It rarely happens, but today, both http://www.wineExpress.com and www.cinderellawine.com featured the same wine as the “Deal of the Day.”
Not only was the wine the same, but the promo background stuff was practically duplicated. Both sellers relied on results from Decanter Magazine’s annual wine competition and quoted many of the same comments.
It was rated 95 points by Decanter and was described as the “Best Red Bordeaux under $20.”
To break the suspense, the wine is the 2014 Château Malbec, appellation Bordeaux. Not a big name, but it has a good track record and is part of the Castel Wine Group.
And 95 points is pretty impressive from these judges. (fyi…I once served on Decanter’s panel, so am familiar with the program.)
To get back to the online smack-down, the indisputable winner is….cinderellawine with its $12.98 bottle price and free shopping on 6 bottles.
The best wineExpress could do was $14.95 a bottle with free shipping on 12 bottles.
Either way, a highly-rated, under $15 Bordeaux is a good find.
Cinderella is part of the mega wine library site, and wineExpress is a division of The Wine Enthusiast.
See detailed reviews of each at www.bestonlinewineshopping.com
Given the super-hype for the 2015 vintage, I’ve been suggesting people stock up on the 2014s, an excellent vintage for Bordeaux wines to enjoy over the next few years.
Author: robywine, norm roby
My career as a wine journalist/critic began in 1975 when my article about California Petite Sirah was published. My focus remained on California as I edited a monthly wine magazine and then moved on to The Wine Spectator in 1982. Over the following years, my column appeared under the banner of “Stormin’ Norman, and I also wrote articles about wine collectors and wine auctions.
Without getting into a year by year bio, let me try to summarize here. During my time with The Spectator which I enjoyed immensely, I taught wine classes at a culinary school and at other venues in San Francisco. Before venturing into wine, teaching was my thing, English Lit and Rhetoric.
After The Spectator I was the U.S. Contributor to Decanter Magazine, writing mostly about California, but also expanding into Washington State and Oregon. My Decanter years began in 1992 and after buying a summer home in France in 2000, I traveled throughout France and eventually published articles about St. Emilion, Castillon, Bergerac, Minervois, Roussillon,
Luberon, Provence, and Alsace.
Also, around 2000, my wife began working for Cousino-Macul in Chile, so we tasted and traveled our way through Chile and, of course, managed to fly over the Andes and explore and taste our way through Argentina.
As travel lovers, we have also spent many interesting days visiting the wine regions of Spain, Italy, Portugal, Scicily, Greece, and New Zealand.
And to come to a close, I was Director of Winesong, a Charity Wine Auction for 20 years, 1992-2000 that benefitted a local hospital. That brought me in contact with wine collectors and to the auction scene. And finally, I co-authored a book, The Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine published by Alfred A. Knopf. It went through 4 editions and sold over 500.000 copies.
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Norm Roby's Unfiltered Guide to Savvy Wine Shopping 