Oh joy and rapture! I went to pick up my 6 bottles of 2000 Tardieu-Laurent Cotes-du-Rhone (a fantastic bargain at $17.99 on closeout) and lo and behold, they had a tasting event that day! What had I done to deserve such privilege and great fortune? 20 wines tasted for a whopping $10.00. I was headed up for rehearsal at Los Angeles Opera, and was ahead of schedule, and easily had 45 minutes to spare. Done deal.

I had to do a lot of spitting and dumping, of course, as I had limited time, so each wine consisted of 1-2 sips max. Still, I found some great little wines among the mix, and purchased (only) a bottle of each. (budget restraints thanks to mailers)

2006 Pierre Boniface Apremont Vin de Savoie - what a great starter/appetizer wine this is! Crisp, acidic, dry with the perfect balance of sweet (not sauvignon blanc or Riesling sweet at all). Clean finish, and ready to rock and roll. Great with some cheeses we had there as well. $11.99

2005 Trimbach Gewurtztraminer Alsace - while I was not impressed with their Riesling, this one hit my yummy bone. It reminded me of Kris Curran's gewurtz in how dry it was, but this was a bit more on the traditional side than hers, which is overtly dry. $14.99

2004 Livernano Chianti Classico - this is truly the most aromatic wine I've ever put near my nose. Beautiful sweet black licorice, with spring aromatic flowers and dark sweet fruits - could smell it all day and not even worry about what it tastes like, and that's no exaggeration. The flavor profile is rather 'standard' CC, bordering on the nutty side, but the finish was quite pleasant and rather long. Great with soft bleu cheese. $17.99

2005 Clos Chaumont Cotes de Bordeaux - quite excellent overall, and with only 2-3 hours of decanting, this wine was ready to go. What a bargain for approachable 2005 bordeaux at $15.99/bottle

2005 Les Grand Marechaux Cotes de Blaye - this bordeaux had more tannins, and was clearly okay with sitting in the cellar a while, but was certainly quite approachable if paired with something rich like a nice fatty steak. $14.99

Honorable mentions go to:

2004 Masciarelli Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - they were selling this nice Italian drinker for only $6.99, and I have no clue why I didn't pick up a couple bottles while I was there. It's no screamer, by any stretch, but you could tell it would be fantastic with any Italian meal, and for the price, it's like a couple of beers.

2005 Soda Rock Cellars Chardonnay Alexander Valley - wow, a CA chardonnay that wasn't aged in new French Oak and turned into oak juice! No malolactic fermentation? So chardonnay is actually supposed to taste good? I had no clue... Seriously a fantastic daily drinker white for those who drink chardonnay (as we used to), and at $9.99 it's happy time.