$4 Carménère, Very Nice

Fresh & Easy introduces a good quality, inexpensive wine, and then often, doesn't carry it again (links here and here). A few weeks ago I picked up a $3.99 bottle of Hacienda Altavina, Central Valley Carménère 2008. It was a very good red, going well with spicy and meat dishes. Yes, it's a screw top, but I am starting to think that for every-day drinking, corks might be over-rated. And besides, the Portuguese cork monkeys are an endangered species. =)

So many people are obsessed with Cabernets or Merlots. They need to get over it, and venture out into the Carménère, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Rioja, and many other varietals. But that's fine, while the herd heads to the California Cabernet aisle, I can pick up under-appreciated delicious Chilean, Argentinian, and European wines.