This little guy doesn’t have a guilty bone in his body. Neither should you. Every Wednesday (though it could be Tuesday or Thursday) 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.
Just before Labor Day and getting to the end of summer. I want grilled meat. I want a red wine with balls. But I don’t want to blow out my bank account today. And I don’t have to.
Rubrato Aglianico Feudi di San Gregorio 2007 ($9). Right out of the gate the nose brings to mind candied cherries. Ripe, yet restrained, fruit finishing with an herbal edge alternating with references to mint/lavender/eucalyptus. Solid acidity and firm but yielding tannins leaving an almost tingling sensation on the tongue. An aftertaste on the finish that evokes chocolate essence combined with soil. This is a fine effort at this price point that would not be hurt by 2-3 more years in the bottle. A great food wine that begs for a manly piece of meat. As it opened up and extended itself, it just started to become more and more magical. Am I really writing about a $9 bottle? Rated ** 1/2 The Wine Advocate’s Antonio Galloni gave this 87 points in August of 2009 complaining that “some of the Aglianico character is overpowered by the oak treatment”. Interesting comment– I did not see this on the first two tastings, though it was a bit more prevalent on the third tasting. So perhaps bottle variation is playing a role here. Still, I don’t think that this is a fatal flaw. In fact, it added a nuance to the wine that I found pleasing. Nicely balanced and food friendly. Find this and at this price and you should stock up. Maybe all it needed was another year in the bottle. Eventually, others will catch on and you don’t want to be caught short. In fact, I flirted with a *** rating for this wine. But it did not have the nose, complexity or finish to support that rating. But a terrific value at this price point.
Initially, I was thinking beef with this. But if ever a wine was made to accompany the classic grilled pork chop, this was it. I have made this dish for company just because it is so damned simple I can prepare it in my sleep. It always gets a the “can I have the recipe” imprimatur. My daughter made a beautiful red bell pepper stuffed with quinoa, apples, garlic, parsley and mint which accompanied the chops. Absolutely magical combination: That dish is bound to make it into the pantheon of Sybarite Sauvage recipes. Thanks much, my little Sybarite-in-training!
Grilled Puerto Rican Pork Chops
Ingredients
- 4 large center cut bone-in pork chops (about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick)
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder (not garlic salt)– yeah, you read that right, not fresh garlic— don’t think, just do.
- kosher salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
Directions:
- Preheat grill on high setting
- Season the chops with a generous amount of salt especially around the bone
- Grind black pepper to taste
- Sprinkle with garlic powder and dried thyme.
- Place chops on grill and cook 5 minutes per side (7 minutes if chops are thicker). You can use a meat thermometer to ensure proper level of doneness.
- Remove from flame and let rest for 5-10 minutes.
Serves 4
© Sybarite Sauvage
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sybaritesauvage 
Hi, we read with great interest your post. We’re happy to see that you enjoyed our Rubrato Aglianico! Have you ever taste our white wines? Let’s stay connected on http://www.feudi.it/community…we are waiting for your opinion!
Greetings
Novella
Feudi di San Gregorio Team
http://www.facebook.com/feudisg
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While I have not yet tried your whites, based on the Aglianico, my appetite is whetted. Stay tuned…
One other thing that I will say about the Rubrato Aglianico is that I have shared this with some other trusted friends and so far all of them have been very impressed with the quality at this price point. While the Galloni review hurt retail sales (and for that I am sorry), it does create a buying opportunity for those of us who are actually paying attention.
It just goes to show that you don’t need to spend a whole lot of coin to get good value. But as we dig through the abundance of wines on the market, it is sometimes hard to find gems like yours.
Please don’t raise your prices too much!