This is why wine is so much fun. I was cutting through the wine department at Whole Foods, on my way to somewhere else, when I saw the La Clotiere on display. The label was unimpressive, it was stacked with a bunch of other $10 wines, and there was absolutely no reason to stop and look at it.

So of course I did, and the result was this review and an almost certain new member of the $10 Hall of Fame. Highly recommended.

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This is cheap wine as it should be — professionally made, balanced, and with low alcohol. It comes from the Loire region of France and is made with gamay, which is not as odd as it sounds (though we don’t see many of those wines in this country). But it has very little to do with $10 gamay from Beaujolais, where the wines are often very fruity, don’t have much in the way of tannins, and are much simpler than this.

The La Clotiere ($9, purchased) is a surprisingly un-simple wine. There is red fruit in the front, a bit of a middle, and a mineral-like finish common to red wines from the Loire. I chilled it, because that’s what I do with $10 Beaujolais, but that made the wine worse. Serve this at room temperature with any simple, middle-of-the-week dinner, and it would also be perfect for French Bistro night (steak frites, anyone?)