Trader Joe’s
2007 Trentatre Rosso, Italy
2007 Viriato Tinta de Toro, Spain
2008 Santa Rita 120 Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile
2009 Alexander & Fitch Cabernet Sauvignon, California
2009 Tres Pinos Three Pines Cuvee Red Wine, California


Fry’s/Kroger’s
2007 Waterbrook Merlot-Cabernet (56% Merlot/44% Cabernet Sauvignon), Washington
2008 Mouton Cadet Bordeaux (65% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc), France
2009 Alamos Malbec, Argentina
2009 Georges Dubeouf Beaujolais-Villages Flower Label, France
2009 Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages, France


Other
2007 Munoz de Toro Argie Bonarda, Argentina (Purchased at the Queen Creek Olive Mill)
2007 Calcu Red Wine, (50% Cabernet Sauvignon/30% Carmenere/15% Cabernet Franc/5% Petit Verdot), Chile (Purchased at Cost Plus World Market)
2008 Santa Alicia Carmenere Reserve, Chile (Purchased at Cost Plus World Market)
2008 Notro Sangiovese/Bonarda, Argentina (Purchased at Cost Plus World Market)
2009 Trumpeter by Rutini Wines Malbec, Argentina (Purchased at BevMo)


Overall these lists do a pretty good job of outlining quite a few of my favorite wines at this moment. I know I should probably pair this list down to 5 or 10 really good wines and rate them appropriately; however I’ve never been a person that chose favorites. Rather I wanted to always have a lot of options available to me. There are definitely a lot of options in the lists above. In the future I am going to have to branch out and start drinking white wines because I think I have limited myself and my palate. We’ll see how long that takes.