I went to Grocery Outlet last week, and stumbled into a 20% off wine sale.  I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have some extra bottles on hand, especially in preparation for the holidays, and this was one of my picks.

We opened it over the weekend, and it was surprisingly good!  I think the bottle normally retails at $10 or so, but for a grand total of $4 at GO, this beats two-buck Chuck by an Obama-like landslide.

It was very drinkable right out of the bottle, fruity and jammy with pretty good body.  I liked that it was tannic at the start, but finished softer on the palate.  We had it with teriyaki chicken stir-fry and brown rice, but it’s also delish on its own.

(By the way, even though I live in wine country, I’m about the farthest thing from a wine snob there is.  I don’t know wines– but I know what tastes good to me, and that’s all anyone needs.  If stuff that tastes good can be had for $4 instead of $40, I’m all about that!)

One last note:  I’m sure there are some total losers and winners out there, but thanks to my trusty BlackBerry and wine review sites, I gave myself a better-than-average change of getting decently drinkable stuff.  Here’s a few fun links:

CellarTracker is actually a site for cellar management software, but their hugely extensive database of wine reviews is very helpful– and easy to search even from a mobile browser.

For the truly BlackBerry-addicted, there’s Nirvino mobile, an app which allows you to search cocktail, wine, and beer reviews, plus the best food pairings.

To get more of a learning experience, check out Vinography and Dr. Vino, a couple of wine-savvy blogs.  The Frugal Oenophile is another favorite for great wine recommendations that won’t break the bank.

WineLoversPage has more narrative tasting notes; interesting to read but difficult to get through on a small screen.  Save this for your desktop browsing.

Do you have any bargain wine finds you’d like to share?