Campo Viejo Rioja

Today I review what is quickly becoming one of my favored types of wine: rioja. This Spanish varietal does a great job of combining the tannins that I love from cabernet sauvignons and adds great vanilla and plum flavors.

The Campo Viejo Rioja that I enjoyed was purchased for $9.99 at my local store, but can be found for not much more than $13 in other stores when I searched online. I paired this wine with a pasta dish featuring a spicy red sauce with sausage and onions in it that was a great compliment to the taste of the wine.

As I said, I've really been getting into rioja's lately, and while this is certainly not the best I've had to date, it is certainly a great buy for the price, and one that I'm sure to purchase again when I'm in the mood for a rioja and would rather spend $10 intead of $20. While this isn't the best example of the rioja, it's still a great wine for those interested in trying this particular varietal. I give the Campo Viejo Rioja 3 stars out of 5 for it's great vanilla flavors and smooth plumb finish.

Find Campa Viejo Rioja online at WineZap.com

Voga Italia

This week I’m doing two wines, a red and a white, and still coming in under my $20 budget. Voga Italia has introduced a pair of wines that are both affordable and enjoyable…a great match if there ever was one.



Voga Italia Pinot Grigio






I start with the pinot grigio (mostly because I drank it first). Made in northern Italy, I found this wine at my local grocery store, and have seen it at most of your common stores (Giant, Safeway, Kroger, Food Lion, etc.). This wine was a great compliment to a grilled chicken dish. The light, crisp flavors went well with the grilled chicken flavor, complimenting instead of overpowering the light seasoning that I used. I also tried this wine with some mild cheese and crackers as a snack later and it was just as enjoyable as a sipping wine as it was when I enjoyed it with my main course. As I’m a firm believer that price doesn’t make the wine, this wine did an excellent job of proving my point. I’ve found few pinot grigios that I’ve enjoyed more, and none of those rang in at the very reasonable $9.99 that the Voga did. I happily give this wine a 3.75 stars out of 5, and highly recommend it to anybody that enjoys pinot grigio.

Voga Italia Quattro



My second wine is the Voga Italia Quattro, a blending of (as the name implies) 4 different types red: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, shiraz, and pinot noir that is made on the Italian island of Sicily. I actually drank this with pasta dish, but feel that I probably would have enjoyed it more with a red meat dish…hindsight is 20/20. The natural tannins of the cabernet and pinot noir were off-set rather well by the somewhat milder merlot and shiraz, and while this was certainly an enjoyable wine, I almost wish they’d made it without the merlot to allow it a bit more bite. If you’re all about your red wine this might not be your exact cup of tea, but if you’re looking for a nice red to help you get into some of the drier reds, this is actually a very good way to go. For the $9.99 price tag it’s certainly one I imagine will end up in my kitchen again, but I can really only give this one 3 stars out of 5. Maybe another year of aging will help this in the future, but it’s hard to say for certain.

2006 Santa Rita Reserva Sauvignon Blanc

For my first wine I begin with the 2006 Santa Rita Reserva Sauvignon Blanc. A pleasant white wine from Chile (that’s in South America), this Sauvignon Blanc has a nice mix of citrus flavors, most notably grapefruit.
I purchased this wine at a local wine & beer store for $15.99, a good $4 under my budget of $20. To go with this wine, I had a salad for dinner which included baby spinach, romaine lettuce, feta cheese, a fat-free sun dried tomato dressing, and grilled chicken. The grapefruit and citrus flavors of the Sauvignon Blanc was a nice compliment to the slight salty flavor of the feta cheese and and the earthiness of the dressing.
While it was certainly a quality Sauvignon Blanc, it probably could have used another year of aging to take away some of the fruitiness of the wine. If you do try this one I’d say sit on it for 6 months to a year to let it really age.
I give the 2006 Santa Rita Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 3 stars out of 5.