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 Aimee Muller-Thurgau and the Vinum Cellars chenin blanc and white blend, which are scarce around here, and the Toad Hollow Pinot Noir Rose. It’s especially sad to drop the Toad Hollow, which has been a fixture since the Hall started. But the current vintage, for whatever reason, is more white zinfandel than rosé, and it doesn’t meet the Hall’s standards. The seven new wines are Pacific Rim Dry Riesling, a sweet as been in and out of the Hall several times; Dry Blanc, a stellar sauvignon blanc from California; Riviere, a French red; La Fiera Montepulciano classic Italian red; the Santa Julia + Torrontes, e white; and the Segura Viudas brut and rosé ne from Spain.

rest of this year’s Hall of Fame: a white wine from Sicily, which represents dozen Sicilian wines that I have enjoyed over r years. Literally. I have not had a bad Sicilian our years, and most of them have been $10 Hall s from California’s Bogle Vine, and especially the old vine zinfandel. the Spanish sparkling wine, which es in brut (dry), extra dry (sweeter than brut) rosé.

1-liter boxed sauvignon c from Chile.

White blends from hwestern France, including Domaine Tarit, Domaine Artigaux and Domaine Duffour.

—Jeff Siegel

SIEGEL’S WEEKLY WINE REVIEWS ar every Wednesday on prestonhollow.advocatemag.com

Ask the wine guy

How popular is wine in the United States?

D epends on whom you ask. We drink more wine than anyone else in the world, but our per capita consumption is ver y ord inar y. Wine an d b eer h ave b een tradin g off as the most popular

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 blackeyed 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

2 Tbsp canola oil

Directions

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 alcoholic beverag e in the country, but v er y f ew o f us drink that wine: Just 20 percent of the U.S. adult population accounts f or 91 p ercent o f all wine con s umed Jeff Siegel

Emily Toman Can Türkyilmaz

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