Among the dozens of wine related articles, someone wrote a few years ago about the concept of the cellar defender. It’s a smart idea. While I agree that life is too short to drink crappy wine (the restrictions of avoiding lashon harah, derogatory speech, are filtering my urge to mention some particularly bad wines I’ve consumed) there are some great inexpensive wines out there that are worth keeping on hand and are good for certain forms of enjoyment.
The idea is pretty basic. You’re drinking alone, you just want a glass or two (doctors orders) and you don’t want to open a $25-$40 bottle of wine. Those are the ones you want to share with people you like. So you open something inexpensive. These days, that doesn’t have to mean inferior quality. I can give a recent example.
My wife doesn’t drink wine; not really. I have what would be considered a small, drinking cellar, somewhere around 150 bottles, about 20% white, 80% red, probably 90% Israeli (the rest California, Spain, Italian, South American and Australian). I have some pricey bottles, single vineyard, unique boutique wines – they are for holidays, special occasions and sharing with good friends who appreciate wine. It’s Sunday evening (the equivalent to other people’s Monday – I work on Sundays), I’m having meatloaf for dinner, and I want a glass of wine. I go to my cellar and pick out a 2009 Barkan Classic Pinot Noir, retails for around $12.99, I probably paid less by the case. It’s hasn’t won any metals; you won’t find it written up in Wine Spectator. It’s a mass produced, pasteurized, kosher wine from one of Israel’s largest wineries. It’s good. It’s not great; it has some great flavor, nice garnet color. Israel is not really succeeding yet with Pinot; they’re known more for their Cabs, Merlots, Shiraz with a great emergence of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It’s a good wine, it helps me relax at the end of a long day and it paired well with what I ate.
The cellar defenders, a collection of wines you like, that can serve as everyday wines or drink alone wines, is a great idea. It saves some more expensive wines for when you know they will be enjoyed and appreciated. I have some nice Chilean, Argentinean and even some Israeli wines that cost $7-$12 dollars that are great for that after-work glass of wine, opening that bottle when a recipe calls for a cup of white wine (shout out to Tierra Salvaje Chardonnay, one of the best kosher wines for this purpose, and totally drinkable), sort of the Kosher equivalent of Yellow Tail. I’m not serving it at Thanksgiving (that’s an occasion for one of those pricier wines) but it’s a nice wine.
So here is a toast to the cellar defender – helping me get through just another work day.
