Year-end wine sales are a great way to stock up, and some of our perennial favorites are selling now for rock-bottom prices.
We noted with delight back in March that a terrific red blend from the Puglia region of Italy (the heel of the boot) is making its way into increasingly more area wine shops. Tormaresca Nèprica is a blend of native Italian grapes negroamaro and primitivo (genetically identical to American zinfandel) along with cabernet sauvignon. It’s consistently good and a great bargain at its typical price of about $12 a bottle, but the 2010 vintage is on sale again for as little as $7.95.
“Neprica ... offers an unbeatable price versus quality ratio,” according to Wine Enthusiast’s Monica Larner, scoring the 2009 vintage 90 points. “This rising star of Puglia would pair with meats, pasta or aged cheese and offers clean aromas of ripe fruit, spice and leather.”
Pearson’s in Glover Park has Tormaresca Puglia Nèprica 2010 on sale for $7.95 a bottle, marked down from an inflated regular price of $15.99, while Total Wine stores in Maryland (formerly Corridor Wine & Spirits in Laurel and Beltway Fine Wine in Towson) sell it every day for just $7.99. At that price it’s worth buying by the case and getting the 10 percent discount to bring it to $7.19 a bottle, plus tax. (A better comparison than Pearson’s regular price is the $10.85 a bottle Tormaresca Neprica costs at Montgomery County Liquor stores.)
Tormaresca is owned by the Antinori family, renowned producers of expensive “super Tuscan” wines, but also makers of another consistently great red value that we’ve repeatedly recommenced, Santa Cristina. This consistently pleasing blend of sangiovese (best known as the dominant grape in Chianti) with a 10-percent splash of merlot, is also on sale at Pearson’s and available at Total Wine in Maryland for about the lowest price in the country. Pearson’s has it for the same $7.95 a bottle, you can find Santa Cristina at Total Wine in Laurel or Towson for just $7.49 a bottle ($6.74 by the case).
It’s still a great bargain at $8.49 a bottle at Total Wine in Virginia or for its more typical price of between $11 and $12 a bottle at Rodman’s, Chevy Chase Wine & Spirits or Potomac Wine & Spirits in Georgetown. But Maryland wine drinkers have a rare opportunity to snag the best price in town on these terrific Italian values.
Cheers!
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