cheap thrills

Pacific Rim Dry Riesling ($10), Washington

The world of cheap wine is in flux as we celebrate the Advocate’s 10th annual Cheap Wine extravaganza and $10 Wine Hall of Fame. Cheap wine is more popular than ever, but the wine industry — and especially the wine writing part of it — seems to resent cheap wine more than ever. Their reasons aren’t quite clear, but chalk up much of the backlash to the fact they’re tired of cheap wine, and want to get back to making and writing about the expensive stuff. We can be a bit snobbish, no?

Nevertheless, the 2012 Hall of Fame added seven wines, and dropped only four: Anne urgau and the Vinum Cellars chenin blanc , which are scarce around here, and the Toad oir Rose. It’s especially sad to drop the Toad has been a fixture since the Hall started. But tage, for whatever reason, is more white ziné, and it doesn’t meet the Hall’s standards.

ew wines are Pacific Rim Dry Riesling, a ich has been in and out of the Hall several ek Fume Blanc, a stellar sauvignon blanc a; Chateau de Riviere, a French red; La lciano d’Abruzzo, a classic Italian red; the Torrontes, an Argentine white; and the Ses brut and rosé sparkling wine from Spain. s the rest of this year’s Hall of Fame: a white wine from Sicily, which ents the couple of dozen Sicilian wines have enjoyed over the past four years. Lity. I have not had a bad Sicilian wine in four , and most of them have been $10 Hall ity.

s from California’s Bogle yards, and especially the old vine zinfan- the Spanish sparkling wine, h comes in brut (dry), extra dry (sweeter brut) and rosé.

1-liter boxed sauvignon c from Chile.

White blends southwestern France, including Doe Tariquet, Domaine Artigaux and Doe Duffour.

SIEGEL’S WEEKLY WINE REVIEWS

—Jeff Siegel

r every Wednesday on lakewood.advocatemag.com

With Your Wine

Sweet and sour cole slaw

Cole slaw exists in an infinite number of variations, and this version tweaks it yet again. Serve this on New Year’s with black-eyed peas and your favorite $10 wine.

GROCERY LIST

1 Tbsp white sugar

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp mustard powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp celery seed

Directions

2 Tbsp canola oil

1/4 c distilled white vinegar

1 lb green cabbage (about half a medium cabbage)

1 large carrot, peeled

1 small white onion

1/2 bell pepper

1. Whisk together the first eight ingredients in a microwave safe bowl, and heat in microwave until just about boiling.

2. Shred cabbage and carrots. Slice onions and pepper.

3. Add vegetables to the bowl with the dressing. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour; longer is better.

Serves 8, takes about 2 hours

Ask the wine guy

How popular is wine in the United States?

Depends on whom you ask. We drink more wine than anyone else in the world, but our per capita consumption is very ordinary. Wine and beer have been trading off as the most popular alcoholic beverage in the country, but very few of us drink that wine: Just 20 percent of the U.S. adult population accounts for 91 percent of all wine consumed. —Jeff Siegel

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