2009 Vadeleinos Verdejo, Rueda, Spain ($12.99 at Whole Foods)
This had aromas of white pepper, pine, and lime zest. Lindsay "My Sweet" Jackson and myself thought the wine was a little green and smelled like a litter box when it was too cold. However, it softened up and was more approachable towards the end.
2010 Epicuro Vermentino, Lazio, Italy ($4.99 at Trader Joe's)
Typically Vermentino would be lighter in flavor and body than the Verdejo, however, we found it oily and waxy like that of a Viognier. It had passionfruit, papaya, and exotic citrus traits. For five bucks, people should be drinking this out of the bottle, taking their shirts off and asking for Mardi Gras beads.
2005 La Loggia Nebbiolo Barbaresco, Piemonte, Italy ($12.99 at Trader Joe's)
This one was a dissapointment. It said it would take several hours to open, but it never did. Ironically, this was a wine we both bought seperately (we were trying to conduct a blind tasting) and endded up with two full bottles. Bummer. Much like Pinot Noir, you can not go cheap on this varietal. We experienced nuances of mocha meringue, cooked fig and licorice. That might make the wine sound good, but it wasn't.
2002 Allegrini "La Poja" Corvina, Veneto, Italy ($95.00 at Passionfish Restaurant)
This one had dark mocha, coffee and acid. It was like a Zin but bitter and with more tannin structure.
Although the above wine (Corvina) was really good we couldn't afford it--it was leftover from a wealthy customer. For the pricepoint, Vermentino was the highlight and the Verdejo took second.
