Kuleto Estate Cab Arbitrage in Kansas City

Arbitrage.

We look for it on every wine menu. Last Friday night, we found it on the wine list at Pierponts in Kansas City. 

Our special prize was a 2007 Kuleto Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. This bottle retails for $50 from the winery, but was selling for just $58 on the Pierponts wine list. A normal restaurant price might be in the $100 - $150 range, so this was clearly arbitrage! I actually asked our waiter to confirm the price just in case I was misreading the menu. 

This is a beautiful wine. It's made from 97% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc, 1% Malbec, and 1% Petite Verdot grapes, all from Kuleto's vineyards in the hills above eastern Napa Valley. The nose is pure Cab, with dark fruit and silky tannins that hold up well to all sorts of food without being overpowering.

Our Quest for Arbitrage
Restaurants typically mark up the wine they sell by two to three times retail. This is one of the reasons why we often bring our own wine to restaurants (see our full list here), but lugging a bottle around isn't always feasible when we travel. We have a few tricks for selecting wine at a restaurant (see them here), but arbitrage always makes things more exciting. It's always great to get something on sale!

How Much Would You Pay for a Good Pinot Noir?

Jeff thinks this barrel has a great QPRA friend of ours has a great metric, quality price ratio (QPR), meaning the price of the bottle is worth the quality of wine.  On a recent trip to the Dundee Hills region of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, we tasted several enjoyable pinot noirs, but there were few we thought met the QPR threshold for purchase. 

When tasting Pinot Noir, it has to be something pretty amazing for us to consider paying north of $40 for a bottle.  Using that as a benchmark, here’s a summary of wines we liked, and where they fell on our QPR scale. 

Low QPR ~ liked, but a little too “proud”
Archery Summit – ’09 Renegade Ridge Estate ($85)
Deep color, darker red fruits with a dirt earth finish.  We could taste the lamb.  Little tart at start, would benefit from aging 3-5 years.

Erath – ’09 Knight’s Gambit Vineyard ($50)
Full berry nose, more complex pinot with tart fruit tastes and dirt finish.  Unique, bolder, pinot noir

Witness Tree – ’08 Claim 51 ($48)
Darker in color, smells of bright red fruits, blueberries with a little smoke, spicy finish with hints of cinnamon.   Can taste the new oak. Would also benefit from 3-5 years of aging.

Great QPR ~ priced right for the taste
St. Innocent – ’10 Temperance Hill Vineyard ($32)
Smokey nose, dark cherry fruit and touch of spice, with an earthy, well balanced finish.  Will pair well with grilled meats.

Redhawk – ’10 Estate ($22)
Sweet red berry aromas, with earthy raspberry and blueberry flavors.  Bright acidity and firm tannins, this wine will age well. 

Check out other blog posts on Pinot’s we’ve enjoyed with great QPRs:

Barrel Fence
Erath
Cycles Gladiator
Signaterra
Sean Minor

We want to know ~ How much would you pay for a Pinot Noir?

Caymus - Our Favorite Zinfandel This Year?

While Caymus Vineyards is a winery known for its excellent (and expensive) Cabernet Sauvignons, they also make a terrific Zinfandel. We tried the 2007 Napa Valley Zinfandel at the winery last year and were impressed enough that we bought a couple of bottles. We opened bottle #1 last Saturday night and the verdict is in: it might just be our favorite Zinfandel that we've enjoyed this year!

First, let's talk about the wine and then we'll make some comparisons.

The nose smelled like an old wine barrel, just inviting you to breathe deeply and take it all in. Zinfandel tends to have a flavor spectrum that runs from peppery to jammy, and this one was definitely peppery with rich black currant flavors and a silky smooth finish. We both agreed this wine earned the vaunted "PFG" designation.

OK, now the comparisons.

We've had some outstanding Zinfandels from Ridge this year. Our favorite was a 2009 Ridge Ponzo Vineyard, which was on the other end of the pepper-to-jammy spectrum. (See "You can't go wrong with a Ridge") We also enjoyed a bottle of 2009 Robert Biale Black Chicken. Biale's wine is always amazing and the 2009 was a stellar year for them. 

All good stuff, but somehow the Caymus was our favorite.

Of course, it may have been the recency effect, where you tend to best remember the latest wine you've tried. Fortunately, we have another bottle of the Caymus, another bottle of the Ridge Ponzo Vineyard, and a bottle of 2010 Cuvaison Bald Mountain Zinfandel that will be a nice stand-in for the Biale. Dinner party, anyone?

Great wines under $20

For most of us, everyday wines involve a price point under $20 or even closer to $10. Of course, inexpensive doesn't mean cheap or poor quality as there are plenty of delicious wines that won't wreck your budget.

Don't believe us? Check out all the entry in our newest category: Under $20. We also highly recommend a visit to The Reverse Wine Snob, which is a blog entirely dedicated to wines costing under $20.

10 under 20
Do you want to stock up your wine rack with delicious, inexpensive wine that won't make you feel guilty about drinking it on a Tuesday night? Here's a shopping list you can take to your local wine shop or liquor store. Just for reference, we've listed the current retail price for each wine at BevMo, though many can often be found on sale for less. 

• Chateau Ste. Michelle Rieseling: $7.99
• Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc (dry Sauvignon Blanc): $12.99
• Kendall-Jackson Vinter's Reserve Chardonnay: $11.99
• Cycles Gladiator Pinot Noir: $12.99
• Volver Tempranillo: $16.99
• Layer Cake Primitivo: $16.99
• Menage a Trois Red Table Wine: $10.99
• Filus Malbec Reserve: $17.99
• Hess Select Cabernet Sauvignon: $14.99
• Line 39 Petite Syrah: $14.99

What are your under $20 favorites?

This is Eleven "Unplugged" by Andrew Murray

Fans of the cult movie, “This is Spinal Tap” will appreciate this wine for the title alone.  We discovered E11EVEN wines while visiting Andrew Murray earlier this year (Santa Ynez Valley Wine Adventure).  When we first arrived, I have to admit I was a little disappointed they were no longer producing the Days Off series (read about some favorites, Days Off and First Kiss)…that was until I tasted the “This Is E11EVEN” series. 

Unlike the wines traditionally made by Andrew Murray, the Eleven Series are not Rhone wines.  In fact, they stretch the imagination and blend some grapes that may not traditionally be blended together.  The result ~ fun, tasty, affordable wines.

We tried two, the 2010 Eleven Red, and 2010 Eleven “Unplugged”.  They are both quite good, but “Unplugged” scored a smiley face and a purchase!  The tasting notes describe it so well, “Think of this blend as un-amplified trio of acoustic guitars, each played by a legendary icon…each variety stands out a bit, but there is also a tremendous harmony here.  The lead-solo is the Chenin Blanc…smooth and haunting…braced up by Sauvignon Blanc…bracing and racy, trying to steal the show…all kept in tune and in time and balanced with the oldest player… Chardonnay.” 

The wine has a crisp, fresh citrus taste, with a slight butter finish. Incredibly refreshing all on it’s own.  It also paired perfectly with grilled chicken and vegetables while enjoying a summer night on the patio.

This new brand for Andrew Murray is all about over delivering on quality to price ratio. Priced at under $20, they certainly achieved this goal.  It's also a screw cap, which you know I love.  Nigel would agree, this wine goes to 11!

Check out this fun video on The Eleven Series