Quality wines under $20

A friend of mine has asked me to write something about "good wines under $20".  So I will write this piecemeal.
This question is asked of me many times and in many different forms.  I can't promise that you'll like a particular wine because we all have different palates.  Some people are very sensitive to tannin, for instance, and most red wines taste very bitter to them. Some people have a preference for the "New World" fruit forward styled wines as opposed to "Old World" wines with less fruitiness and more structure (mostly tannin and acid).  So without knowing each individuals preferences it's impossible to make sweeping statements about what is good.  This is why I'm not a fan of the points system that Parker and Co. use.
What I can write about is quality, in all it's various styles.  I will blog about several wines in this price point over the next couple of weeks.  I'll let you know what sort of style it is, as well as it's personal characteristics and my assessment of it's quality. I'll let you know where you can buy it and how much it is.  If you go out and buy a wine that I've blogged about let me know.  Try to describe the wine to me and let me know what you liked and disliked about the wine.  This way I'll get an idea of you preferences and can advise you better going forward.

2008 Château de Ségriès, Lirac Rouge, Cuvée Réservée

I picked this up a couple of weeks ago at Whole Foods.  We sell it at Mercato and some guy had a problem with it not being Cotes-du-Rhone Villages anymore. A little knowledge can be dangerous.  Anyway, I thought this little wine was a stunner. Absolutely gorgeous. Medium weight, beautiful spice and red fruit from the blend: 50% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 10% Cinsault, 5% Mourvèdre, 5% Carignan. Kysela is the importer and  it's distributed by Advintage.  Of course Parker gave it only 87 points. Not really his style.  But if you like wines that are elegant, spicy, sexy and please everyone at the table, this wine will do nicely.

The Natural Debate

Here's a link to an article written be Steve Heimoff on the subject of natural wines:
http://www.steveheimoff.com/index.php/2010/09/22/natural-schmatural/comment-page-1/#comment-82563

My response is as follows:


The wine business is like many other trades.  The medical industry has it's Witch doctors and doctors who shun any form of natural medicine in favor of every vaccine possible and every prescription written.
In our business we have people who practice their viticulture as a religion. Some truly believe in it and others simply use it to market their wine.  This topic of natural, sustainable, organically grown, organically produced, biodynamically produced grapes and wines is intensely divisive. It certainly provides for great and entertaining debate.  Unfortunately, the producers who portray this holier-than-thou attitude are seen as the face of natural wine.
The truth is there are more producers of "natural" wine who are simple, modest people. Ted Lemon of Littorai is one example.  He does everything he can to limit the use of
organic chemicals in his vineyard but is the first to concede that without these chemicals he would lose the crop.  Obviously, we can surmise that there is a correlation between crop health and quality wine.
It would be pleasant if the self-righteous wackos and the people who seem rabid about bashing all of natural viticulture would disappear for a short while.
They cloud the water and perpetuate bad information. Where are the moderates who understand this? Is putting a spin on everything simply the way things are done in our time? I hope not.