More people are drinking wine in a box than ever before. Read about the best boxed wines on Slashfood.

The word "Bordeaux" doesn't exactly conjure up images of value wine--that's what South Africa, Chile, and Australia are for--but a new list of Bordeaux most affordable wines just might change that. The Top 100 list includes 100 wines priced between $8 and $35 and were chosen by an expert panel of judges. In other words, there's more to Bordeaux than fabled first growths and $2,000 sticker prices.

Check out the list here. Have you had any of these?

April may be the cruelest month, but January is surely the coldest. It's the perfect time to break out big, robust red wines that warm your body and soul. And what better to eat with a big red wine than a big steaming bowl of chili?

This weekend we had about a dozen people over for a blind tasting of six Carmeneres, all from Chile (the country--don't get Chile and chili confused!). Carmenere is Chile's signature grape, brought over from Bordeaux in the late 19th century. The wine is deeply dark and full-bodied, and in Chile can have a somewhat vegetal flavor, though it can also be quite fruity and spicy.

The six we tried ranged in price from $10 to $47. Chile is known around the world for its value wine, and it definitely delivered in our tasting. When the bags were pulled off, it turned out that several of us put the $10 wine in our top favorites. Surprisingly, everyone from the least- to the most-experienced tasters felt that all of the wines were good, and comparable in their quality, even though the prices were not.

More tasting notes and my "Chili for a Crowd" recipe after the jump.

It used to be that a trip to wine country meant trekking from winery to winery, tasting wine, cleansing one's palate with plain crackers, and then, stomach rumbling, heading over to a restaurant to satisfy the food craving. These days, plenty of wineries are trotting out more than just 1-ounce pours: they're putting out gourmet food, special events, and even live music to lure in and entertain customers.

For serious wine geeks, this trend no doubt annoys. Geeks would rather do what they do best--taste the wine, preferably covering as much ground as possible--and not have to consider that the cost of the live band has somehow worked its way into the case of Cabernet they just bought.

But for people who view wine-tasting and a visit to wine country as a social or romantic event, the wine experience can be a lot of fun. We're talking food and wine pairing classes; sessions with the winery's private chef, who may have been lured away from a top restaurant; music and wine pairings (and there's evidence to show that music does influence what you drink and how you taste it); and more.

More after the jump.

Start a conversation about value wines and you may hear votes for Chile, Spain, and Australia. Try this one on for size: Bulgaria. As scarce as Bulgarian wines are in the U.S., distributor Steve Ondush of Grapes Unlimited, who was pouring a series of Bulgarian wines at the San Antonio New World Wine & Food Festival, told me that Bulgaria is actually the second largest exporter of bottled wine in the world. So how come we don't all drink it here?

For one thing, most of the wine is exported to western European countries, where it's regarded as a value wine. For another, though Bulgaria has been producing wine practically since time began, its industry has been interrupted a few times, first by a 500-year domination by the Ottoman Empire and later by Communism. The current wine industry is less than 100 years old in this little Eastern European country tucked between Romania, Greece, and Turkey.

I tasted through all of the Grapes Unlimited selection and can make these generalizations from the wines I tried:

1. The red wines are much better than the whites, which tend to be on the sweetish side, and not in a good way.
2. Reds tend to be old-world style, less fruity and alcoholic than American or other new-world red wines.

Favorite of the tasting was the 2003 Damianitza No Man's Land Gold from the Melnik region of Bulgaria. It's a blend of 65 percent Merlot and 35 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, grown on the five-mile strip of land that used to separate communist Bulgaria from its southern neighbors. The wine was good now but had firm enough tannins to make me think it could still age for a bit. Not bad for a "value" region.

Have you had Bulgarian wines? Will it be America's next go-to value wine?

If you're a Vayniac, you already know that Gary Vaynerchuk came out with a book called 101 Wines Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World. Marisa announced the book here at Slashfood about a month and a half ago, and I just got my hands on a copy a few weeks ago.

I didn't put it down until I had at least looked at every single wine on the list. It's Gary first list of favorite and recommended wines, and it's chock full of enthusiasm, energy, and genuinely great recommendations.

Here are some ways this book can be useful for you:

• Exploring wine if you've never really tried wine before and have no idea where to start.
• Choosing great wines for specific occasions from Gary's very cleverly organized and insightful lists for any event.
• Finding the best wine for that flavor profile you really like (best dry Reisling, best "fruit bomb" red, etc.).
• Learning how you can become better at recognizing what you like about wine and what wines you're passionate about (hint: drink more wine!).
• Understanding that wine can be fun, and that it doesn't have to be serious or snobby.

What I really love about this book is the genuine authenticity that just reverberates from everything that Gary has to say. Each individual wine write-up is like getting to read an episode of Wine Library TV, chock full of enthusiasm, honesty, and insightful wine wisdom. The only thing I would change about the book is that, for a truly ignorant wine novice like myself, it's hard to tell which wines are white or red, etc., which is important for me since I have a hard time really enjoying reds and wanted to go through and pick out all of the wines that I knew I would want to try right off of the bat. A quick cheat sheet or wine primer at the beginning of the book (Petite Sirah is red, Reislings are white, etc.) would have been really helpful for me.

Overall, the book is well written, very straightforward in Gary's typical style, and I think it has potential to really help the everyday wine enthusiast reach a level of immersion in the wine world that many of us don't think we can reach. It can be expensive to start out in wine and buy a bottle of everything, especially if you're back at square one when the wine isn't a quality example of the genre you're trying to explore. This book makes jumping into every corner of the wine world a real possibility for every wine drinker, and that is something really worth sharing. Keep a copy handy for your own trips to the liquor store, and give a copy to a wine-loving (or wine-curious) friend!

With Wine Blogging Wednesday #22 wrapped up by Tim at Wine Cast - who would have thought there were so many red wines still with less than 12.5% alcohol - our thoughts turn to the next theme.

Hosted by Vivi's Wine Journal the theme for round 23 is  Bar-B-Que Wines. What wines do you serve with your burnt sausages, undercooked chicken and wilted salad? OK so I am dissing your culinary endevours, I am sure your BBQs offer an array of delicious specialities cooked to perfection. BUt wine is the thing here. Do you go for a general perpose white, something relativly inocculous or do you go for some full-bodied, mighty red bursting with flavour to match the smoky edge to those hulking slabs of beef?

Whatever your selection would be, Viuv's Wine Journal would like to hear from you by the 5th July.

Winefest is a charity fund raising event with various activities stretching over two days (12th and 13th of May 2006). WineFest events take place at The Historic Depot in Minneapolis. Space is limited, and tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

You can enhance your wine knowledge at the Stags Leap District Winegrowers Association symposium and go on to taste plenty of wines at the grand wine tasting and nibble on an array of appetizers. The Saturday has a meet the wine maker reception before a fine wine dinner. Sounds good. Prices range from $75 for the wine tasting to $500 for the reception and dinner.

Full details on the website.

Tomorrow is the monthly highlight in the wine bloggers calendar: Wine Blogging Wednesday.

As is the nature of these blog events a new month means a new host and a new theme. For April the theme is Anything But Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, or Riesling as selected by podcast wine site Wine For Newbies. While the choice may seem limiting by taking out the three main wine grapes there is certainly plenty to explore. Look to Portugal (Bical or Fernao Pires),  or to Spain (Albarino). Italy of course has plenty of grapes to select from and, if you can find them, Greece is smothered with native varietals all suitable for sampling for this event.

France shouldn't be ignored. There is Chenin Blanc in the Loire, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc in Alsace and down south Viognier, Bourboulenc and the Marsanne/Rousanne duo. This is what I enjoy so much about Wine Blogging Wednesday it forces you to look to more interesting bottles and experiment.

[image Andrew Barrow]

The website is not quite ready but the 3rd annual WACKY WINE WEEKEND has just been announced. Across the Robertson wine area a mass of events is taking place June 2-4, 2006.

 

For the more healthy, there is a half-marathon, but more up my street is a chauffeur service (to encourage responsible tasting) between vineyards. Special fly-in packages from Johannesburg and Durban will be available.

Meet-the-Winemaker tastings form the hub of the event with special barrel tastings. Food too forms a huge part of the fun too.  Activities include boat cruises; river rafting, live music, cheese & olive tastings, golf, tractor trips, vineyard quad biking and so on. 

Costs: A passport will be purchased for R30 at your first port of call (any participating winery). This includes a tasting glass in addition to a "Friends of the Valley" booklet, listing special offers valid for 6 months after the Wacky Wine Weekend. All other activities are pay-as-you-go with more than a third of the activities free of charge.

 

A passion for Italy? Then the La Dolce Vita Italian Festival may be right up your street. Running over the 16th-19th March in the Grand Hall, Olympia, they claim to be creating the 'ultimate Italian experience'.

Italian food and wine takes centre stage amongst the travel companies, property merchants and 'style and design' gurus. Celebratiy chefs (Giorgio Locatelli, Aldo Zilli and Genaro Contaldo ) do their stuff and 40 wine producers will be showcasing their products. You can buy wine, pop into a wine eduction classes and engage in hands-on cooking classes.

Tickets cost £12 in advance or £15 on the door.

The next round of the world's favourite (actually, only!) bloggers' wine event has been announced by host Wine Expression.

The theme is to be the grapes of the Rhone Valley but expanded to include wines made from these varieties outside of France. That gives 22 different varieties to explore although I doubt many will be found outside of their homeland. I mean, have you seen a Terret Noir, Camarese, or Vaccarese from Australia or other new world country? Sadly, "no," I think the answer will be. But that still gives a huge number of wines to select from.

The Rhone Ranger site is a good place to start looking. It promotes Americas Rhone varietal wines listing producers and stockists and other background details. Grape varieties are also detailed supplying limited information on where in California they are planted.

I'm looking forward to this WBW round as I am a huge fan of the wines and grape varieites from the Rhone.

"It tastes like bacon," my husband said, sniffing the dark red wine. He was bringing the first glass of a bottle I'd just brought home from the Italian market. The reason I'd selected it: it looked nice and meaty, and it was cheap. $6.99.

I laughed. He's such a silly guy, that husband of mine.

I took a sip. Ohmigod. It tasted like bacon.

It was salty, rich, and pork-flavored. And it was delicious. If you have a chance to try it, I highly recommend this bottle: the 2004 Vila Bonarda. It's especially delicious with prosciutto, goat cheese, cured olives. And bacon.