This Month’s Featured Wine

           The

Small Wine Review

for Lovers of New & Lesser Known Wines
Text Box: ABOUT OUR SMALL WINE RATINGS We believe that EVERY wine is a great wine AT THE RIGHT PRICE. Thus an $8 wine might get a 5-Star rating from us, but it won’t be nearly as good a wine as a $20 wine with a 5-Star rating. We expect more of a $20 bottle of wine and we demand it. So with our ratings, you need to pick your price point first, then you need to decide on which wine to enjoy for tonight. In our opinion, a 5-Star wine is really nice bottle of wine priced well below what we’d expect to pay for that much quality. a 4-Star wine is definitely worth enjoying, and priced fairly. a 3-Star wine is a nice enough bottle of wine, but we paid too much for it. a 2-Star wine is serviceable but unexceptional in flavor and definitely overpriced. a 1-Star wine is a bottle to leave on the shelf for somebody not smart enough to read our review.

October, 2009

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Text Box: Reading the Piuquenes Label for Clues The Piuquenes label is pretty if rather plain. It’s colors are not completely eye-catching on the shelf. A label’s primary job is to attract the consumer enough to pick the bottle up off the shelf and contemplate purchase, and the Piuquenes label might accomplish this purpose, and then again, it might not. I picked up the bottle. The label is OK, but nothing special. The front label tells me the name of the wine — Piuquenes, the varietal — Cabernet Sauvignon, the vintage — 2006, and the origin of the wine — Mendoza Argentina. So far, so good. I am dismayed though, when I turn the bottle around to get more information. There is only standard winery & importer information, alcohol content, the ubiquitous government warning and a bar code. There are no clues as to flavor profile, barreling, aging, or any verbiage at all about how much I should expect to enjoy this wine or why. There are no clues on this bottle to tell me what a great wine experience lies within this bottle. I believe this wine could double its sales tomorrow with a better back label. Unfortunately, this subpar label is the norm, not the exception, so your best bet is still to ask the wine shop owner, who probably tasted this wine before he bought it, or else just read our reviews and buy only our recommendations!

                  Piuquenes Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

     — Mendoza, Argentina — From our favorite region in

     Argentina, and with a nose of rich black berries and plums, this

    Cabernet is a pleasant surprise.  The forward fruit follows all the

  way through the palate and into the finish, along with gentle

 tannins and oak.  For the money, this is a great value wine, sure to

please your palate if you are just watching the sunset or going to a

friend’s house and bringing the wine for a casual dinner. 

 

 

Highest Recommendation

5 Stars

Under $10 Category      

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