just up from Opus one towards St. Helena... great wines. if you go let him Know I recommended you. Fleury Estate Winery is open daily by appointment only. We take appointments at 10:30am, 12:00pm, 1:30pm and 3:00pm. Our tasting fee is $35 per person and is independent of wine purchases. Please contact the winery at 707.967.8333 or at [email protected] to schedule an appointment. Complimentary Concierge Services are available.
OK, I know where you guys are actually. Will have to drop by sometimes - nursing an ulcer so no alcohol for a while. Those who suggested Orin Swift, good choice. Becoming a popular brand, although they sold the Prisoner to another brand I believe; still a good wine but the production has massively increased. You can find other similar zin/cab blends for the same price. I just had one called "Humana" I think...can't remember though. Layer Cake is excellent for the price. Jayson Woodbridge kills it. Oh, and Bell makes a KILLER cabernet. The Clone 6, which is around $125, is maybe the biggest, baddest cab I have had around here in along time. Just had a Staglin that was superb as well.
One possibility for the OP is to find a local wine shop with staff or owners who you can get to know and trust. I find this to be a great way to learn about wines and try new ones. That said, I really liked the 2005 Pezzi King Old Vine Zinfandel, I couldn't help myself from sucking it down! Sadly, the later vintages just didn't have the same flavor but that 2005 was killer. I also tend to like most of the offering from Orrin Swift and Molly Dooker. But one of my perennial go-to favourites is the Chateau Beaucastel from Chateauneuf du Pape and its sibling Cote du Rhone, Coudolet du Beaucastel, is a winner.
For a Cabernet, the $20-30 range is tough, since most of the worthwhile bottles are a little (or a lot) more expensive. That said, taste is individual, and you can find some good bottles that are available at several chains. Amongst these are: St Supery Napa (2007) Buehler Napa (2008) Terra Valentine (2009) Spring Mountain CULT Napa (nd) Beringer Knights Valley (2010)- least expensive, pretty serviceable wine Truchard Carneros (2009) Laurel Glen Counterpoint (Sonoma 2009) Once you move beyond this range, the options open up considerably. You can, though, get some excellent bottles in the $40-60 range. For me, Cab is a wine that you can easily pay a lot to buy, and for which there are almost always less pricey options that would make you just as happy. We go to Monterey a lot, and like wines in that region. If you want to expand to Zinfandel, a day trip to the Amador Shenandoah wine country east of Sacramento is well worth it. It is like Napa 50 years ago, and has some excellent Zinfandels. Their wine trail includes Easton/Terra Rouge, a noted winery. There are a few of the "bridal party" type of places, but many are also on the grounds where the grapes are grown, in trailers or a room inside the winery, etc. A few of our favorites are the Dobra Zemlja, Sobon and Shenandoah Vineyards (Shenandoah is great table wine, not fancy; Dobra Zemlja's caves are an interesting afternoon's tastings of very good Zin, Easton has consistently great wine) It is also a lot less crowded than Napa/Sonoma with a generally much rushed experience. In Plymouth, you also want to eat (lunch or dinner) at Taste Restaurant, a true two-star Michelin restaurant in the middle of nowhere. We've eaten all over the world, and every meal at Taste is memorable. Regards, Bob H
I echo Bob H's endorsement of Beringer Knight's Valley...almost always a great QPR at about $ 20. Try to find 07, 09 and then 2010. Chateau Souverain has good quality low priced cabs. Beuhler has been a good value for a long time...my wife and I visited Heidi there in the 80's way before Screaming Eagle made her world famous.
When it comes to Cabernet, I really enjoy Paul Hobbs. Unfortunately, it's neither cheap now readily available, but I do think it's worthwhile to explore as you develop your own palate.
If you're willing to go up to ~$40, I think Jordan Cabs are hard to beat. Did a blind taste test with Silver Oak which is 2x the price with some friends and it's hard to tell the difference and it's pretty easy to find.
I was mostly responding to g996 who was being very dismissive. Thanks for all your advice. Can't wait to go to Napa next October!
To get back to the OP's original question about the jump in expectations and quality between a $20 and $60 wine...I think that's a good point and there's some general truth to the expectation for more expression from expensive ones. From my experience though, the differences are not always that dramatic, and a good amount of a $110 Cab may simply be "fluff"; in other words, there's a whole lot of high priced wine that is sold simply to appeal to people who want a certain image. For a prime example of this, look up Tusk Estates. This dude sells three packs for upwards of $1200 in bottles that weigh more than your wheel, with crazy ornate packaging. On the other end, you can find really stellar wines for $20-30 but not many for less than that, and probably not as many bigger style reds. There's a justification for big Cabs that sit in 100% new French oak to cost more than a red blend or white wine. While that oak and extra aging raises the price some, I do think there's a lot of ego boosting injected into the final price of the product... Bottom line is that you can find really great deals but you'll always be let down as you try new ones from time to time. I think $30-60 is a pretty sweet spot for good wines...The high prices also lead to higher hopes, which come crashing down harder when they do fall. Recent example of a great deal I came upon - Garnet's Carneros Pinot Noir. For $19 this is a steal of a wine, and stands up to all sorts of other PN that I have tried. They also have a $29 Rodgers Creek single vineyard that's exceptional. Maybe not Kosta Browne exceptional but pretty damn good, and a fraction of the cost. Pinot is one wine that I've had a hard time finding great examples for less than $30. And if I haven't mentioned it yet, the Domaine Eden Cabernet, Santa Cruz Mountains, at around $35 is sooooo good,with tons of finesse and bright flavor. A nice departure from the fruit bombs of Napa...
For sure. Jordan kills it. Jordan, Lambert Bridge, and Lancaster Estate...all great Healdsburg/Sonoma area wineries.
if you are in the Napa valley don't miss Bello family in St Helena on Hwy 29. They make some pretty amazing Cabs. Their Megahertz is only about 50 bucks and drinks like you spent quite a bit more. They also make pretty incredible cab at the 100 dollar price point. But if you want to really blow someones mind their reserve is quite possibly one of the most incredible wines that has ever passed my lips. Aaron pott(former winemaker at quintessa) makes their wines and Dave abreu manages all of their vineyards. Production is really low and they are nearly impossible to find outside of the valley
