{"id":333,"date":"2009-01-06T10:33:01","date_gmt":"2009-01-06T17:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danthewineguy.com\/?p=333"},"modified":"2009-02-22T12:09:38","modified_gmt":"2009-02-22T19:09:38","slug":"blackstone-winery-windmill-estates-provide-nice-wines-from-california-for-those-on-a-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/?p=333","title":{"rendered":"Blackstone Winery, Windmill Estates Provide Nice Wines from California for Those on a Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bad economy, Christmas gift overspending, post-holiday blahs\u2026there are plenty of reasons right now for cutting back on your wine purchases. But even if you\u2019re doing a little budget tightening, there are still scores of wines that you can enjoy on an everyday basis without having to spend a small fortune.<\/p>\n

I always like to designate January as my month to find a good wine bargain, and lately I\u2019ve come across several California wines in the $10 to $15 a bottle price range that provide excellent value for the money.<\/p>\n

Sonoma County-based Blackstone Winery<\/strong> has a terrific selection of current releases from their Winemaker Select series that run in the neighborhood of $12 to $13 a bottle. The 2007 Chardonnay<\/strong> is a rich, full-bodied white wine that\u2019s filled with a variety of tropical aromas and flavors. Pineapple, mango and banana come to mind, with a touch of vanilla and toasted walnut on the finish.<\/p>\n

For red wine drinkers, the 2007 Pinot Noir<\/strong> is also drinking quite nicely. This is classic California pinot noir, with a nice balance of earthiness and reserved fruit \"null\"flavors that include raspberry and dried cherry. The 2006 Merlot<\/strong> is a bit more fruit forward and almost comes across like a California zin without the heavy spice. Dark plum and blackberry flavors predominate, with a plush finish accentuated by a hint of toasted oak.<\/p>\n

Central California\u2019s Lodi Vineyards Windmill Estates <\/strong>also has a line of super affordable wines that also are retailing for about $12 each. If you like your wines a bit on the fruity side, the Windmill label is guaranteed to please. I loved the 2006 Old Vine Zinfandel<\/strong>, which explodes with ultra-ripe plum and mocha flavors, as well as the melt-in-your-mouth 2006 Petite Sirah<\/strong>; a combination of black fruit, heavy plum and cola flavors that melt into a plump, lingering finish.<\/p>\n

Also currently available \u2013 and all at the pocketbook friendly price of about $12 each \u2013 are the 2006 vintages of the Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, as well as the 2007 Chardonnay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bad economy, Christmas gift overspending, post-holiday blahs\u2026there are plenty of reasons right now for cutting back on your wine purchases. But even if you\u2019re doing a little budget tightening, there are still scores of wines that you can enjoy on an everyday basis without having to spend a small fortune. I always like to designate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-bellingham-herald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}