Amaicha $4.99

We've had this one a few times now. I didn't really like it at first, but I've learned to really like it. It's now my new stand-by when I want something really cheap and easy to drink.

The smaller label on the bottom reads: Bonarda - Mendoza - 2005 - Argentina. I guess Bonarda is the style then?

It's pretty full-bodied, a little bit spicy (like black pepper) and fruity. We drank this after an especially stressful day of dealing with banks, bills, finding new car insurance, and other crap that you have to do when you move across the country. It relieved a bit of stress. I wasn't paying that much attention to the taste of the wine though, I'll admit. I liked it better than the Gaetano stuff from a few days ago.

Hopefully our next bottle will be a bit more rewarding than this, even though it wasn't bad. I think this one was only 5 bucks anyway. I think the complexity of wine goes up quite a bit around $7-9, so maybe I'll splurge for one of those bottles next.

Gaetano D'aquino $3.49

Now that we live in Oregon, we can see what our new TJ's has to offer. Since we didn't get very far in trying out the cheap wine in Massachusetts, we don't have much to compare it too. We do live closer to the Joe than any other business, so there's a chance we'll do more shopping there now.

For a wine that's only 50 cents more expensive than 3-Buck Chuck, I guess I got my money's worth with Gaetano D'aquino's Merlot. I still might have preferred the Charles Shaw, though. It wasn't really that bad. It was just very watered-down tasting, and extremely fruity for a merlot. When I buy merlot, I usually expect it to be full-bodied, and this wine was not.

If you're into thin, fruity wine without any off-flavors, give this a go. Sean really liked it, so I don't know what that means. He normally doesn't go for this type of wine at all. It was sort of a "chugging" kind of wine - I had finished my two glasses before I even realized it.

This brand seemed to have a lot of varieties to choose from, all nestled together on the two bottom shelves of the Italian wine section at our new Trader Joe's. They were completely sold out of their Chianti, which makes me want to try that one next. Hell, for $3.49, I'll try all the flavors!

The label on the bottle isn't anything special (all the other varieties of this brand had the same label, in a different hue), but the fancy glass "seal" is pretty cool. I might not have bought it without that detail. Wine purchased based on the bottle aesthetic is a whole other blog, though.