Coturri, Testa Vineyards, Carignane, 2005 (Mendocino County, California) - A co-worker brought this to our wine tasting group at work and it really blew me away.  I've had old vine carignane before, and I've also had this winery before, but in this case we have an extra special product.  It is quite tart and fresh straight from the bottle and in that respect reminds me of the Charbono I tried from Coturri though in that case the tartness seemed a little foxy and here it's simply fun and tasty.  It has bold fruit, in my opinion it's a predominance of sour cherries.  And the texture is rich and velvety bodied truly demonstrating the concentrated old vine goodness of these 70 year old vines.  Plus you can feel good that this is essentially an organic wine -- they use naturally occurring yeast, no chemicals or preservatives, and it's unfined and unfiltered.  They're even class acts for giving out their phone number right on the bottle in case you have questions.  Wow.  On my old scale I'd give this a very respectable 8 out of 10.  And on the new scale, based on the $22 price I was told, I'd call it a "pricier value".

Zabu, Inzolia, 2006 (Sicilia, Italy) - Another from the wine tasting group at work.  The Wine Periodic Chart gave a pretty ordinary description of this grape and basically I agree with that.  It has an aroma of apples and a mild taste and body a lot like pinot blanc.  It's actually quite enjoyable and could be drank with most any food or on it's own.  But didn't blow me away.  I'd give it a 5.5 for basically exactly average, and I don't think it was an expensive wine so it also probably scores as a "cheap value".

Domaine Capmartin, Appelation Madiran Controlee, 2005 (Madiran, France) - I snatch up Madiran wines when I see them both because they're hard to find in Boston and because they're made with tannat and score the highest among wines with strong health effects.  Well, as I try these new Madiran wines I compare them to the benchmark in my mind - the Chateau Peyros 2001 which I gave an 8 out of 10 to.  So far none have come close to Peyros.  Capmartin is OK but kind of like a weak cheap bordeaux.  Boring.  Lower average to me, or 5 out of 10.

Domaine D'Uby, Number 7, Vin de Pays des Cotes de Gascogne, 2005 (Cazaubon, France) - Another Madiran wine and surprisingly inexpensive this time ($8).  Had more flavor and character to me than the Capmartin but still lower average for 5 out of 10 and a little yeasty in fact.  Nonetheless with it's lower price I'd still call this a "cheap value".