FIVE DOLLAR LUSH - La Parra Loca 2010 Tempranillo Rose...

There's all kinds of wine out there to suit any kind of drinker. I happen to be every kind of drinker. I like a challenging wine from time to time that forces me to think, reframe and dig deeper to find the deliciousness in it. I like the no-brainer, all purpose, easy-drinking/pairing ones that are neither here nor there but really just serve to lube the camaraderie and dinner conversation. I like the ones that seem only to taste good when paired with food. 

And I like the kind that doesn't really seem to go all that well with food, but is just a good time in a bottle. This is that. 

Giggly, pink, sweet, stick an ice cube in it for your Asian mother who can't drink to save her life, girlywine.

Yup. GIRLYWINE. Just look at it. It's like magenta Swarovski crystals and Mr. Bubble all wrapped up in a bottle.

The label even makes you wanna paint your toenails.

And because it's so dang sweet, the buzz hits even faster, and before you know it, you're GIGGLING. Like a little GIRL.

Your craft-brewing/drinking Man would not be caught dead with a glass of this stuff in public, but sometimes, when you're sitting on the couch, watching a bunch of spray tanned and spackled housewives from New Jersey flip over tables and call their frenemies *PROSSTITOOSHUN WHOOAHS* while their veins are fixin to pop out their necks, a glass of this stuff makes that shit even more hilarious.

LA PARRA LOCA 2010 TEMPRANILLO ROSE (temprahNEEyoh rohSAY)

Price:  $4.99 on sale ($6.99 when not)
Where:  Fresh & Easy
Tasting Notes:  Very sweet, mildly red grape-y, with a generally non-descript fruity essence
Goes With:  Maybe a lightly dressed and fairly acidic salad, or a light and acidic seafood preparation
Buy Again?  YES if I had a bunch of light drinker girlfriends coming over for an Oscar night or Tupperware party

Cheers <in two syllables with my head cocked>,

shinae

FIVE DOLLAR LUSH - La Parra Loca 2010 Sauvignon Blanc - Verdejo

I've had wine that people who are supposed to be in the know consider to be great, wine that people who are supposed to be in the know wouldn't dream of drinking to save their cellars, and a lot of stuff in between.

I think the right kind of wine can benefit many a meal, but I think there are many meals that don't really benefit from wine, too.

I won't even try to front that I know anything about wine except for what tastes good to me, what it tastes like to my palate, and how it goes with certain food from the perspective of said palate. I do know that I don't care for stuff like Boone's Farm and Arbor Mist because it's a little too fruity and watered down tasting for me in general, but I certainly would not turn down a glass if I were at a party at which that was all the liquid happy that was being served.

And barring a compelling reason not to, I think everyone should benefit not only from the flavor sensation of a good food and wine pairing regardless of the price range, but also from the lovely and stress-free respite from life that a nice, affordable weekday glass of wine can provide.

That said, as there is no shortage of wine pundits in the $10 and up range, and as I'm the kind of gal who doesn't mind drinking a few bottles of two dollar lighter fluid to find a surprisingly good three dollar bottle of stuff that actually qualifies as wine, this is where I'll tell you about how to get a decent wine buzz (or how to avert turpentine throat) for five dollars or less.

As I'm a realist, and as we're dealing with cheap, CHEAP wine, the rubric is more about whether it's easy enough to drink, whether it's worth a try, and whether it's worth buying again than it is about the more esoteric aspects of wine judging (which I'm not qualified to do anyway).

So with no further ado, my first Five Dollar Lush wine:

LA PARRA LOCA 2010 SAUVIGNON BLANC - VERDEJO
(SOHveenyohn BLAHNK BvehrDEHhoh)

For the past several months, the Man and I have been getting cheap shits and giggles from trying *VERY* inexpensive wine. While a few have been absolute swill unfit for sober human consumption, most have been surprisingly serviceable. If we couldn't get to the bottom of the bottle, the rest became cooking wine, if we could barely manage to get to the bottom of the bottle, we considered it a pass, but if we agreed that we would buy it again, we considered it a *WIN*.

La Parra Loca 2010 Sauvignon Blanc - Verdejo

Price:  $4.99 on sale

Where:  Fresh & Easy

Tasting Notes:  a predominantly generically green grape-y flavor with a hint of the candied element of muscat; a nice, light and balanced sweetness; crisp and mildly tart

Goes With: simple fish and seafood preparations, including sushi, IMO. I think it would also go well with lighter Southeast Asian fare.

Buy again?  YES

I won't lie. I was a little taken by the colors and the
gold fluorishes on the label...

The roast chicken we had with it. Perfect pairing.

Salud,

shinae