Sep 09, 2021

Finding You More Wines Under $22: The Importance Of Everyday Wines

Finding You More Wines Under $22

Take 15% off our best values when you pick up

Danièle Bonnardot flexes her ability to still make affordable Burgundy. Her Haute Cote de Nuits Blanc and Rouge may be some of the best values from anywhere.

Summer is transitioning into Fall, and that triggers a certain level of anxiety for me as I dread the coming darkness at 4pm. Comfort food and comfort wine is one way to deal with this, so in that spirit we're highlighting our favorite wines under $22.

As I always say, you can find lots of great wine from $12-22, but sometimes you have to look a little harder. Part of my job is finding them so you don't have to. If you combine our scrutinizing approach with our tiny square-footage, we may be the pickiest wine store in New York. Some of that is out of necessity because we don't have much space, but the benefit for you is pretty substantial: there's no filler. If it's on our shelves, we're into it.

VIEW ALL WINES UNDER $22

There are some new highlights in this collection, including some hits from our last few wine clubs where we did a deep dive on Italian wine. One of my new favorites is the $18 CALA Dario Sarrentino. Dario, who started out selling grapes to Frank Cornelissen, now makes the now sought-after Mortellito wines that we have in stock. The CALA Dario is his everyday, quaffable blend of Nero d'Avola with a little Grillo. It's super versatile and works well with a chill, but it's especially good with the tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant I've been buying with abandon at the farmer's market.

Another recent find were the wines from Danièle Bonnardot in the Hautes-Cotes de Nuits. I was particularly impressed by her Hautes-Cotes de Nuits Blanc, which is one of the best values in white Burgundy I've come across in years. She's in the hills above Nuits-Saint-Georges and her entry-level white has just the right balance of creaminess and crackling minerals. Mostly Chardonnay, the obscure, geeky Pinot Beurot is also in the blend, a local biotype of Pinot Blanc. For $19 it feels like a time machine back to 2011.

One of our most popular wines this summer has been the Gulp/Hablo Orange, a liter of skin-fermented Verdejo and Sauvignon Blanc from Castilla La Mancha in Spain. You'll see us giving it a shout-out in the September issue of Food & Wine magazine, due out soon. For anyone thirsty for orange/skin contact wine, this is the place to start.

There are lots of other great wines in there, so have at it, and don't hesitate to ask me or my colleagues if you want to know more!

Cheers!

Jonathan Kemp

jonathan@vwm.wine

Jonathan's Favorites Under $22