Why Rembrandt? (Taken from the Faustino website) The old merchants were the ones in charge of taking the wine throughout all the countries of the world. For this reason, and because of the family's passion for art, the 3rd generation of Bodegas Faustino chose Rembrandt's portrait of the Dutch merchant Nicolaes Van Bambeeck to represent this spirit on their labels.
My favorite wine under $30 is the Arzuaga Crianza from Ribera del Duero, specifically the 2019 vintage. It was the first wine I tried during my exchange semester in Valladolid, Spain that blew me away. I'm Mexican, and wine is heavily taxed here, so a 25 euro wine in Spain becomes a 50 euro wine in Mexico. I've tried some great wines after it, but Arzuaga holds a special place in my palate for being the first, so that's got to be my favorite. However, if discounted wines count, I got a Pago de Carraovejas Crianza 2019 for 29 € once. That was unbelievable. You should make a video on Ribera del Duero!
My favourite bottle in the ~$30 CAD price range is Fontanafredda Barolo. It's reliable and performs relatively well consistently. It's nice to have an accessible barolo that's not breaking the bank, especially when you enjoy drinking barolos often.
Vivino can be great for keeping track of your cellar, but the ratings are only any good, when you found some friends, that have tasted a lot and you pay attention only to their reviews
Sorry for being blunt/rude but Vivino is for amateurs and people who know nothing about wine! it's like making an App for reviewing restaurants where 99% of the user visit and rates McDonalds as a great place to eat. Sorry but its true
You are right about Vivino. But Amateurs have to start somewhere. They will grow out of it. But a big no no: looking into Vivino in a Restaurant where a well experienced sommelier is there to actually help you out.
As I've been getting more and more into wine, I've been finding that one of the big differentiators between good and great reds is in the quality of the tannins. You can have a lot or a little tannin, but are they smooth or harsh? Being a very avid home winemaker, one big technique I've started using when I press my reds is separating the free run wine from the press run wine. The free run has a better pH, more color stability, and... better tannins! The press is harsh. I think this is likely a big thing with high-end wines, using much more free run and not using most of the press run. Of course this lowers the yield on that nice wine a lot, so it drives cost up. Quality over quantity! Great video, these ones are always fun!
I really enjoy these videos because you're rating wines that may be more accessible - both in availability and price point. It would be nice if you could recommend 5-10 90+ wines in the $30 or less price point and are highly available, and go through a tasting with us. Of the bottles in this video, only 1 is exactly available where I live, and 2 others were offered at one point or another. It's still not as accessible for me (in Canada), but still I'm sure as you review more, more will turn up. Thank you, as always, for sharing with us !
This is the best value Cabernet Sauvignon that I have found available in Canada so far: . Sister's Run Bethlehem Block Cabernet Sauvignon, Barossa Valley, Australia - 2021 . $19 . You can get some good Cabernet Sauvignon for cheaper but, they are far below the quality of this one! . But hey, it's all subjective. . Let me know what you think. .
Faustino I Gran Reserva BEGS for a long decant ! I have cases and cases of this great value of a wine and it tastes completely different at pnp than with 2 hours of breath time. 2011 is not a great vintage, all the Faustinos I that I own are 2010. Not a mid 90s wine, but definitely a very solid 90 to 92 points.
I agree, I don't think this wine was given a fair shake during this tasting. Konsta seemed put off by the mass-production aspect and label. I've tasted both the 2010 and 2011 on multiple occasions and found it to be complex with great freshness and just the right amount of oak. I think 90 points is fair...
My experience is that both 2009 and 2010 vintages deserve at least 90 points. But for the 2011 vintage, there is a clear difference. It lacks certain structure and is kind of plain on the palate. It should be no more than 88 points
The Paring from Santa Barbara County is an outstanding value on Vivino. The fruit comes from younger vines of their flagship Jonata (and Hilt) vineyards. $21-25 for syrah, pinot, cab blends, sauv blanc and a few other various whites. That might also be a fun video - comparing flagship wines and their second (and third) labels.
For me, it's Diatom Chardonnay from Greg Brewer. I've picked it up recently from anywhere between $20-$25. It's one of the most interesting and delicious wines I've had in that price range, and I'm normally a red drinker. Also, I love the way Greg talks about his wines. It can come across as theatrical, but at its heart shows a great reverence for winemaking
Dutch merchants played a significant role in the global trade of Rioja wine in the 16th and 17th centuries. The portrait of Nicolaes van Bambeeck - a merchant involved in the Rioja wine trade - by Rembrandt reflects this Dutch-Spanish history as well as the Faustino family's passion for art.
Vivino is great for a quick search and to get an idea of the wine is drinkable or not? However, cheap wines with a lot of body and fruit often tends get a high score. I mostly drink Rhone, Piemonte (Nebbiolo) and Sangiovese and I think the ratings here tends more correctly, maybe due to higher tannins which attracts people who are more interested in wines? As a regular user of Vivino I learned how to navigate among ratings. The same could be said about Parker points, which tends to favor big and bold wines with less nuances compared to complex wines from e.g. Piemonte or Brunello.
I use Vivino a lot to track the wines I've tasted. Tried the 2017 Albariño "reserva" (that term is just for commercial use) from Garzón a while back and gave it 85/100 so I'm glad we are basically on the same note with that. Cheers from Argentina!
I’ve been to Georgia twice and I cannot wait to go back. Love the amber wines from quevri especially the ones made from Rkatsiteli grapes. Thankfully I live in New York and there’s never a shortage of these wines in liquor stores.
I never know whether the conversion from Vivino to the RP scale is 20x or 50 + 10x. Given that the RP scale is really 50-100, I always use the latter. For example a 3.7 from me on Vivino is an 87-point wine. So for Ch. St. Michelle a 4.2 would perfectly match a 92pt score.
IMO, Vivino is based in the US, and so the scores have a tendency to be higher for American style wines. In other words, wines that are heavily oaked (oak chips, staves, american oaks) tend to get higher scores, and that looks even more true when looking at how bordeaux wines are scored. So maybe it would be very nice if you could prove this kind of hypothesis.
Umm, no. 😂 65 million people use the app world-wide. It is biased towards what users rate the wines and many of them are casual wine drinkers. I’ve bought wines from all over the world on Vivino, many of the old world wines are the highest rated.
I’ve had 3 2010 Faustino Gran Reservas over the past 5 months and I’ve experienced a decent amount of bottle variation. One of the bottles was very strange and interesting, one was absolutely delicious, and one was unexpressive and boring, kind of like the one featured in the video.
I am lucky enough to live near the Finger Lakes so I get a TON of absolutely wonderful wines sub 30 bucks. Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Cab Franc, and some incredible Lemberger. (Blaufrankisch). Come on out this way, Konstantin! A tour of US wines would be fun to watch! Finger Lakes, Virginia, Traverse City, Willamette Valley, Washington, Napa and Paso Robles. Msybe throw some Niagara in there to taste the wonderful Canadian late season harvest wines. Love the channel!
30 USD is quite a lot of money to spend. At around 28€ there´s a lot of brilliant drinking to be had. I´ve always loved wines from Iberia especially the reds. German pinot like those from Weingut am Schlipf are outstanding for the price and I was amazed at the quality of the 2019 Cab from Thelema for the money. I´ve also developed a real love for both Negroamaro and Lagrein that I´d sort of overlooked before. The whites are even more plentiful but at that price but my favourites include: Kalk und Kreide from Carl Preisinger, the Weißburgunder from Rebholz and Vinatigo´s Ensamblaje Blanco from Orotava.
What I have noticed with Vivino, and I could be wrong, the score is the average of scores for that wine for ALL vintages. That is why I also look at Cellar Tracker as each vintage is scored separately. Perhaps Konstantin can do a review of Cellar Tracker wines for a specific vintage!
Recently came across your channel and I have to say your content is one of the most interesting and engaging to watch on this platform. Keep up the good work, Grüße aus Schweden!
Vivino is more like a quality/price indicator and not really some quality scoring scale. Judging the scale 4.0 means 80 from100 points. I use it a lot when i got in to wines and it's useful when you don't know nothing about a wine. It's for the beginner or average wine buyer and this sometimes explain big scores for some wines. Wines from southern Italy for example, like primitivo tend to have high scores because for wine novices/beginners are very friendly and cheap.
One of my favorite wines is Honoro Vera Garnacha… can usually get it for around $10… worth trying if you haven’t had it already! Not the best… but very good for the $$$$! I use Vivino as a starting point when looking up wines and will read actual reviews and not just go off of the star rating & the cellar tool is wonderful! 🍷🥂🍾
I used the Vivino app and frankly im quite surprised at the selection. Not at all typical of affordable ”bargains” in my opinion. Here in Northern Europe among the best selling bottles youd find a shitload of Southern Italian Primitivos typically in the Appassimento style and often with a ridiculously heavy bottle, these would be rated at well over 4. Amongst them youd find some sweet Califonian Pinots and Chardonnays (Bread & Butter!) and some Kiwi Sauvignon Blancs. Also find it curious that almost all other wines fall within the 3,6-3.9 bracket, regardless of quality.
When rating Vivino wines at first I was just splitting the 100 point rating in half, i.e. 90 pts = 4.5 stars but then I went the Wine Folly method which would equate 90 pts to 4.0 stars. I don't know what's the correct way but in the last example it seems like your 92 points is concurrent with the 4.2 star average rating for the CSM Cab. PS I was very happy seeing you rated the Carpineto 90 pts which is exactly what I rated it a few months ago. It means that I'm on the right track as a wine master. Thanks for your videos.
Personally, I think Faustino I is great - here in the UK you can get the latest vintages for around £15 in supermarkets - at that price, I think it's very enjoyable. I find I'm often let down by similar Cune wines - give me Faustino I instead any day.
Hey Konstantin, since you like Albariño, few suggestion should you decide to make a video, these are really good ones with different expression from the majority, I live in Spain and I believe this is such an underrated country with excellent wines. Thanks for your content! Narupa Piorno / Attis Nana / Leirana Genoveva / Pazo Barrantes
Hi Konstantin, I don't know a nicer way to get in touch with you for a review request, but I stumbled across the Karasi Armenian or Turkish wine and was very surprised, thought you might find it intersesting to do a video on that varietal it really surpised me that it is not more widely found
It’s been a while since my last comment, end-of-year is always a busy period and now that the dust settled down, it’s wonderful to spend some time with your top quality videos! Regarding your question, I think my favourite below 30$ is Framingham’s Sauvignon Blanc. As for Vivino, I tend to use it when I’m browsing a wine list in a restaurant and quickly compare the wines; but I tend to stay on the flavours detected, rather than the actual score. If a Riesling has petrol notes but a slightly lower score than others, I believe I’ll prefer it over the rest. PS. The Tres Bagos rating is spot-on in my humble opinion. It’s a ‘supermarket wine’, not bad, but Portugal has quite a few better reds at the same price range.
My favorite wine well under $30 is the Australian Pewsey Vale, Eden Valley Dry Riesling (multiple vintages are great 2015 - 2021). Ages extremely well with a touch of petrol and complexity and is around $15 to $17 . Another great wine is the second wine of Leeuwin Estate in Western Australia. Leeuwin Prelude Vineyards Chardonnay 2020 is amazing at $28-29.
Great video again Konstantin. In the UK market, my favourite go to is the Vinedos Barrihuelo Rioja Crianza (Bodegas Muriel) from Sainsburys. Really decent everyday drinker for the price. Prost!
The SINGLE VINEYARD BOBAL ROBUSTA ORGANIC from Neleman (only in the Netherlands) is €15,- and a beauty. They also have a high end Bobal for €95,- which I have not tried yet. Neleman wines are all organic and vegan and they use light weight bottles.The Bobal grape verity is quite hard to find in a single varietal wine and deserves more attention. This message is not sponsored.
Cantine Minini Mea Culpa is still one of my favorite budget reds, that routinely garners compliments from guests. Vina Ardanza is also mostly under 30€ and a great bargain.
@konstatin - Washington State makes some excellent Pinot Noirs - maybe it would be worth a study, best Spätburgunder from Pacific Northwest (or something like that) - thanks for your great videos, I enjoy them very much!
My experience of vivino scoring is that each 1/10 of a point 3.0 and up basically corresponds with 1 point 80 and up. Hence: 3.5 ≈ 85 4.0 ≈ 90 4.2 ≈ 92 4.5 ≈ 95 These obviously break down a bit but generally this holds true for a cross comparison to tell you where vivino users think a wine would sit on a 100pt scale
That's how I calculate it as well, but I confess that I didn't used to score that way of Vivino. I used to give an extra half star if it was punching above its weight on price to quality ratio. I used to score lower if something was expensive and under performing.
Ive used vivino to keep up with my own ratings. I think that some styles are almost always under/overrated from the public reviews, especially at the more entry level pricepoint (I've had some higher rated valpolicella that were not remarkable at all, and some lower rated spätburgunders that were very interesting)
Love vivino, its great for tracking and if you find good reliable folks to follow. That super tuscan is great, enjoy the 2015 very much and look forward to the 2016.
Honestly I find vivino ratings to be nonsensical and I trust cellartracker reviews way more. I don't have a favorite wine under 30 but one that really stood out to me recently was Torre de Oña, Martelo 2016; I got it for 22€ and it definitely punches above its price (imho). I think I preferred it to the Vina Ardanza 2016 that I get for around 24€.
One of my favorite wines under $30 USD (sometimes under $20!) is Le Pigeoulet by the Brunier family. It’s a great substitute for a Chateauneuf du Pape but when you need something more budget friendly.
that man with the hat. Did you know that this is a Dutch trader? It concerns a certain Nicolaes van Bambeeck, a cloth merchant and trader in Spanish wool, painted by Rembrandt. An ode to the traders who brought wine (and other products) around the world. That ode still stands, because Faustino wines are sold in more than 140 countries
I am often very fine with the ratings ... but that could be subject of change in the future, when the bought reviews enter. But I wouldnt buy of ratings, but check on a bottle I find on the shelf. Favourite atm: J. Hofstätter DeVite 12,5 ABV for White, Spier Pinotage Signature for Red. I'm not shooting for stars.
Montaubret Brut. It is not the best champagne one can buy, but it is a positively surprise. I was in wine shop, wanting a champagne to drink right away, so I went to the cool room, it was under 20 euro, I knew nothing about the wine house, but thought why not, it is already chilled, turned out it was great! not serious champagne, but it has fruit notes and biscuit, all one would expect from champagne. Since then, it is my ready-to-go drink.
Three best bang for the buck wines so far for me: Ch. panet saint emilion, Relais de la dominique, Nino Negri Alpi Retiche. An even cheaper one is Battenfeld-Spanier Estate Riesling, great buy below 18 euro.
I think Vivino and Cellartracker are targeting drastically different markets. Each has their place, but if I am trying to determine wine quality, I wouldn't go to Vivino. Cellartracker will tend to have more informative tasting notes, which is more important than the score.
Vivino ratings are not great. How about a video on wine-searcher's value system? Taste 1 of their "best value" wines against another wine or 2 with similar price points.
Faustino is also the name of the second generation of the family .Faustino Martinez was an pioneer in Rioja implementing French oak barrels etc .If you can find wines from the Montes Ermos cooperative in the Douro or from the Vila Flor cooperative I think you will find them great wines for the money and to me under priced .
Konstantin, you nailed it regarding the terrible but distinctive Faustino label. And this wine you can find all over the world. Too much oak if I remember correctly. I wouldn't buy it again. And I am writing this before listening to your opinion on this wine. Let me guess: 83 points?
From my experience with 4 years in Brazil and 6 in the UK using Vivino, I see Brazilians tend to underrate the scoring (sometimes badly, particularly with Brazilian wines which is ironic) and the Brits tend to slightly overrate wines in general.
My favourite affordable wines: Villebois Touraine sauvignon blanc, Dreissigacker organic trocken (Rheinhessen), Ca'Rugate Soave classico San Michele, Friulano Ronchi di Manzano, Lavignone Pico Maccario Lavignone Barbera d'Asti DOCG, Torre del Falasco Valpolicella Ripasso, Herdade de São Miguel (Alentejo), Domaine Maby La Fermade Lirac. All under 20 euro and some (nearly) half that price.
My favorite below 30$ is the Martin Müllen Trarbacher Hühnerberg 2021 Riesling Spätlese trocken (rated this 96/100), an extremely nice Mosel Riesling with a quality level en par or above many GG from VDP wineries but at a significantly lower price point. Super complex and interesting wine from a very unknown top terroir.
I'm torn in the department of something being for "a larger audience". Why is it that when it comes to food, making it lesser quality and more generic to cater towards people with lesser taste make it "better" for receptions, gatherings etc. I would definitely serve better quality non generic, even if I knew generic people were in the crowd. To me it's not those people you want to please anyway.🙃🥂
I wonder how much those reds in particular would change if you decanted them or even let them rest in the glass for awhile> i often decant young reds to lessen the tannins quickly. Am I missing something? Loved the part about 'bread'.
I normally have that Albariño with fish! Super exiting for me to hear you talk about Uruguayan wines since I'm from here! I wonder if you have anything Uruguayan your cellar. There's a Riesling I love from here Lahusen Riesling by Los Cerros de San Juan, 2020 vintage particularly 😊 (Then again I know nothing about wine I just enjoy drinking it haha)
I've had a few bottles, a couple of years ago, of a generic wine from The Douro Valley, from a major UK supermarket, which were then £6.00 a go, I was wondering if this wine had been part of the cooperative venture (note lower case 'c') to which you referred in the video. I remember this stuff presenting astonishing value for money.. Really interesting film, nice one Konstantin. 🍷⭐👍
From things that are generally available and would likely work for many different palates. For an approachable crisp white, Soalheiro Alvarinho, especially if you can get it at Portuguese supermarket prices (around 11 Euros nowadays, but used to be even cheaper). For a red, maybe, Lornano Chianti Classico Reserva Le Bandite or Langhe Nebbiolo from La Spinetta assuming they did not go up in prices recently.
White German Riesling and sylvaner from Franken! Bürgerspital GG Stein is still under 30 euro! Great value! Red: Rioja Tondonia is still under 30 euro. And wines from Roussillon.
My favorite value selection is Tasca d'Almerita Tenuta Regaleali 'Guarnaccio' Perricone. Since this is well below $20, there are probably many $25-$30 I like better, but none that I order often.
What a difficult question, just one favourite 🙂. I limit it to 3. ESPAÑA, RIBERA DEL DUERO DO "Familia Comenge" France CASTILLON-COTES DE BORDEAUX Clos Lunelles, from the owner of Château Pavie Italy Rosso di Montalcino Castello Banfi DOC
The Rembrandt is on the Faustino because their backround is from the netherlands and they own the picture in their own Collection in spain Ralf Frentzel Gas a very good Video With them and tells us about their Story backround
I dont have a favorite wine, but like to drink barrel aged cab franc from Salentein. And the Vivino rating is a 50 point scale. If i see a rating a multiple with 2 and then i have an impression of the 100p scale. Not very accurat but for fun.
Favourite wine under $30USD ($47AUD) is Zonte's footsteps hills are alive shiraz. With vivino the best way to get honest reviews is to find people whose opinions you trust, as the aggregate scores are democratic so they tend to overscore sweet and oaky wines and underscore herbaceous and dry wines.
Azul y Garanza - Cabirol - bargain Chateau Thivin - Cote de Brouilly or so many from Beaujolais Le Raisin et l'Ange - Fable / unique and excellent Domaine de Gouye Saint-Joseph Vieilles Vignes - price went up a bit (32 here). I buy it every year and stash.
Oh I can't pick just a single wine under $30. I'm also in Moldova, so almost every wine is below $30 😀 Internationally, for value, I think you can some really awesome Valpolicella Ripasso under $30. The best I tried when I visited was Giusti Valpolicella Ripasso Classico Superiore. Then again you can get some good ones under $15...
I try not to repeat the wines I drunk but there are few I regularly come back, for instance: salcheto nobile di montepulciano. I think it is one of the best price/value factor.
4/5 translates to 80/100 points. As such a 4.0 / 4.1 rating is not a great rating. Problem is rather that everybody is able to rate a wine which has an impact on the rating. I find even find the ratings of different judges at Parker and vinous not comparable.
It’s Faustino “The First”, Master, not Faustino One 😂 Maybe its Rembrandt’s portrait of the man on the label 🤔? Thanks for the interesting tasting! Cheers!!
Why Rembrandt?
(Taken from the Faustino website)
The old merchants were the ones in charge of taking the wine throughout all the countries of the world. For this reason, and because of the family's passion for art, the 3rd generation of Bodegas Faustino chose Rembrandt's portrait of the Dutch merchant Nicolaes Van Bambeeck to represent this spirit on their labels.
My favorite wine under $30 is the Arzuaga Crianza from Ribera del Duero, specifically the 2019 vintage. It was the first wine I tried during my exchange semester in Valladolid, Spain that blew me away.
I'm Mexican, and wine is heavily taxed here, so a 25 euro wine in Spain becomes a 50 euro wine in Mexico.
I've tried some great wines after it, but Arzuaga holds a special place in my palate for being the first, so that's got to be my favorite. However, if discounted wines count, I got a Pago de Carraovejas Crianza 2019 for 29 € once. That was unbelievable.
You should make a video on Ribera del Duero!
My favourite bottle in the ~$30 CAD price range is Fontanafredda Barolo. It's reliable and performs relatively well consistently. It's nice to have an accessible barolo that's not breaking the bank, especially when you enjoy drinking barolos often.
Vivino can be great for keeping track of your cellar, but the ratings are only any good, when you found some friends, that have tasted a lot and you pay attention only to their reviews
Exactly. I use it to track the wines I’ve tried. And only give weight to reviews of 2-3 people I know and follow. Great tool in this context.
That's why I upgraded to Cellartracker! I like how simple it is and the reviews are much more interesting
It’s also good for finding wines that may not be available locally
Sorry for being blunt/rude but Vivino is for amateurs and people who know nothing about wine! it's like making an App for reviewing restaurants where 99% of the user visit and rates McDonalds as a great place to eat. Sorry but its true
You are right about Vivino. But Amateurs have to start somewhere. They will grow out of it. But a big no no: looking into Vivino in a Restaurant where a well experienced sommelier is there to actually help you out.
As I've been getting more and more into wine, I've been finding that one of the big differentiators between good and great reds is in the quality of the tannins. You can have a lot or a little tannin, but are they smooth or harsh? Being a very avid home winemaker, one big technique I've started using when I press my reds is separating the free run wine from the press run wine. The free run has a better pH, more color stability, and... better tannins! The press is harsh. I think this is likely a big thing with high-end wines, using much more free run and not using most of the press run. Of course this lowers the yield on that nice wine a lot, so it drives cost up. Quality over quantity!
Great video, these ones are always fun!
I really enjoy these videos because you're rating wines that may be more accessible - both in availability and price point. It would be nice if you could recommend 5-10 90+ wines in the $30 or less price point and are highly available, and go through a tasting with us. Of the bottles in this video, only 1 is exactly available where I live, and 2 others were offered at one point or another. It's still not as accessible for me (in Canada), but still I'm sure as you review more, more will turn up. Thank you, as always, for sharing with us !
Which part of canada
A grand total of two are available in Nova Scotia.
Try Domaine Bousquet - Tupungato Valley - Malbec - Argentina -- $15 Canadian
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Anything under or around $20 that you recommend?
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This is the best value Cabernet Sauvignon that I have found available in Canada so far:
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Sister's Run Bethlehem Block Cabernet Sauvignon, Barossa Valley, Australia - 2021
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$19
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You can get some good Cabernet Sauvignon for cheaper but, they are far below the quality of this one!
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But hey, it's all subjective.
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Let me know what you think.
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Faustino I Gran Reserva BEGS for a long decant ! I have cases and cases of this great value of a wine and it tastes completely different at pnp than with 2 hours of breath time. 2011 is not a great vintage, all the Faustinos I that I own are 2010. Not a mid 90s wine, but definitely a very solid 90 to 92 points.
I agree, I don't think this wine was given a fair shake during this tasting. Konsta seemed put off by the mass-production aspect and label. I've tasted both the 2010 and 2011 on multiple occasions and found it to be complex with great freshness and just the right amount of oak. I think 90 points is fair...
My experience is that both 2009 and 2010 vintages deserve at least 90 points. But for the 2011 vintage, there is a clear difference. It lacks certain structure and is kind of plain on the palate. It should be no more than 88 points
The Paring from Santa Barbara County is an outstanding value on Vivino. The fruit comes from younger vines of their flagship Jonata (and Hilt) vineyards. $21-25 for syrah, pinot, cab blends, sauv blanc and a few other various whites. That might also be a fun video - comparing flagship wines and their second (and third) labels.
For me, it's Diatom Chardonnay from Greg Brewer. I've picked it up recently from anywhere between $20-$25. It's one of the most interesting and delicious wines I've had in that price range, and I'm normally a red drinker. Also, I love the way Greg talks about his wines. It can come across as theatrical, but at its heart shows a great reverence for winemaking
Theatrical is an amazing way to describe his way of speaking about wine
Dutch merchants played a significant role in the global trade of Rioja wine in the 16th and 17th centuries. The portrait of Nicolaes van Bambeeck - a merchant involved in the Rioja wine trade - by Rembrandt reflects this Dutch-Spanish history as well as the Faustino family's passion for art.
Vivino is great for a quick search and to get an idea of the wine is drinkable or not? However, cheap wines with a lot of body and fruit often tends get a high score. I mostly drink Rhone, Piemonte (Nebbiolo) and Sangiovese and I think the ratings here tends more correctly, maybe due to higher tannins which attracts people who are more interested in wines? As a regular user of Vivino I learned how to navigate among ratings. The same could be said about Parker points, which tends to favor big and bold wines with less nuances compared to complex wines from e.g. Piemonte or Brunello.
I use Vivino a lot to track the wines I've tasted. Tried the 2017 Albariño "reserva" (that term is just for commercial use) from Garzón a while back and gave it 85/100 so I'm glad we are basically on the same note with that. Cheers from Argentina!
LOVE Chateau St. Michelle!!! definitely has always been one of my most recommended wineries. I don't think I've not highly rated everything they make
I’ve been to Georgia twice and I cannot wait to go back. Love the amber wines from quevri especially the ones made from Rkatsiteli grapes. Thankfully I live in New York and there’s never a shortage of these wines in liquor stores.
I never know whether the conversion from Vivino to the RP scale is 20x or 50 + 10x. Given that the RP scale is really 50-100, I always use the latter. For example a 3.7 from me on Vivino is an 87-point wine. So for Ch. St. Michelle a 4.2 would perfectly match a 92pt score.
IMO, Vivino is based in the US, and so the scores have a tendency to be higher for American style wines. In other words, wines that are heavily oaked (oak chips, staves, american oaks) tend to get higher scores, and that looks even more true when looking at how bordeaux wines are scored. So maybe it would be very nice if you could prove this kind of hypothesis.
Umm, no. 😂 65 million people use the app world-wide. It is biased towards what users rate the wines and many of them are casual wine drinkers. I’ve bought wines from all over the world on Vivino, many of the old world wines are the highest rated.
I’ve had 3 2010 Faustino Gran Reservas over the past 5 months and I’ve experienced a decent amount of bottle variation. One of the bottles was very strange and interesting, one was absolutely delicious, and one was unexpressive and boring, kind of like the one featured in the video.
I always think its variation in my palette when this happens, vs in the actual wine
I am lucky enough to live near the Finger Lakes so I get a TON of absolutely wonderful wines sub 30 bucks. Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Cab Franc, and some incredible Lemberger. (Blaufrankisch). Come on out this way, Konstantin! A tour of US wines would be fun to watch! Finger Lakes, Virginia, Traverse City, Willamette Valley, Washington, Napa and Paso Robles. Msybe throw some Niagara in there to taste the wonderful Canadian late season harvest wines. Love the channel!
Try the Faustino I in ten years OR decant for 6+ hours and then see what you think. I recently had the 1996 and 2001 and they were fabulous!
30 USD is quite a lot of money to spend. At around 28€ there´s a lot of brilliant drinking to be had. I´ve always loved wines from Iberia especially the reds. German pinot like those from Weingut am Schlipf are outstanding for the price and I was amazed at the quality of the 2019 Cab from Thelema for the money. I´ve also developed a real love for both Negroamaro and Lagrein that I´d sort of overlooked before.
The whites are even more plentiful but at that price but my favourites include: Kalk und Kreide from Carl Preisinger, the Weißburgunder from Rebholz and Vinatigo´s Ensamblaje Blanco from Orotava.
I love the Taoba - Saperavi. So much complexity but so smooth. Love the wines from Georgia.
What I have noticed with Vivino, and I could be wrong, the score is the average of scores for that wine for ALL vintages. That is why I also look at Cellar Tracker as each vintage is scored separately. Perhaps Konstantin can do a review of Cellar Tracker wines for a specific vintage!
Sure, but you can also see the particular year, so you don't have to rely on the overall score
Recently came across your channel and I have to say your content is one of the most interesting and engaging to watch on this platform. Keep up the good work, Grüße aus Schweden!
Vivino is more like a quality/price indicator and not really some quality scoring scale. Judging the scale 4.0 means 80 from100 points. I use it a lot when i got in to wines and it's useful when you don't know nothing about a wine. It's for the beginner or average wine buyer and this sometimes explain big scores for some wines. Wines from southern Italy for example, like primitivo tend to have high scores because for wine novices/beginners are very friendly and cheap.
one of the best below $30 tried recently was Juan Gil 18 meses (blue label). a really really outstanding wine.
One of my favorite wines is Honoro Vera Garnacha… can usually get it for around $10… worth trying if you haven’t had it already! Not the best… but very good for the $$$$! I use Vivino as a starting point when looking up wines and will read actual reviews and not just go off of the star rating & the cellar tool is wonderful! 🍷🥂🍾
I used the Vivino app and frankly im quite surprised at the selection. Not at all typical of affordable ”bargains” in my opinion. Here in Northern Europe among the best selling bottles youd find a shitload of Southern Italian Primitivos typically in the Appassimento style and often with a ridiculously heavy bottle, these would be rated at well over 4. Amongst them youd find some sweet Califonian Pinots and Chardonnays (Bread & Butter!) and some Kiwi Sauvignon Blancs.
Also find it curious that almost all other wines fall within the 3,6-3.9 bracket, regardless of quality.
Came here to comment exactly what you said!
When rating Vivino wines at first I was just splitting the 100 point rating in half, i.e. 90 pts = 4.5 stars but then I went the Wine Folly method which would equate 90 pts to 4.0 stars. I don't know what's the correct way but in the last example it seems like your 92 points is concurrent with the 4.2 star average rating for the CSM Cab.
PS I was very happy seeing you rated the Carpineto 90 pts which is exactly what I rated it a few months ago. It means that I'm on the right track as a wine master. Thanks for your videos.
Personally, I think Faustino I is great - here in the UK you can get the latest vintages for around £15 in supermarkets - at that price, I think it's very enjoyable. I find I'm often let down by similar Cune wines - give me Faustino I instead any day.
Hey Konstantin, since you like Albariño, few suggestion should you decide to make a video, these are really good ones with different expression from the majority, I live in Spain and I believe this is such an underrated country with excellent wines. Thanks for your content!
Narupa Piorno / Attis Nana / Leirana Genoveva / Pazo Barrantes
Hi Konstantin, I don't know a nicer way to get in touch with you for a review request, but I stumbled across the Karasi Armenian or Turkish wine and was very surprised, thought you might find it intersesting to do a video on that varietal it really surpised me that it is not more widely found
It’s been a while since my last comment, end-of-year is always a busy period and now that the dust settled down, it’s wonderful to spend some time with your top quality videos!
Regarding your question, I think my favourite below 30$ is Framingham’s Sauvignon Blanc. As for Vivino, I tend to use it when I’m browsing a wine list in a restaurant and quickly compare the wines; but I tend to stay on the flavours detected, rather than the actual score. If a Riesling has petrol notes but a slightly lower score than others, I believe I’ll prefer it over the rest.
PS. The Tres Bagos rating is spot-on in my humble opinion. It’s a ‘supermarket wine’, not bad, but Portugal has quite a few better reds at the same price range.
My favorite wine well under $30 is the Australian Pewsey Vale, Eden Valley Dry Riesling (multiple vintages are great 2015 - 2021). Ages extremely well with a touch of petrol and complexity and is around $15 to $17 . Another great wine is the second wine of Leeuwin Estate in Western Australia. Leeuwin Prelude Vineyards Chardonnay 2020 is amazing at $28-29.
Great video again Konstantin. In the UK market, my favourite go to is the Vinedos Barrihuelo Rioja Crianza (Bodegas Muriel) from Sainsburys. Really decent everyday drinker for the price. Prost!
I only use Vivino to track the wine I have tasted or purchased, just to keep everything straight and I don't buy the same "bad" wine twice.
The SINGLE VINEYARD BOBAL ROBUSTA ORGANIC from Neleman (only in the Netherlands) is €15,- and a beauty. They also have a high end Bobal for €95,- which I have not tried yet. Neleman wines are all organic and vegan and they use light weight bottles.The Bobal grape verity is quite hard to find in a single varietal wine and deserves more attention. This message is not sponsored.
Cantine Minini Mea Culpa is still one of my favorite budget reds, that routinely garners compliments from guests. Vina Ardanza is also mostly under 30€ and a great bargain.
@konstatin - Washington State makes some excellent Pinot Noirs - maybe it would be worth a study, best Spätburgunder from Pacific Northwest (or something like that) - thanks for your great videos, I enjoy them very much!
My experience of vivino scoring is that each 1/10 of a point 3.0 and up basically corresponds with 1 point 80 and up. Hence:
3.5 ≈ 85
4.0 ≈ 90
4.2 ≈ 92
4.5 ≈ 95
These obviously break down a bit but generally this holds true for a cross comparison to tell you where vivino users think a wine would sit on a 100pt scale
That's how I calculate it as well, but I confess that I didn't used to score that way of Vivino. I used to give an extra half star if it was punching above its weight on price to quality ratio. I used to score lower if something was expensive and under performing.
Ive used vivino to keep up with my own ratings. I think that some styles are almost always under/overrated from the public reviews, especially at the more entry level pricepoint (I've had some higher rated valpolicella that were not remarkable at all, and some lower rated spätburgunders that were very interesting)
Love vivino, its great for tracking and if you find good reliable folks to follow. That super tuscan is great, enjoy the 2015 very much and look forward to the 2016.
Honestly I find vivino ratings to be nonsensical and I trust cellartracker reviews way more.
I don't have a favorite wine under 30 but one that really stood out to me recently was Torre de Oña, Martelo 2016; I got it for 22€ and it definitely punches above its price (imho). I think I preferred it to the Vina Ardanza 2016 that I get for around 24€.
One of my favorite wines under $30 USD (sometimes under $20!) is Le Pigeoulet by the Brunier family. It’s a great substitute for a Chateauneuf du Pape but when you need something more budget friendly.
that man with the hat. Did you know that this is a Dutch trader? It concerns a certain Nicolaes van Bambeeck, a cloth merchant and trader in Spanish wool, painted by Rembrandt. An ode to the traders who brought wine (and other products) around the world. That ode still stands, because Faustino wines are sold in more than 140 countries
I love the Riesling Kabinetts from Hofgut Falkenstein. They are just so complex
I am often very fine with the ratings ... but that could be subject of change in the future, when the bought reviews enter. But I wouldnt buy of ratings, but check on a bottle I find on the shelf. Favourite atm: J. Hofstätter DeVite 12,5 ABV for White, Spier Pinotage Signature for Red. I'm not shooting for stars.
What comes to mind is Au Bon Climat Santa Barbara County Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Montaubret Brut. It is not the best champagne one can buy, but it is a positively surprise. I was in wine shop, wanting a champagne to drink right away, so I went to the cool room, it was under 20 euro, I knew nothing about the wine house, but thought why not, it is already chilled, turned out it was great! not serious champagne, but it has fruit notes and biscuit, all one would expect from champagne. Since then, it is my ready-to-go drink.
My favorite wine under 30$ is the Chateau Tour Leognan Bordeaux 27.99$ 55% Cabernet 45% Merlot. Really excellent Bordeaux for under 30$
Three best bang for the buck wines so far for me: Ch. panet saint emilion, Relais de la dominique, Nino Negri Alpi Retiche. An even cheaper one is Battenfeld-Spanier Estate Riesling, great buy below 18 euro.
I think Vivino and Cellartracker are targeting drastically different markets. Each has their place, but if I am trying to determine wine quality, I wouldn't go to Vivino. Cellartracker will tend to have more informative tasting notes, which is more important than the score.
Vivino ratings are not great. How about a video on wine-searcher's value system? Taste 1 of their "best value" wines against another wine or 2 with similar price points.
My favorite wine under 30 dollar ist the 689 Devils Candy and The Prisoners Company Saldo. They need to be on bargain though 😊
Faustino is also the name of the second generation of the family .Faustino Martinez was an pioneer in Rioja implementing French oak barrels etc .If you can find wines from the Montes Ermos cooperative in the Douro or from the Vila Flor cooperative I think you will find them great wines for the money and to me under priced .
Konstantin, you nailed it regarding the terrible but distinctive Faustino label. And this wine you can find all over the world. Too much oak if I remember correctly. I wouldn't buy it again. And I am writing this before listening to your opinion on this wine. Let me guess: 83 points?
Better 😮
I can recognie Faustino. I like it - let's see how would you rate it (I've just started watching...)
From my experience with
4 years in Brazil and 6 in the UK using Vivino, I see Brazilians tend to underrate the scoring (sometimes badly, particularly with Brazilian wines which is ironic) and the Brits tend to slightly overrate wines in general.
I’m a wine seller and brazilians tend to overrate vivino. In my opinion it’s not a good app
@@samnob12interesting. Can you expand on what is your target market and what profile of customer mostly overrate Vivino?
My favorite wines under 30 dollars : Tenuta Ulise Amaranta (nice elegant and balanced Muntepulciano) and Negru de Purcari ( The Moldavian Bordeaux)
My favourite affordable wines: Villebois Touraine sauvignon blanc, Dreissigacker organic trocken (Rheinhessen), Ca'Rugate Soave classico San Michele, Friulano Ronchi di Manzano, Lavignone Pico Maccario Lavignone Barbera d'Asti DOCG, Torre del Falasco Valpolicella Ripasso, Herdade de São Miguel (Alentejo), Domaine Maby La Fermade Lirac. All under 20 euro and some (nearly) half that price.
You can't beat Carpineto euro for euro. For your Swiss viewers: Denner has the Chianti Classico and the Classico Riserva and the Vino Nobile.
quality price the Portuguese I think would be the best choice for reds. We also make very good Alvarinho wine.
My favorite below 30$ is the Martin Müllen Trarbacher Hühnerberg 2021 Riesling Spätlese trocken (rated this 96/100), an extremely nice Mosel Riesling with a quality level en par or above many GG from VDP wineries but at a significantly lower price point. Super complex and interesting wine from a very unknown top terroir.
I'm torn in the department of something being for "a larger audience". Why is it that when it comes to food, making it lesser quality and more generic to cater towards people with lesser taste make it "better" for receptions, gatherings etc. I would definitely serve better quality non generic, even if I knew generic people were in the crowd. To me it's not those people you want to please anyway.🙃🥂
I wonder how much those reds in particular would change if you decanted them or even let them rest in the glass for awhile> i often decant young reds to lessen the tannins quickly. Am I missing something? Loved the part about 'bread'.
I normally have that Albariño with fish! Super exiting for me to hear you talk about Uruguayan wines since I'm from here! I wonder if you have anything Uruguayan your cellar.
There's a Riesling I love from here Lahusen Riesling by Los Cerros de San Juan, 2020 vintage particularly 😊 (Then again I know nothing about wine I just enjoy drinking it haha)
As a red wine I would say Montresor Amarone della Valpolicella 2018 or 2019. It's a great wine for 30 euros.
I've had a few bottles, a couple of years ago, of a generic wine from The Douro Valley, from a major UK supermarket, which were then £6.00 a go, I was wondering if this wine had been part of the cooperative venture (note lower case 'c') to which you referred in the video. I remember this stuff presenting astonishing value for money..
Really interesting film, nice one Konstantin. 🍷⭐👍
Good cab - Lapostalle, good merlot - Marjosse, Lovely Gewurztraminer - Left Foot Charley, Michigan.
You seem to taste right after popping the cork. Couldn't most reds benefit from some breathing...?
Folio by Coume del Mas, Collioure is an outstanding wine made of Grenache Gris in the karstic hills of the Southern Roussillion.
From things that are generally available and would likely work for many different palates. For an approachable crisp white, Soalheiro Alvarinho, especially if you can get it at Portuguese supermarket prices (around 11 Euros nowadays, but used to be even cheaper). For a red, maybe, Lornano Chianti Classico Reserva Le Bandite or Langhe Nebbiolo from La Spinetta assuming they did not go up in prices recently.
White German Riesling and sylvaner from Franken! Bürgerspital GG Stein is still under 30 euro! Great value! Red: Rioja Tondonia is still under 30 euro. And wines from Roussillon.
Rembrandt did a painting called 'Dr. Faustus in his Study'.
I would love to see you tasting best wines from each of 4 Croatian wine regions.
My favorite value selection is Tasca d'Almerita Tenuta Regaleali 'Guarnaccio' Perricone. Since this is well below $20, there are probably many $25-$30 I like better, but none that I order often.
My favorite wine is a funky one: Monda Tinto 2021 from Vinhos Apart3 in Portugal. Juicy, but also with good body to back it up!
What a difficult question, just one favourite 🙂. I limit it to 3.
ESPAÑA, RIBERA DEL DUERO DO "Familia Comenge"
France CASTILLON-COTES DE BORDEAUX Clos Lunelles, from the owner of Château Pavie
Italy Rosso di Montalcino Castello Banfi DOC
Much preferable for me to shop on the back label based on the importer after having tasted a few rather than anything based on general consensus.
my right ear loved this video
What did your left ear think?
Does this mean it’s time also for another “worse Vivino rating” tasting as well? 😆
Faustino is about 10-12 euro here in Denmark, for that price i think its really good.
The Rembrandt is on the Faustino because their backround is from the netherlands and they own the picture in their own Collection in spain Ralf Frentzel Gas a very good Video With them and tells us about their Story backround
I dont have a favorite wine, but like to drink barrel aged cab franc from Salentein.
And the Vivino rating is a 50 point scale. If i see a rating a multiple with 2 and then i have an impression of the 100p scale. Not very accurat but for fun.
Favourite wine under $30USD
($47AUD) is Zonte's footsteps hills are alive shiraz. With vivino the best way to get honest reviews is to find people whose opinions you trust, as the aggregate scores are democratic so they tend to overscore sweet and oaky wines and underscore herbaceous and dry wines.
My current favorite wine under $30 is the 2020 Chateau La Croix des Lamberts Cotes deBourg
Viognier, my newest discovery, Yalumba specifically.
Azul y Garanza - Cabirol - bargain
Chateau Thivin - Cote de Brouilly or so many from Beaujolais
Le Raisin et l'Ange - Fable / unique and excellent
Domaine de Gouye Saint-Joseph Vieilles Vignes - price went up a bit (32 here). I buy it every year and stash.
Maybe also mention how many reviews the wines got. 4.0 stars out of 5000 reviews will be different to 4.0 stars out of 500 reviews
Sella & Mosca Cannonau from Sardinia. 2016 was delicious. About $16.
Oh I can't pick just a single wine under $30. I'm also in Moldova, so almost every wine is below $30 😀
Internationally, for value, I think you can some really awesome Valpolicella Ripasso under $30. The best I tried when I visited was Giusti Valpolicella Ripasso Classico Superiore. Then again you can get some good ones under $15...
Tres Bagos you opened is 3.9 on Vivino. I think it's their Touriga Nacional is 4.3 but it's at a higher price.
How much wine is ok to have on the weekly basis?
Any Brunello under 30 bucks is my favorite wine
I would be curious to know what you think of the wine selection at stores here in the US, like Trader Joe’s / Costco / Total Wine / Whole Foods…
I checked on Vivino and the Três Bagos Reserva Tinto has a 3.9 rating only. Did I check the wrong wine?
I try not to repeat the wines I drunk but there are few I regularly come back, for instance: salcheto nobile di montepulciano. I think it is one of the best price/value factor.
Good choice! I was there a few weeks ago.
@@KonstantinBaumMasterofWine I was there in 2007, still remember how much passion they had even when talking about wines and production.
4/5 translates to 80/100 points. As such a 4.0 / 4.1 rating is not a great rating. Problem is rather that everybody is able to rate a wine which has an impact on the rating. I find even find the ratings of different judges at Parker and vinous not comparable.
It’s Faustino “The First”, Master, not Faustino One 😂 Maybe its Rembrandt’s portrait of the man on the label 🤔? Thanks for the interesting tasting! Cheers!!
Wouldn't be better to decant the Faustino I for a while before tasting it?