Cheap Wines Part I

So I don't claim to know anything about wine, but I know what I like and I LOVE what I like.  I love to drink Oregon Pinot Noir.  Unfortunately we can't all be like Mark and live in the Pacific Northwest where good pinots practically grow on trees...and that shit is EXPENSIVE here in rural Indiana. 

So I'm on the search for some good, cheap standbys while I'm here the next two years.  Not necessarily Pinots, just good stuff I can get in my weekly Kroger runs, or an occasional Trader Joe's run in the city.

Tonight I opened my Barefoot Cabernet Sauvignon.  I don't drink Cabs very often, and I know that Barefoot can be risky.  But who could resist that blackish-purple liquid schloshing around the bottle?

This Cab was surprisingly pretty good.  Good if you like jammy wine, and I do (cannot WAIT for a special occasion to imbibe my August Cellars Marchel Focht).  A rich berry flavor, kind of spicy, and surprisingly tangy. I was worried about the tannin overload, so I left mine open on the counter and swished the hell out of it before I tasted.  

Caveat: I made spicy Indian food but didn't really think through the whole wine-pairing thing before I planned my meal.  Bad combination.  Terrible combination.  Save this for something MUCH simpler/earthier.  Or just drink it alone while watching a shitty ripoff of Before Sunrise (2 Days in Paris, anyone?  "Coincidentally" a project by Julie Deply).  But Deply is cute, especially with her oversized black-rim glasses, so the Cab and I were content.