Now that I’m back from my detox -we say “detox” but we all know I had chocolate and caffeine in my backpack- there were a couple of things I was excited to have back in my life after time away. #1: the nightly glass of red wine. I have a glass after dinner most nights, and it’s like a glorious ending to the day. The Pilot and I will enjoy a glass and watch TV or chat, and it’s become an evening ritual. The wine is also like my “dessert,” and I rarely get the nighttime munchies. I usually post a glass here or there on the blog, or during my virtual wine date posts, and am always asked about my favorite inexpensive red wines. It’s good to keep the cost down when drinking it everyday! Here’s the thing: I really don’t discriminate. If it’s red, I’ll drink it, and there’s a 90% chance I will like it. Over time though, my wine senses have developed a little bit, and I have discovered some delightful reds. Here are my favorite everyday red wines, in no particular order.

(Note: I had to Google for the specific flavor notes. Otherwise I would have been like “this one is good,”this one is good, too” and “this one tastes like.. Best Inexpensive Red Wine Apothic red blend (2012): a California red blend (of Zinfandel, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) with notes of plum, blackberry, spice and vanilla ($10). This has been the standard for the past year or so, and I love the light sweetness. It has almost no bite at all. Ménage à Trois midnight, dark red blend (2013): a dark and luscious blend (of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Syrah and Petit Verdot), with blackberry, spiced plum and mocha notes. This actually may be my very favorite wine, but’s tricky to find! I got some at Baron’s (which is similar to Sprout’s) in San Diego for about $13. Dearly Beloved – I Thee Red, red blend (2011): this is another smooth and delicious red blend (of Merlot, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Syrah, and Cabernet Franc). It has a vibrant flavor with notes of cherry, plum, spice, and anise.

This is particularly amazing with a hearty bolognese pasta. Jam Jar Shiraz: this wine tastes like candy. It’s almost like a dessert wine -very sweet- and tastes amazing. the best red wine vinaigrette recipeIf you’re newer to the red wine world and want to start with something sweeter, I highly recommend this one. buy under counter wine coolerThis lovely wine is bursting with berry flavors and has chocolate undertones (yes, please). best wine list floridaUsually it’s around $15 at Whole Foods.wine glass setting on table Layer Cake Shiraz (2012): this South Australian wine has the flavor of dark berries and chocolate ganache. buy new zealand wine in france

I don’t buy this one as frequently -I think because I’m always trying to switch it up- but it’s an old favorite. Usually around $12 at Trader Joe’s.best selling red wine uk Ravenswood Vintners Blend Zinfandel: has raspberry and cocoa flavors, but a bit of a “tang” to it from the alcohol. best wine of the month club 2015It’s not one of the smoothest wines, but I find that it pairs nicely with a cheese board and appetizers.top chicago wine stores Alamos Malbec (2013): this is another all-time fave, and one that I’ll occasionally order at restaurants. red rose wine brandsThis one is primarily Malbec, but has small portions of Syrah and Bonarda for berry flavor.

It has also has spice notes and vanilla, and it’s a beautiful wine for an evening treat. $9-12, depending where you find it (Walgreen’s and Trader Joe’s both carry this one). Rodney Strong Cabernet Sauvignon (2011): this is a smooth wine, with flavors of clack cherry and oak. It’s usually around $16 at Trader Joe’s. Fellow wine lovers, what’s your favorite inexpensive one? Non-wine friends, is there’s something you like the enjoy at the end of the day? I love hot tea at night, and now that fall is here, I love to steep mint tea in warm almond milk (or chocolate almond milk) and add a little stevia. Enjoy the rest of the day! Like lightning in a jar → ← Mountain Trek RecapI agree to Influenster's Term of Use and Privacy Policy We just sent you a confirmation mail ! You are almost done! Please confirm your email address Look like you deactivated your account. Ready to Jump back on board? Heya, this Facebook account is not currently

If you have an Influenster account, try logging in with your email address. If you are new to Influenster, would you like to make a new account by registering now? Please reconnect the following networks to maintain your Social Impact. The connection may have expired. You must grant Influenster the requested permissions in order to connect your social media account. We will not post on your behalf without permission, nor share your personal information with any 3rd party companies.If you like it, save it! Save and organize all of the stuff you love in one place. If you like something… Click the heart, it's called favoriting. Favorite the stuff you like. Sparkling red wine—make that good sparkling red wine—is the wine world's best-kept secret. When I was in college I had a roommate whom I loved dearly, but who had incredibly different taste from me. I whipped cream by hand while she bought a tub of Cool Whip. I drank red wine while she drank fruity vodka concoctions whose names shouldn’t be repeated in polite company.

So, when one day she brought home a bottle of sparkling red wine that she was over the moon about, I was skeptical. Plus, red wine isn’t supposed to be fizzy, right? What she had was a bottle of cheap Lambrusco: fizzy, cloying, and about on par with a wine cooler as far as complexity of flavor goes. My skepticism was confirmed and my opinion on sparkling red wine was set. That is, until a number of years later, when I was visiting a family friend of ours who was passing through Vermont. Our friend Karen and her husband Paul own a vineyard in Southern Australia where they make really beautiful handcrafted wines. Karen was on a sales trip in Canada and she popped down into the U.S. so my mom and I could meet up with her to say hello. She brought us a bottle of sparkling Shiraz that we all split, and I was floored. The difference between this and the Lambrusco I’d tasted half a decade earlier couldn’t have been starker. The Shiraz was effervescent, and awash with a complex mix of inky berry, violet, pepper, and oak flavors.

Just a few months later, my husband and I were at a fantastic restaurant in Boston where our server vigorously recommended we try a dry Lambrusco they had just gotten in. We acquiesced, and I once again I was amazed by the complexity and brilliance of the wine. “Sparkling red wine is bound to become the next big thing here soon,” I thought to myself. But, it didn’t take off. Pinot Noir, rosé, dry Riesling, and others exploded in turn, but sparkling red wine has continued in relative obscurity. I think the problem is that while there are wonderful, extremely enjoyable sparkling red wines out there, they can be hard to uncover, and the sparkling red wine selection at even a large, well-stocked liquor store is liable to be a minefield littered with horribly bad wine choices. I spent the last several weeks combing the state of Minnesota for sparkling red wines and so far, I’ve only found a few I actually wanted to drink. But, let’s have a look at the types of sparkling red you’re most likely to run into out there and try to figure out how to navigate.

Lambrusco, which is probably the best-known style of sparkling red wine, is from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and is made from the Lambrusco grape. What most people don’t realize is that there is huge variation within the Lambrusco category: Lambrusco can range from cotton candy sweet to bone dry and tannic. A Lambrusco that is secco will not be sweet in the least, while one labeled dolce or semisecco will be quite sweet or semi-sweet respectively (off-dry can also be called amabile). My friend Chuck, who runs a fantastic wine shop called Solo Vino in the Twin Cities told me another trick for discerning how sweet a Lambrusco: Look at the alcohol content. It’s not a guarantee, but it is a clue. As wine ferments, sugar is converted to alcohol. There’s a tradeoff there, so generally a wine with a lower alcohol content has more residual sugar and will be sweeter (around 6% will be very sweet), while a wine with a higher alcohol content (around 11%) will be drier and more tannic—sometimes so tannic that it will give you cotton mouth and you wouldn’t want to pair it with anything but the richest of meals.

And in the middle (around 8%) is likely to be in the sweetness ballpark of a berry-forward Merlot. To make Lambrusco even more complicated, there are light styles, usually called Lambrusco di Sorbara. You can also tell by looking at them that they are light because they will be pinker in comparison to the deep red of the richer style of Lambrusco known as Grasparossa. Lighter styles will have marked notes of strawberries, raspberries, and rhubarb; I like them on the drier side to keep the fruit from being cloying. On the other hand, I like the Grasparossa style to have just a touch of sweetness to keep it from being tannic (tasting a dry Grasparossa can be like taking a sip of black tea that has steeped for a half hour). My favorite that I tried recently was 8%—that is, amabile—from the Cleto Chiarli vineyard, which tasted intensely of raspberries, blackberry jam, dark stone fruit, and violets. Lambruscos that are dry or semi-dry can be fantastic pairings for rich food because both the bubbles and acidity cut through the richness.

Pair it with creamy pasta, cheese and meat plates, or Thanksgiving dinner. Sparkling Shiraz is extraordinarily popular in Australia, at least according to my friend Karen, and is the pre-dinner drink of choice for many people. Like Lambrusco, it can be dry or sweet or in between, but it is not necessarily labeled, so the alcohol content trick can come in handy here. Shiraz has higher alcohol content in general than many varietals, however, so expect them to be in the range of 12.5 to 14%. A nice sparkling Shiraz has all the varietal characteristics of a regular Shiraz—deep berry flavors mingling with pepper, anise, hints of herbs, and vanilla, combined with a creaminess and zest from the bubbles. Many of these wines are actually blends of Shiraz and other grape varietals. The problem with sparkling Shiraz is that much of what is available is cheap Shiraz, produced en masse and suffering from the same faults as any cheap, bad Shiraz: dull, vinegary, unbalanced fruit flavors, all made more punctuated by the presence of bubbles.

If you want a sparkling Shiraz worth drinking, you’ll likely have to look in the $30 and up price range, and many liquor stores aren’t willing to carry pricey Australian wines because they don’t think anyone will buy them. But, if you find one, buy it! And serve it slightly chilled as an aperitif or with barbecued meats or rich foods. This is the final style of sparkling red wine you’re likely to run into in a liquor store, and it brings us back to Italy. It is made in the Piedmont region from Brachetto grapes, and it is always sweet and quite low alcohol, usually around 5%. Brachetto d’Acqui is so sweet and candy-like, I consider it a dessert more than I consider it a wine. The aromas and flavors of Brachetto are reminiscent of strawberries combined with potpourri, and violet pastilles. Think a combination of a Moscato, a berry-rich rosé, and the aromatic lychee flavors of a Gewurztraminer. Because of its sweetness, a Brachetto, like a sweet Lambrusco, should be saved for the end of the meal.