Russ Winton: Deals on wines for spring

Spring has officially been sprung with warmer weather, bees buzzing, birds chirping and all that springy stuff.

Actually, this spring unofficially started in January. I know. My warm-weather wines (rosés, crisp whites and light reds) are gone and I’m overloaded with big heavy reds like cabernets, syrahs, petite sirahs, mourvedres and red blends. Where was the cold weather for the comfort foods like rich stews, soups, chili and gamey meats? Winter flew by in December. A few weeks of rain and a bit of snow and that was it.

And what do I have to show for it? One day of skiing (on a season pass!) and lots and lots of red wine. Sniff.

Searching for rosé

The Navigator and I annually head for a Giants baseball game in April and drop by my favorite wine shop. We pick up a mixed case of newly released rosés’ from France. We went earlier this year (see above) and got shut out. No, not the game, they’re in Arizona, the wine. The shop only had the sale-priced 2013s. I asked the clerk. “Where are the new rosés?” His sour reply was, “Did you see all those container ships anchored in the bay? Well, they’re inside one of them.” We settled on a mixed case of last year’s vintage and headed to North Beach for lunch.

Locally, there are some excellent wine deals. Costco has a discount of $15 if you purchase six bottles, which is $2.50 off each bottle. Two good deals are the 2014 Nobilo Marlborough New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc ($4.99) and the 2013 Wild Horse Central Coast Pinot Noir ($8.50). Safeway has their 30 percent plus 10 percent off sale going on and I discovered the 2014 Chateau de Campuget Costieres de Nimes for just $7.19. This is a rosé’ I look for every year and it’s a blend of grenache noir and syrah. It lists for $12. I usually pay around $10, so $7.19 is a steal. Two more good buys are the 2013 Hahn Winery GSM for only $8.99 and the 2012 Kenwood Sonoma County Zinfandel, $7.99.

If you’re looking for kosher wines, remember that not all kosher wines are sweet and grapey like Manischewitz from New York. Excellent kosher wines are made in Israel and in the U.S. using high-quality grapes. Look for the Golan Heights Winery or Galil Mountain Winery from Israel or Hagafen Cellars or the Baron Herzog Winery, both from California.

What’s on our table

This week is the 2013 McManis Cabernet Sauvignon. This is the best $10 cabernet I’ve tasted in a long time. It’s a perfect house red wine and is definitely case-worthy. Cheers!

This story was originally published March 23, 2015 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Russ Winton: Deals on wines for spring."