Cellar No. 8 is No. 1

In 1881, Andrea Sbarboro founded the Asti Winery in northern Sonoma County. Sbarboro was an Italian immigrant and San Francisco banker who moved to northern Somoma County where he founded a winemaking community. The winery was named after the Asti region in northern Italy. Cellar No. 8 was the location at the original Asti Winery where Sbarboro would age his red wine in barrels. The winery was later bought by Beringer, which was subsequently bought by the Foster’s Group. While Andrea is undoubtedly spinning over the fact that his beloved wine community is now owned by Aussies, the current caretakers at Foster’s are producing enjoyable, fruit forward, ready-to-drink wines in a California style.

Today, Cellar No. 8 produces Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Zinfandel, all great values at $9 per bottle. (They also produce several reserve bottlings price around $25 and a few whites.) Cellar No. 8 wines are currently part of BevMo’s 5 cent sale, so you will be able to buy their enjoyable wine under $5 per bottle. I’m sure Andrea is happy about that.

Best, Joe Plonk

Click for Drink Plonk Home Page