This little guy doesn’t have a guilty bone in his body.  Neither should you.  Every Wednesday I will write-up a wine that I feel delivers good value for drinking in the middle of the week.  Aside from quality, my only other criteria is price.  To start, less than $15, but ideally less than $10, for a 750 ml bottle. 

I will also add any recipes that I paired with the wine.  I hope to leave you with a recipe that you can use to match up with a wine of your choice if you can’t locate the one I recommend.

No-Guilt Wednesday is not about compromising on quality.  It’s about all about drinking good wine that does not break the bank, eating good food and of course, it’s about sharing with the ones you love.  

Graffigna Centenario Reserve Malbec 2008 ($8).  A killer value in wine!  Initially hints of graphite on the nose.  Dark fruit on the palate.  Age-worthy tannins.  From the San Juan region of Argentina, which is north of Mendoza, I have been seeing some fine wines coming from here.  Rated **1/2

This week’s menu was the lazy man’s offering.  Not being particularly motivated today, and this particular Wednesday being on the heels of a busy July 4th weekend, I chose the Path of Least Resistance.  Ms. R and I had some ravioli from Trader Joe’s– filled with 3 cheeses, artichoke and olive.  I made a quick butter/EVOO/sage sauce and that was dinner.  We sat at the newly acquired Café Table now residing on the deck just off the living room.  Lazy— yes— but romantic and we did not go hungry.

Lazy Sage-Butter Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. Sweet (unsalted) Butter
• 3 Tbsp. EVOO
• 1 Tbsp. Fresh Sage chopped

Directions:

1. Heat up the EVOO in a pan (I prefer a cast iron frying pan)
2. Add the butter so that it melts but does not burn or carmelize
3. Add Sage
4. Season with salt to taste
5. When pasta is ready, (reserve 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the pasta water) drain and add to the pan with the sauce
6. Pour 1/4 cup of the pasta water and let the sauce coat the pasta– add more water if necessary
7. Grate some Pecorino over the top and serve

Sybarite Sauvage ©