Oak Leaf Chardonnay

Oak Leaf Chardonnay

Walmart

$2.97

When I first started my foray into the budget wine scene, my initial goal was to find the cheapest wine possible. The apparent winner was Walmart's Oak Leaf line at a stunning $2.97.  $3 for a bottle of wine?  What's the worst that could happen?    

In the glass, it's your typical chardonnay with its standard light golden color.  The wine has some fruit on the nose, mostly peaches and apples.  I found it difficult to pick out anything more specific because of a noticeable scent of alcohol. 

On the first sips, there is the taste of apples and a bite of alcohol that kind of overshadows anything else.  The end is typical of a chardonnay, smoothing out into something more mellow.  The finish is short and nearly non existent, but not entirely unpleasant.  I forgot what I just sipped and have to take another to remind myself.  It does have a slight oak flavor to it, but it's nothing spectacular.

This honestly isn't the worst chardonnay I've tasted (I'm looking at you, Most Recent Bottle Of Barefoot).  Drink it in one sitting if you can.  I tried saving mine for later consumption and the flavor just turned sharp and sour.

If you're on a very tight budget, but still want to drink a glass of of wine with dinner every now and then, no harm in picking this up.  And if you find that it isn't for you... hell, it's only $3.  People spend more than that on parking around here.

SCORE: 5/10

Barefoot Red Moscato

Barefoot Red Moscato

Harris Teeter

$6.99

Sometimes wine labels just catch your eye and you can’t ignore them.  The bright shiny sticker stating “NEW” caught my eye.  Now I’ve never been much of a moscato drinker; but they’re great when I need to satisfy my sweet tooth.

(Yeah yeah, we drank most of it before taking a picture)

You know how the red Starburst and the red Skittles were always the best?  This wine banks on that ingrained instinctual knowledge, attracting you with it’s “I’M RED AND THEREFORE DELICIOUS” color.  

It’s a transparent cranberry color with an obvious fruity scent.  It’s almost syrupy sweet on the tongue, but there’s just enough acidity that keeps it crisp and enjoyable.  Very similar to their regular moscato but you have a distinct flavor of strawberries and cherries.  There’s a slight almost metallic flavor I often detect in Barefoot wines, but it goes down pretty easy and the finish lingers.  

This is a great wine for beginners as it's not complicated.  It's sweet and simple and sometimes that's all you need with a wine.  You don’t need to pair this with food; it would do fine on it’s own as an after dinner drink.  I also think it’d go well with some angel food cake with strawberries and ice cream.  As a sucker for sweet things, I have to admit I liked it. 

7/10

SeaGlass Sauvignon Blanc

SeaGlass Sauvignon Blanc

2011

Costco

$7.99

This bottle is an example of buying a wine based solely on its label.  My mother has a thing for collecting sea glass on beaches so you can guess how tickled pink she was finding this wine.  We decided we'd all give it a try.

We opened this bottle soon after finishing off the Kirkland Signature Pinot Grigio.  We all know that after a few glasses of wine, everything you eat or drink tastes better.  We suspect that our opinion of this wine may have been a tad skewed due to already having some alcohol in our systems.  I can certainly say that we enjoyed this a lot more than the Pinot Grigio.

This Sauvignon Blanc is a light straw color, with a lot of lemon and lime on the nose.  The taste was very light, crisp, and refreshing, with a balanced acidity and wasn't too dry.  Flavors of lemon and grapefruit were very prominent and my father mentioned a hint of lemongrass.  It lacked the mineral profile of the Pinot Grigio and I found it a lot more palatable.

It tastes good and goes down easy but it lacks complexity.  For a Sauvignon Blanc, it's not bad and the price makes it a great value.  I would certainly pick it up again, even if only to see if it's still as good as I remember it.  It's an oaked chardonnay lover's worst nightmare.

SCORE: 7/10

Yellow Tail Chardonnay

Yellow Tail Chardonnay

Harris Teeter

2 for $10 (on special)

I'd always put off buying Yellow Tail because it was one of those 'mainstream mass produced' wines; something I foolishly avoid due to my affection for American wines and those from small local wineries...

(like "You've probably never heard of it" Vineyards)

But then I got over myself.

A recent bad experience with a questionable bottle of Barefoot Chardonnay had me running for the hills and searching for something different and upon finding a 2 for $10 special at my neighborhood Harris Teeter, I jumped on it.  I picked up a bottle of Chardonnay and Cab Sauv to try.

The wine is a light golden straw color with a clean fruity nose of peaches, pineapples, and oranges.

The first sip was a bit sharp and acidic and seemed to overwhelm my taste buds, but I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly it smoothed out.  Most affordable chardonnays that I've tried are fermented in stainless steel so I might expect a crisp flavor with only slight hints of vanilla at the very end and not much else.  This chardonnay has a long finish that's creamy with a hint of smoky oak that lingers on the tongue.  Now I don't know if they ferment their chardonnay in oak, but it certainly tastes like they do.

It's a little sweet for a chardonnay and that makes for easy drinking.  While not one of the best I've ever tasted, it's definitely not the worst.  In conclusion, Yellow Tail Chardonnay is a pleasant and refreshing wine; great to accompany a weekday meal or just to sip on the porch.

SCORE: 6/10