I hadn’t had a really great wine discovery in a while. Actually, quite a while. And, usually my wine finds have been courtesy of something posted on a website. Not just me out on a search and destroy mission.

Anyway, there I was in City Market. Checking out what they call the EUA bins and what I call the USA bins.  And there was this Cab priced at $229 a bottle, which is about $100 less than what I’m used to paying for the cheapest California Cabernet Sauvignons and about $200 less than any California Cabs with that magic word “Napa” on the label.

Indigo Eyes was its name. Picked up a bottle. It was a heavy bottle. The kind used for those “fine wines”. Or those pretending to be.

Had to try one and in the carrito it went. 

Had I found the new year’s best bargain? Or had I fallen for some prettily packaged plonk? 

Inexpensive California wines began to change dramatically about 20 years ago. I don’t know how winemakers did it and I have always been bewildered by their talents. But their wines suddenly seemed to get much more fruity. California Cabs had more plum, more blackcurrant, more raspberry. Carnivor, Beringer and Dark Horse became the talk of the town. Apothic became the best selling of all reds in the Canadian town that I call home.

After a while, though, the novelty wore off. I still drank them. And often. But I started looking for what I’ll call old-fashioned wines. Not necessarily with all of the complicated nuances that the wine rags write about. But wines that…well, to put it simply…tasted like grapes.

Thwup! I opened the Indigo Eyes. Poured some in a tumbler (glasses with stems tend to tip in my possession). Stuck my nose in. Not much ‘nose’ but not much worries about no “nose”. You don’t drink with your nose. Took a sip. Pleasant. Took another sip. Fruity but not overpowering. Took another. A little like the Cabs that come from the Languedoc Region in France. Poured myself another glass and thought more about it then went looking for my iPad.

OK, to get to the City Market site, it seems you have to start at the La Comer site. Type in “vinos rojos”, then “estados unidos”, then “Indigo Eyes”. Quantity? Hmmm, 6? No, 12. Just $229 a bottle, make it 24. Hit confirm. Expect delivery in two hours.

Now this wasn’t a great discovery. This wasn’t a Columbus or Cabot, not even a Cartier. For Indigo Eyes was not a great wine. Indigo Eyes was simply a great value. A wine that I think you’d expect to pay about $400-450 for. And it was only about half that price.

I decided to share my pleasures with others. I decided to disclose my discovery on Don Day in SMA. But, alas, before I had a chance, I was back in City Market and the bin was bare. I walked up to City Market’s slightly less attractive sister, La Comer. Nada again.

Thought I’d see if there was somewhere else to buy it and ventured into the world wide web. Indigo Eyes has a website but it’s mostly full of copywriter crap (I’m an expert at spotting it. I used to write it). 

Truth endures behind Indigo Eyes. Like the allure of a darkening harvest sky, indigo eyes entice and offer insight to what is true. Truth that life is ever-changing, just as wine changes forever in the bottle. We invite you to sit back with a glass of Indigo Eyes, embrace the flow of life and find your truth.

“Truth endures behind Indigo Eyes.” Now that tells me a lot about their wines. Nothing on the website about where I might buy them. Not even a contact us so I could ask.

The website did give brief bios of the winemakers so I checked them out. About all I could find was that Stefano Migotto and Dario De Conti were also the winemakers at Spiral Cellars, Four Star Winery, Bend Cellars, Dark Wood Wines, Mystified Wines.

Mystified? I certainly was.

Now to make a long story not quite as long, let’s cut to the Costco store in Puerto Vallarta where my friend Richard and I are scouring the racks for a  box of their best value red, the 100 peso Chilean Cabernet/Carménère called Selection when, low price and behold, there was the Indigo Eyes. Boxes and boxes of it. All with the tops cut off so you drop a bottle or two when lifting it into (and out of) the trunk. And at $189 a bottle. The goods had become even better. Half a case went (carefully) into the buggy.

It was a good night for drinking Cabs. We were eating Costco ribeyes. It was a good night for a cheap Cab. It helped balance the $899 a kilo price of the steaks.

Richard took his first sip. “What do you think”, I asked.

“Do you want me to spout out one of those bacon, chocolate and barnyard with a hint of raspberry lines?”, he replied, “or should I just tell you what I think?”

 “I think it’s good, really good for the price. Aye, aye, the Eyes have it.”

You will hopefully find Indigo Eyes Cabernet Sauvignon at your local Costco or, perhaps, at City Market. Their Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are also both excellent values.