Over the course of a week, I taste a bunch of wine, usually with friends, and almost always with my wife.  Here are some of the wines we tasted over the past few weeks. These are wines that were not sent as samples—in most cases, I actually paid for these wines (although a few have been given as gifts).

2016 Brigaldara Ripasso della Valpolicella Superiore, Veneto, Italy: Retail $22. Very Heavy Bottle (697g; 24.5oz). 55% Corvina, 25% Corvinone, 20% Rondinella. When I was last in Verona for VinItaly, I somehow ended up with two bottles of this wine. I am fairly certain that I purchased them from a local wine shop, but you can never be 100% certain. So, here we are. On the first day, this was corked. Not heavily so, but enough to notice which tends to piss one (i.e., me) off.On Day 2? Decidedly better with no evidence of cork taint, but muted fruit and subtle earth. The palate was fruity, even frivolous, but certainly “fine” with decent fruit and a healthy zing. But. This was certainly corked yesterday. What might have been? Unrated.

NV Lucien Albrecht Crémant d’Alsace Pinot Noir Brut Rosé, Alsace, France: Retail $24. Very Heavy Bottle (767g; 27.0oz). 100% Pinot Noir. There is a saying in basketball (I have been a coach for a long time): if you find yourself unguarded, there is probably a reason. A version of that can be applied to the wine industry: If a wine is on clearance, there is likely a good reason. So when my wife brought this home from a random grocery store, proud of the fact that it was “Half Off!”, I was skeptical. Don’t get me wrong, I would have bought it too, as this is one of our favorite producers of Crémant d’Alsace, but, well, I have a feeling this has been on the shelf for a while (and thus the problem with non-vintage wines). Sure, it was still perfectly quaffable and had some nice attributes (good acidity, as one would expect), but the fruit was somewhat stewed and musty, rendering this just Very Good, in my book. 88 Points.

2022 Joseph Drouhin, Bourgogne, France: Retail $30. Responsible Bottle (557g; 19.6oz). 100% Pinot Noir. I was looking for an Old World Pinot Noir that slotted into the $20-30 range and this certainly fit the bill, but how did it taste? Pretty darned good, that’s for sure. Tons of cherry, a touch of fruit, weight, a touch of bravado, and even some chutzpah. Yeah, this is no DRC, but it is a solid Burgundy that will do quite well in my tasting, thank you very much. Excellent. 91 Points.

2022 Louis Jadot Pinot Noir Couvent des Jacobins, Bourgogne, France: Retail $25. Responsible Bottle (519g; 18.3oz). 100% Pinot Noir. I was doing a bit of research, searching for an inexpensive “Old World” Pinot for one of my tastings and I stumbled across this at my local H-E-B (I love my H-E-B). While it might not be what I am looking for, it is a tasty Pinot at $20 (the H-E-B discounted price). Fairly dark in color, at least for a Burgundy, plenty of red berry fruit (more of a raspberry than cherry, I find), with some spice and a touch of earth. The palate is surprisingly fruity (or maybe not so, given that this is likely intended for the US market), but there is plenty of tartness to balance it out. Look, there is no way anyone will confuse this for a Clos de Vougeot, but for a Tuesday night? Solid Pinot. Maybe more than that. Excellent. 90 Points.

NV Damien Pinon Vouvray Le Brut de Brut, Loire Valley, France: Retail $25? Very Heavy Bottle (762g; 1lb 10.9oz). 100% Chenin Blanc. Wow, has it really been a year since I last popped one of these? Here is what I wrote last time: I picked these up from Last Bubbles, another site from Last Bottle Wines, my favorite online retailer. Yellow, close to golden in the glass with plenty of lemon and a touch of honey blossom. The palate is bright and concise with modest fruit and an ample amount of verve. Perfectly fine. Still spot on. Very Good. 88 Points.

2023 Rodney Strong Pinot Noir Rosé, Russian River Valley, CA: Retail $25. Very Responsible Bottle (425g; 15.0oz). Under screw cap. I first tasted this a little over a year ago for the Eighth Annual Blind Tasting of American True Rosé. I loved it then (93 Points), and I love it now, even more since I found it at my local H-E-B (I love my H-E-B) for under twelve bucks. Fairly light cotton candy color with melon and a bit of flint on the nose with a touch of florality. The palate is lovely: good strawberry fruit, intense tartness, fantastic. Outstanding. 93 Points.

2012 Domaine du Théron Malbec Cuvée Prestige, Cahors, France: Retail $25. Very Responsible Bottle (482g; 17.0oz). 100% Malbec. I have no idea why I bought four bottles of this wine back in 2020 from Wines Til Sold Out. Well, that is not entirely true. As a rule, I am fairly cheap, and these wines were ten bucks on the site. They also had a bit of age on them already, which helps with wines from the region. Other than that? Yeah. No idea. I am not a huge fan of Malbec and, well, I do not drink a ton of reds that do not rhyme with “See No War”. Well, this one is actually quite nice: good fruit, tangy tartness, a hint of earth and the tannins are silky and integrated. Yeah. Digging it. Excellent. 90 Points. I think I must be a genius (did I spell that right?).

WINE OF THE WEEK: If I were to classify this week in pulling wine from the cellar, I would say it was “Solid but not spectacular” and that is perfectly fine most of the time (if it were “spectacular” all the time, wouldn’t that render it “ordinary”?). So, in choosing the Wine of the Week, I opted for a wine that we would not hesitate to drink on a daily basis, a wine that we can find on the shelf at our local grocery store for under twelve bucks (even though the “suggested retail price” is more than twice that). Yes, this week’s top wine is the 2023 Rodney Strong Rosé of Pinot Noir.

What was your Wine of the Week?