hey guys do you have any recomendations for good bottle of wine that are affordable? I am trying to broaden my horizons any suggestions would be helpful. right now i am randomly choosing bottles off the shelf and i have had hits and misses. give me some input. thanks thad
One I really like is Antinori Santa Christina. It is 90% sangiovese/10% Merlot. the years pre 02 are the best I have heard. Apparently 02 was a bad year for that region in Tuscany. It can be found under $10 a bottle, I have seen it for as much as $150 a bottle at hotels. Really fruity, milder than a lot of wines I have tried. Good with burgers or steak. The forums at www.wines.com are great. There is a lot of knowledge over there.
Trader Joe's 3 buck chuck. definitely the cheapest drinkable stuff there is. I'd say it tastes like $15 at least. See if you can get some.
not the cheapest, but one of the best wines I have ever had. www.testarossa.com Owned by a really cool redhead.......
Erik, How's the vino selection in China? When I was in Shanghai last year there wasn't much of a selection. They also served "reds" chilled. Interesting. As for an inexpensive selection of decent wine, go check out Costco.
Hard to go wrong with a Côtes du Rhône. More consistent than other French wines, as conditions in are usually hot and sunny, but always on slopy, granite soil which holds huge volumes of grapes. Result: Thick & robust wine which is plentiful & cheap. Set a bottle by an open window & let the evening chill it for a bit, then kill the night and bottle with a friend. She'll thank you in the morning.
"Orvietto Classico" is a #2 white wine from Italy. It's about $12 CAD ($9 USD) and I haven't found one that tastes better in the last 10 years since I found this one. FWIW........the fairer sex is also very complimentary when I serve it as an accompaniment to dinner......or for more nefarious purposes afterwards !!
Hey Thad- If you are looking for some nice wine that you can buy copious amounts of to serve at a party (and not break the bank) go get some Yellowtail Cabernet Soveignon. Very nice taste, just a touch dry... very good for the discount price of $8 dollars a bottle or so. Enjoy! Nick
it looks like i have a lot of drinking to do. damn, that sucks thanks for all the reccomendations thad
Depends were you are. Some of the western hotels have some of the good stuff, and the mark up is actually less than NYC. The local stuff is not very good (and the local liquor is a killer for the uninitiated). Remember, I'm not in real China, we still have a Ritz Carelton in town. Now I have been there for dinner and seen a table next to us mix Petrus and Pepsi. We about fell out of our chairs laughing at that one. I'm used to cold red wine, I fly international business alot. I was on a United flight back to SFO last year. A so called somollier next to me suggested a Medoc that was on the list. I told him it would be so cold that he couldn't tell the difference between any of them. The stewardess played along. I think I came home with an extra $50 that trip...
Kenwood Jack London Vinyard Zinfandel / $18-20 My favorite. Goes very well with steak and fish, really anything.
from napa, any variety from stag's leap or cake bread, or plump jack vinyards. any will be ejoyed fully. pcb
Right now I'm enjoying an excellent $8.50 bottle of Italian wine (hey... this is Fchat). 2001 Trentino Merlot. Awesome stuff.
I was in Napa last week and bought way too much wine. The FedEx man isn't very happy with me this week. He delivered my 5th case today. I went overboard at Testarossa and Cakebread and Stags Leap. I'm having a Testarossa pinot noir right now and it is fantastic! I'm guessing $35 or so a bottle.
Peter- that stuff is the BEST! Did you attend his tasting on his Sonoma Beach vineyard? It's right on the beach, literally in the sand! Thad- a vineyard called Pepperwood Grove makes outstanding wines for $6-8/bottle. They are my bargian-choice. Absolutely no reason to buy crap when Pepperwood Grove exists. Going up a bit; for one of my favrouite spicy Zins, for $10bux, get MonteVina's. This Amador county zin is nice and spicy, quite a nice kick. Good enough by itself, and even better with some already spicy food. Bogle Vineyards makes an $11 Old Vine (make sure it's 'old vine!') Zin for about $11 which is deeper and darker. I have to include Rafanelli Vineyards here. Their Zin is to die for. At $30-$35 or so a bottle it's not exactly dirt-cheap, but this wine may be the best Zin on the planet. It's my personal favrouite, at any price. (including the several $hundred offerings.) Can you tell I like Zins? What am I drinking right now? Seghesio Old Vine 2001 Zin. $28/bottle (I paid less, employee discount, though I don't work there.) This is a FANTASTIC very CLASSIC wine in an almost perfec textbook fassion. The first Zin ever to my knowledge to be on Wine Spectator's Top 100. It's very traditional, and very strong. Not always my thing, but if you want to open a bottle Dad will like, this is it. In what may be the best "For the; I have great taste, but am a college student on a stiff budget" find ever, I have found the above Seghesio 92point Old Vine '01 Zin in half-bottle form for $13bux at a local store. You cannot spend a better $13 on wine for you and your girlfriend on a given nite. Peroid. Cambria's Pinot Noir is one of the best Pinos I've had. It's more intense and spicy than pinos tend towards, and it dosen't taste dirty! About $20 per bottle IIRC. (I have several cases.) Antinori Santa Christina recomended below I can second. 90% sangiovase blend. I was turned onto this at a local resturant. Great with medium pasta dishes, needs about 20minuites though, so open it first thing, THEN set the table!
Right now there is a glut of good red wines on the market. COSTCO has some excellent reds. I personally am very fond of Casillero Del Diablo an Excellent Chilean Red I tried in Brazil.