Okay, Kim mentioned this on the PB&J thread, but since I thought it was an idea I too was interested in, I thought I'd initiate it!

I am just an information gatherer (is that a word?), so I am hoping the ones "in the know" will post some good recommendations..actually, I am interested in both inexpensive and more expensive recommendations...sorry, Lawrence, but both white and red. :D

Thanks in advance for allowing us to pick your brains!

Is the place to mention Boone's Farm? Very reasonably priced.

marc

I kind of like my favorite...2004 riunite... :D :D :D

I still remember how much we loved Mateus, both Rose and Blanco in college. ;)

Ahh.....lets not forget MD 20/20. What was in that stuff anyway?!? Brutal hangovers, I seem to recall..

Edna Valley chard is mid priced and good, Stags Leap chard, a litle higher and good, Trefethen (sp?) chard is another good one. obviously a chard man here...

Sheri

My husband likes a heavy red - ie burgundy - and I like a lighter red, so we have compromised on Beaujolis Village. Some brands better than others but can't tell you which off the top of my head. I did get him several bottles of the 2003 Beaujolis Nouveau that got all the great reviews. We had it 1 night with dinner & neither one of us could tell what the big fuss was about. Didn't finish the bottle. Well, I discovered the secret 2 days later. He was gone so I decided to have a glass & get rid of the bottle. It was excellent, fantastic, etc. The secret is let it breathe, let it breathe, let it breathe!!!
Have any of you California people tried that Chuck wine or Chucks wine? Saw something about it on one of magazine type shows. Suppose to be excellent at cheap, cheap prices. Just wondering/
Betty

I remember the year (I believe 1974) that Stag's Leap won a Paris tasting contest for their Cabernet. I could have picked up bottles for around $6. Now you can't touch the stuff.

marc

Sheri, I asked Tom the "wine snob" and this is what he is saying as I type....
"The secret is to try some moderately expensive ($50) wines and select those that tickle your fancy. Then by trial and error find these inexpensive wines that "remind you" of the expensive wines."

Red inexpensive: Turning Leaf Costal Reserve Cabernet (must say Coastal Reserve) under $10 on sale.

Red more Expensive:
Gallo (Barrelli Creek Vineyards) Cabernet $30.
Tignanello (super Tuscan) $45. Italian
Bolla Amarone (Piedmont) $40. Italian

White:
inexpensive: Try any Chardonay (especially California) until one or more stand out for you.
Expensive: Puligny Montrachet (will spoil your taste buds) $40.

He sends you a big hug!

Ok he's done so I'm adding that there's always "2 Buck Chuck" (Charles Shaw) sold at any Trader Joe's if you have those in PA. It really isn't bad and for $2. you can't beat it!

Betty -

Breathe - breathe - breathe - too funny! I've never heard of Chuck(s?) but I'll look around.

Hey...some great suggestions everyone...thanks!!

Funny Robert....I just mentioned it. Go to any Trader Joe's in So. Cal. it's a GREAT deal for those of us with "less sophisticated taste buds"

By the way Marcie, please send my handsome buddy Tom a big, huge hug from me. He gave me just the right information...I'm kinda the girl who needs the book, "Red Wine for Dummies"...and he not only gave me recommendations for certain wines, but a lesson in how and where to go from there. Thanks Tom and everone!
Sheri

Fabulous, Marcie, thanks! I've got a TJ's right on the way home. I'll stop 2nite. Some rain we're having, eh?

Perfect night Robert to get out of the rain with a bottle of 2 Buck Chuck!

I actually know the owner of Charles Shaw (Fred Franzia...same guy as the wine in the box). His daughter was best friends with my daughter in Jr. and High School and I sold his home in O.C.

By the way....Fred Franzia bought Charles Shaw from the real Charles Shaw's xwife. There really is a Charles Shaw who owns vineyards. His xwife acquired the Charles Shaw division and sold it to Fred Franzia for PEANUTS to get back at her ex. The real Charles Shaw is now suing Fred Franzia for "defaming his name" with all this cheap wine...it's a real soap opera!

Marcie...or Tom...that Montrachet...I have had one I loved...but I think it was Chassagne (I am murdering the spelling) Montrachet..it is about $40 in the store. If it's the one, or close to the one you are talking about, it is delicious.

Wow, Petlover, Franzia vs. Charles "2 Buck Chuck" Shaw...would beat Falcon Crest in terms of soaps any day! Peter loves the 2 buck chuck or Safeway's response, 2 buck Searidge Merlot.

For company 'table wine' though, I prefer to serve Mouton Cadet. Not bad for $9.00 (even better when it's on sale at S'way for $7.00. If we are doing something special, then I go all out with the Silver Oak Cab (Napa Valley preferably...that goes for about $100 direct from the winery, $100+++ anywhere else). A friend of ours also introduced us to Tiganello from Tuscany, it is very nice and here in California retails for about $80. I also love good Pinot Noirs, I find those from Oregon generally better than California, preferably from the late 90's.

In terms of whites (when we do have them), on the less than $10 side I like Hess Select Chardonnay. If I want to go up into the high teens/low twenties, I like Clos Pegase "Mitsuko's Vineyard" Chardonnay. Peter loves Santa Margarita Pinot Grigio (low 20's), so I always keep a bottle around...goes great when we have Mediterranean Chicken dishes. For the splurge side, nothing like a Far Neinte Chardonnay, that starts around $60 here in the store.

Finally, for summer evenings, we like Lillet, served on ice with a slice of orange...very refreshing!

I find that Markham's cabernet is pretty good (usually has a nice buttery finish/texture) and is a pretty good value at $18. Penfolds Bin 202 (I think that's the bin # but am not 100% sure) is a really nice shiraz that's usually priced in the low $20's in the stores.

I also try to find wines that aren't sexy right now - Spanish reds, Chilean cabs, and New Zealand pinot noirs are all quite good and severely underpriced all because they're not hip. I also think that South African rieslings tend to be ignored as well for some reason.

I also like to look for hidden gems in a bad vintage. For example, 1998 is rather infamous for being terrible in California because of El Nino. Well, this is generally the case BUT there are a few standouts that are priced down because they have the stigma of being a '98. The one catch is that you need to buy those wines before Wine Dictator starts publicizing what turned out good. For example, Cain Five 1998 is quite excellent but was initially priced down by about 35% because of the vintage stigma. Wine Dictator decided to trump it up as an exception to El Nino and, bam, the prices shot up. Stuff like that.

And yes...Two Buck Chuck is perhaps the best deal out there. I try to bring back cases from Cali whenever I'm out there on business.

It's really called Charles Shaw..sold only at Trader Joes for $1.99

Ugh, Boones Farm & MD 20/20 :( Those were almost as bad as those orange California wine coolers :D :D

Got it thanks - Now I do remember a friend mentioning this wine. And back in the day when dollars were tight, Franzia was my wine of choice! In a box! How funny, I'd forgotten. Oh those wine coolers were so bad Kimmi! Could there be any more "malt beverages" out there these days?

Walla Walla Washington has now become a hot bed for wines. This is all thanks to Mount Saint Helen. Since the blast the Lava dust has now made the soil wonderful.
We (Jan) found a good one. Walla Walla Vintiers
Merlot 2001 is best but all are very good. they have a web site.

Hey Bette - here's another hint about the Nouveau Beaujolais (I use that as an excuse to have a tasting party each year! IT's actually more a "getting sloshed" party than tasting...but anyway....) throw an ice cube in it! It's one of those young reds that can benefit from a little chill!
And if you like Beaujolais - try Georges duBouef's Morgon. (It's a type of Beaujolais that I love - and not just because it sounds like my dog's name!) In Penna (which is way more expensive for wine than anywhere else in the world) it's about $13 or $14 a bottle.

Oh Bobbi....I'm laughing reading throwing the ice cube in the glass of red wine. My husband, Lawrence, Bill, Suzanne and others...would be in disbelief if they saw you doing this (not me of course) :eek: :eek:

It reminds me when my husband had a very very good expensive imported Red wine and offered to share it with a couple at the table. One guy took his last swig of Creme Soda then started filling the same glass with the wine. This happened 20 years ago but my husband still cringes when he thinks of it.

A friend of mine once thought that she would "chill" a bottle of Opus One I had given her for her birthday in the freezer. She forgot about it - a week later we discovered a large red ice cube in her freezer. :rolleyes:

Well, the first time I had wine, I finished off a chardonnay and poured some mystery red into the same glass! :eek:

As my dad says, it all looks the same to your stomach. :D

L - I think your Dad and I would get along famously! LOL

Tony and I know very little about good wine - except that we like to drink wine - one of our adult children was told by his boss in CA to learn something about wine it will serve you well when you entertain and send gifts (wine) to clients - that was 7 yrs ago and they created a monster - he is a pain in the neck wine snob - comes home and trashes our selections - how can you drink this stuff? I reply "$12.99 for a large bottle of Lindemann's is NOT cheap" - last time we were in Santa Monica (in their house they were gone) and we ran out of wine for the two of us- so went to the basement and saw all the beautiful bottles - so we took one, drank it, and hated it - I later asked what that particular bottle sold for - $80 - I almost gagged and didn't admit to sampling a bottle!!!
Joanna

Cubeage in my wine - NEVER. I really do think this is a northern thing. A lot of my friends in Ohio do this. I almost had wine coming out of my nose I laughed so hard the 1st time I saw someone do this, but I am only an enjoyer, so at first i thought this was something those of us from the south just didn't know about. Had to look it up at work the next day to make sure I wasn't crazy. And I am not. But however you drink it - ENJOY!

Betty

I only know what I like - and what's expensive to some is cheap to others. With that in mind, Bob and I like:
Domaine Carneros La Reve Sparkling wine
Toad Hill Amiplexus - also sparkling
Chateau St. Jean Merlot
The Penfolds reserve blend
several others that I can't think of right offhand but give me time and I will!
Joanne

This thread is great reading...but excuse me...I'm going to go open another bottle and read on!

I like many of the Austrailian reds - they are less expensive here than in AU...go figure!

You can now by wine by the can in Australia! It's actually pretty convenient. :D

I usually like Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay but on the Mariner we tried the Matala Shiraz and it's quite good. Can't find it locally, but the Penfold's Cabernet/Shiraz is close. Also Katherine Cambria Chardonnay is big on our list.

Remeber Lancer's? That was a college favorite....

I get Far Niente Chardonnay($39)and other good wines at Costco. Sometimes 1/2 price of the liquor stores.

We're Zinfindel fans ... and in particular, we're fond of Ridge Vineyards. We're slowly getting accustomed to reds (doing the natural wine snob evolution from white wine to red) and I can remember the first red that I REALLY loved was the 1997 Ridge Geyserville - what an eyeopener. We even belong to their ATP program where they do small lots of different wines that aren't large enough to release to the market but get direct shipped to customers that belong to the club - have tried a number of wines that way including a late harvest Zinfindel - amazing.

Another (expensive) wine that we recently tried and really liked as well was Viader - it's a 50% mix of cabernet sauvignon/cabernet franc - extremely good.

A cheaper alternative that we're fond of as well is Rosemount GSM (grenache, syrah, and mourvedre).

Masaki

I know have coffee splashed all over me from laughing so much at this thread!!!!! (Good thing I am wearing a brownish top today!). Love the wine selections. And envy all of you who can walk into any store, anywhere and buy wine. (By the can, Lawrence? I won't even drink soda from a can!)
Feel very sorry for those of us in PA. - who have to sneak over to Delaware or NJ to get decent prices on decent wines (ones that I won't put ice into!!!!)

Just remembered...we enjoyed a very nice Copola Claret while on the Mariner last fall - Can't find it here - don't think the Cab is quite as nice.

Wagsalot

I agree on the soda in a can is not as good as out of a glass bottle...luckily in most latino grocery stores you can find REAL Coca Cola (made in Mexico, generally), the way it was meant to be had.

Let me echo Gatowoman and encourage everyone to try Oregon wines. Some of our wineries are doing a fine job with pinot noirs, and the pinot gris are up and coming as well. We tasted our way across Yamhill County last fall and came away impressed, though we are by no means sophisticated wine drinkers. But even we could tell that good things are happening in our wine industry here.

MarnaLou

I spent about 10 weeks working in Corvallis, OR a few years back and had a great time driving around and visiting several of the vineyards there. What a great way to spend the week-ends trying different wines just wish I could remember the names of those I liked.
MarnaLou - I loved that area and enjoyed Portland so much. I prefer it to Seattle.

Kathy

Well, the Trader Joes 2 Buck Chuck was not bad at all. Given the price. I think I could pass it off as something more pricy! After the first glass who will be the wiser?!?

R (yes, I am a sneak!)

I love this thread! I have been sampling more Oregon wines and have liked quite a few. I'm a white wine person more than red - drinking too much red leaves me with a headache and for some reason, if I like the taste, I neglect to stop drinking it after a glass or two.

Not to mention that the winery itself is beautiful. Another favorite of mine is Chimney Rock, Cakebread and Merryvale. We had a great bottle of 1999 Coppola Cabernet Directors Reserve with our bison steaks last week in Steamboat.

If you are ambitious and like to try "different" wines....try Malbec from Argentina. Almost bordeaux tasting..very delicious with the seasoned, grilled meat Argentina is known for.

By the way, joining your local wine shops wine of the month club is a great way to experience wines you might not normally buy. My merchant goes out of his way to find stuff in small quantities for a reasonable price to include in the monthly offerings.

Michael