Top 100 under $20

November 12, 2009

WineDiva.ca & WineScores.ca
Bi-weekly newsletter

Top 100 - Best Buys of 2009
Top 100-Best Buys
Top 100 Best Buys 2009
Top 100 Best Buys 2009
Top 100 Best Buys 0f 2009
Scorpio
Top 100 Best Buys of 2009
Retail/Agents Partners Program
The Tasting Room
"My Favourite Wines"

It is that time of the year again.
My annual TOP 100 Best Buy Wines! These are wines I have reviewed on WineDiva & WineScores between November 11, 2008 & November 11, 2009.
They are wines under $20 and have scored 89+ points on my sister site WineScores.ca.
These are wines from around the world...red, white and bubble which stand out in the category of quality and price.

This weekend I am up in Whistler Village for Cornucopia. Saturday morning I am talking bubbles with Mark Taylor from Cru and Sunday Laurel Keenan from Wines of South Africa joins me to sample The Gems of South Africa. There are plenty of goings on, seminars, after-parties (Araxi always throws a bubbly winner on Saturday night) and the Crush Gala Grand Tastings on Friday & Saturday nights...
See you on the mountain!

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter - TheWineDiva for updates on events, travels, tasting notes and a few cheeky subtitles...

Cheers,
Daenna

Top 100 - Best Buys of 2009

What are the Top 100 wines of 2009?
These are best buy wines - great value for the price. They are wines I have had the opportunity to review on WineDiva.ca & WineScores.ca over the past year. They have scored a numerical rating of at least 89/100 points on WineScores.ca.
This is the second year I have released a Top 100-Best Buys, the response last year was fantastic.
By releasing my Top 100-Best Buys of the year in November it has the added benefit of making your holiday shopping easier. Parties and family get-togethers require good bottles at reasonable prices. It's expensive enough at this time of year, and your time is limited so this is my gift to you...
Enjoy!
I know you'll find more than a few gems in this list!

Remember!
By accessing the WineDiva Tool Bar on each review you can:
*Send that individual review to a friend (as a hint...)
*You can find more wines from that particular winery/producer
*You can find similar wines (based on aromatic and flavour profile)
*But you can also score that wine out of 5 stars, and
*You can post that wine to your personal FaceBook page and create your own private cellar for friends to see...

Link to Wine Diva'sTop 100 of 2009...

Top 100-Best Buys
DFJ Vinhos "Portada" Lisboa Portugal, 2006

The region of Lisboa was formerly known as Estremadura. It runs along central coast of Portugal where Lisbon (Lisboa) is located.
This wine is very well balanced between old world rustic and new world texture you can expect aromas of saddle leather and red berries, green olives and wild herbs, sunbaked earth and cherries with hits of cedarbox. It is fresh and very smooth on the palate layered with red fruit, leather and tobacco. Simple yet complex all at once - drinking well now.

$13+

This wine and 99 more 2009 Best Buys...

Top 100 Best Buys 2009
Marchesi de Frescobaldi 'Remole' Tuscany Italy, 2007

There is 15% Cabernet Sauvignon blended into this Tuscan Sangiovese...
It is what you desire in a simple Tuscan wine - cherries and leather, sweet cedar and crushed floral aromas with tar and fine spice notes. Subtle and juicy red fruits, cigarbox, wild herbs and leather with fennel seed and cedar flavours lingering on the finish. Simply suitable and simply delicious.
Pair with pasta soups, light meat dishes, hard cheese or tomato based dishes.

$14.99

This wine and 99 more Best-Buys 2009...

Top 100 Best Buys 2009
Pampas del Sur Reserve Cabernet~Malbec, Tupungato Argentina, 2007

A 50/50 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, this densely coloured red has appealing raspberry and blackberry aromas, sweet vanilla and cinnamon, mint chocolate patties and pepper with tobacco leaf undertones. Fantastic acidity on the palate, it is a supple, mouth-filling wine with plenty of fruit, chocolate and sweet spice flavours and fine tannins on the finish.
A very good value weekday red option to pair with meat or rich pastas.

$13.95

This wine and 99 more Best Buys of 2009...

Top 100 Best Buys 0f 2009
Bersano Cortese DOC Piedmont Italy, 2008

This Cortese is a terrific departure from your everyday Sauvignon or Chardy option.
Delicate aromas of pear, minerals, pretty apple blossom and citrus, a hint of guava, beeswax and herbal undertones. The texture is rounded, slightly oily with flavours of citrus peel and white fruit, almond lingers. The finish is clean and zesty.
Pair with fish or light appetizers.

$15.99

This wine and 99 more Best Buys of 2009...

Scorpio
If Scorpio were a wine she would be...

Scorpio's are...
Determined, forceful, emotional and intuitive, powerful, magnetic and passionate
But they are also...
Jealous, obsessive and compulsive Secretive, and often obstinate
They are detectives by nature, they like truth and to have meaningful jobs and they really enjoy being persuasive.
They dislike not knowing the whole story, they dislike shallowness and especially dislike flattery and flattering.
They are the power symbol of the zodiac and therefore like the good things in life...

The Scorpio colour is red (really?)
Their ruling planet - Pluto

If Scorpio was a wine, she would be...

Top 100 Best Buys of 2009
Cooralook Chardonnay, Strathbogie Ranges Victoria Australia, 2008

A delicious Chardy, highlighting the quality of one of Australia's wonderful cooler-climate wine growing regions.
Loads of juicy pear and golden pineapple, honey, a hint of buttered toast, spiced nuts and citrus. Fantastically bright with vibrant fruit, it's juicy yet has a creamy edge with a long spiced finish.
Lovely concentration and freshness.

$18+

This wine and 99 more Best Buys of 2009...

Retail/Agents Partners Program
New menu feature - Affiliated Retailers

By partnering with WineDiva.ca and WineScores.ca readers will know where to find the wines they read about on my websites. Are you in British Columbia, Alberta...?
Readers and wine lovers will be able to simply click the link on each individual review for the closest store to them.
Agents can sign up individual stores to support a product and wine stores can list all my reviewed wines (on both sites)...and more! Your store name will appear each time that wine is searched and each time it appears in a newsletter page or in my "sure bets - food and wine pairing".
With 650,000 hits per month on my combined sites - a lot of people are looking for where to buy wine!

Check it out! Under Agents and Retailers on my left hand menu (WineDiva.ca & WineScores.ca) is "Affiliated Retailers" private wine stores and cellar doors and all over BC are listed - is your name on that list?
If you are interested in having your store name and location attached to my reviews email us at: marketing@winediva.ca

read more here...

The Tasting Room

"...The Tasting Room is the radio version of an audio blend, a Meritage for the soul."
Terry David Mulligan and his guests discuss food, wine, viticulture...

Listen across Canada each Saturday to hear Wine Diva's weekly wine reviews.

The Tasting Room - is on Saturday...
10am - noon am 1150 in Kelowna on am 1450 in Summerland & Penticton or listen on www.thetastingroomradio.com
and now...

Listen for Wine Diva's weekly reviews...

This Saturday, November 14th, I talk about my recent trip to Argentina.

Link to The Tasting Room Radio...

"My Favourite Wines"
A super-cool new Facebook application

We have built a new application for all you Facebook users, suitably called called "My Favourite Wines".

And it's so easy to use.
Each one of my wine reviews (on WineDiva.ca and WineScores.ca) has a Facebook button attached. Every time you see a wine you like it, click on the Facebook button (like the one above) and it will lead you through to a Facebook sign-in page. Sign in as you usually would and follow the prompts. You can post that wine (along with its bottle shot) to your wall, write your own review, tell your friends, and build your own cellar page with all of your "My Favourite Wines".
Now, when your friends come over they can simply look at your "My Favourite Wines" page and know what wine to bring!
Give it a try!

Try it yourself here...

Coming next: LOTS!
Spain, Argentina and more...

Don't forget to visit winescores.ca and winediva.ca for new wine reviews every day!
And follow me on Twitter - @TheWineDiva

Pink and Cheeky...

Daenna Van Mulligen

WineDiva - WineScores

email: daenna@winediva.ca

web: http://www.winediva.ca