2007 Wine
One of the best vintage years for wine – worldwide, was 2007. These wines are now coming to market and with wine prices dropping, there are bargains to be had!

California reds have been slow to come down, but winemakers will have to start discounting in order to reduce inventory. Buyers that once spent $20 – $30 are now buying the $9 – $12 bottles. The $10 – $14 buyer is now in the $3 – $6 dollar category. This is quite a shift to a much lower price point.

In restaurants, we’ve started to see some of the higher end wines being sold by the glass. This is a great opportunity to sample better wines without having to buy the whole bottle.

Some of the best buys recently have been Zinfandel and Syrah from California, Malbecs from Argentina and French Rhône wines.

Bev Mo’s Wilfred Wong
When you walk down the wine isles of Beverages and More, you can’t help but notice the majority of wines are rated by Wilfred Wong. On my first visit to the local store, I wondered: Is this a real guy? What does he know about wine, anyway?

Wilfred is a real person who has been BevMo’s wine buyer since 1995. Before that, he was buying wine for his family’s wine shop in Berkeley, CA.

As the e-commerce cellar master for Beverages & More’s 100+ stores in California and Arizona, Wilfred is the man responsible for evaluating every wine on the shelves. That means tasting more than 8000 wines a year.

Besides choosing which wines the stores will carry, Wong has a say in the 50+ custom wines commissioned specifically for BevMo.

One of those wines is a Zolo Winery chardonnay from Mendoza, Argentina.

The 2008 Zolo Gaucho Select Unoaked Chardonnay
Golden yellow color. Tropical fruit and pear aromas. Flavors of ripe apples and white flowers with a hint of honey. Balanced  with a clean, crisp finish. Pair with soft white cheese and crusty french loaf. $9.99

Purple color with aromas of spice and mocha. Flavors of plum, ripe berries and oak. Full- bodied and balanced with a long, smooth finish. We had this wine with barbecued spareribs. It was a perfect match. Quite a bargain at $13.