Macchia from total wine and more is a great option in that price point and people generally love it but have not heard of it. The Barbera and the Zins are great

For that sort of thing I always pull out the NV MacRostie Chardonnay and either a NV Daou or Troublemaker/Harvester from Austin Hope. These types of wines tend to have mass appeal. When people are drinking a beer, then a cocktail, then some wine and are just socializing and don't know anything about wine they are going to guzzle it down and not know any different and these are "good to great" at 20 bucks for that crowd.

I always serve cava too if people want sparkling. 12-15 a bottle and trust me, Sheila from a block down the street doesn't know the difference between 12 dollar cava and Krug.

Keep all the good stuff for you or people you know will appreciate it.

I was also looking at this
https://www.vivino.com/wines/4600422
Since ky girlfriend is Latin American, we've got a chef who was at a great Latin American restaurant and maybe a Latin American wine as well?

Also LA wines are generally great values.

Daou or The Calling Cab

What food is being served? Being a winter time party I wouldn't go with basic whites and would go to Chardonnay or something of the ilk with that bit more of a body to it. Plenty of good Chardonnay in the $20-$30 range. I might go to La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. Can probably get it for less than $20. Should be a crowd pleaser type of Chardonnay. I'm biased but I've tried a lot of Chardonnay and if I was given $20 for one Chardonnay bottle for a group I would probably go to this wine. Frei Brothers another good option.

I would probably do 1 sparkling 1 white 2 reds to keep it simple. Not everyone will be drinking wine so you don't need a huge list.

For sparkling a cava or Prosecco will handle all your needs. I don't have any specific recs here. Last cava I tried I did not like, but I think that had more to do with producer and price than anything else.

For red go one domestic one international.

Whatever you do steer clear of plonk like Josh or Meomi. Maybe do a domestic Zin like Dry Creek Zin. Or Goldschmidt Katherine Cab. These will both give you more black fruit, then you can counter that with a Chianti Classico or Chianti Classico Riserva (Sangiovese) as your import option to get some red fruit.

I was thinking this Vielle champagne. Always a crowd pleaser. Under $30 at Costco when they have it. I don't imagine we will have that many champagne aficionados but maybe at the start.

Kirkland champagne is better than that stuff.

It's also $20/btl.

If you're looking for a red, I always love the Guigal Cotes-du-Rhone. It's got some complexity to it to satisfy the wine nerds, but easy enough to drink for the social drinkers. It's usually $15/btl.

As for quantities, It really depends on if they're wine drinkers or not. If you have sixty people, that will get you a glass per person. I would get a case of whatever you have, and that should cover you easily, especially if there's other alcohol like beer or spirits. Plus, if it's something you like, you can keep the leftover bottles for drinking on a Tuesday night, and many places will give you case discounts.

Tuesday night wine? More like Saturday morning wine...

Just ordered some of Juan Mercado's new winery out of Paso: Riise.

I was expecting it to be cheaper. Not sure why, given how he priced Realm. You can get some really good wines from pretty much the same fruit and even the same winemaker for quite a bit less than he wants for this first release, so I am not inclined to pull the trigger.

was it Texags that recommended Last Bottle Wine to me?

Intriguing site but curious what people here think of it, I saw the Reddit reviews (mostly positive but some cynics).

Bought some stuff but not received yet.

I grew up poor so I can't help myself at times focusing on value and they at times have some great values.

Their everyday deals are not always deals, except when they are dumping something from a winery that went under or sold out (e.g. Italics). You can often find good deals on their marathon days as well. I'd steer clear of the stuff they bottle themselves, it's usually plonk in my experience. I generally only click buy if I know the wine and know I like it, and if you get enough to get free shipping it is usually priced about as cheap as you can find it anywhere.

I've bought a couple The Debate 3-packs off last bottle and been happy with them.

I love Pritchard Hill wines!

Texags Winos… my father and I (DiehardPops86) will be in Tuscany in late spring of 2024. We will be in and around Florence but also will probably spend time in Montepulciano and Montalcino. Anyone have any hook ups or favorite wineries?

From what I have read it only makes sense to ship wine home if you're spending 75-100+ a bottle. I might do that for a case of something special, but we are also looking to buy some bottles to drink as a large family while eating and cooking through the country side.

Thanks!

BSD said:

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I love Pritchard Hill wines!

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I will say, both the Maya and Hundred were amazing. Was REALLY impressed by the Maya and will be picking some up

My wife and I were in Montalcino last summer and really loved Sesti. Great wine, great people, beautiful property.

Montalcino has many wine shops that you can mix and match all sorts of bottles for shipping or drinking there.

We rented a house in the country side one year and cooked out, grilled and drank wine. The next year, we stayed in town and did the same thing. We hit the local grocery store for a great selection as well.

Here are my favorite wine shops in Montalcino:


https://maps.app.goo.gl/UNSsRoVPq3zGMCmr8?g_st=ic

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ogVptZoems4VC2B36?g_st=ic

There are so many wineries. Our MO was to taste as many as we could. The ones we liked, we ventured out to take a tour. It was always an adventure which did not always end with a tour, but we discovered a lot on the way.

Favorite winery based on tasting: Col d'Orcia

https://maps.app.goo.gl/nS3mYdEp2q2pkHuz8?g_st=ic

My favorite Montalcino winery is Capanna. I highly recommend a visit.

https://www.capannamontalcino.com/en.html

Was very good. Very big mouthfeel, but not jammy. Very broad flavor across, long finish. Berry, cassis, little leather

Does anyone have a connection to schedule a tasting at MacDonald on the 22nd?

Thanks y'all!

Call them. Probably a slim chance if you're not on list or close to being off waitlist.

aggiejumper said:

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Call them. Probably a slim chance if you're not on list or close to being off waitlist.

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Yeah. Give them a call (first choice) or email (second choice). Are you on the waiting list already? If so, how long? Just curious as to the wait.

I'm likely going to be looking for another Napa wine club to join, because I'm looking at dropping Burgess. I can see what is going to happen with them (I paid $75 for a pinot gris that was nothing exceptional and I forgot to swap it out because I'm a moron), and the wines that are $125 this year are going to be $150+ next year. We don't drink much cabernet, but I'd like to keep some in the chiller because there are times that I want a cab. I don't want to commit to more than a case per year (6-8 would be better), and I'd like to stay below $125/btl if possible. I also prefer Napa cabs that are more structured and aren't jammy and over-oaked. I'm looking at Neal, as I've had their wines before, and have liked them. Any other recommendations that I should consider?

We enjoyed Charles Krug. Just canceled after five years. 20% off ( as industry we got 30%, which was really nice). Discounted price on most cabs is under $100.

Cabs are Napa but not TOO Napa.

Worth a look.

Look outside of Napa too. May be able to find some good Sonoma producers that you like with more approachable prices and in the style you like as well. (Think Knights Valley, Alexander Valley, and Moon Mountain area).

Better yet, plan a trip out here and join a winery that you are visiting. I think if you are wanting only cabs though, most places that come to mind for me have other wines sprinkled in, so that could be an issue.

That is an expensive Pinot Gris. Surprising wine choice for Burgess to push on club members. Even if I want a Pinot Gris that is nice, I would just grab a great $30 bottle from the store from where I want, both region and producer. I can count on (less than) one hand how many times that that Pinot Gris desire has been the case though, ha!

I'm not opposed to Sonoma either, I should have mentioned that. A lot of clubs will allow for some customization, so if I don't want their zinfandel or whatever, I can swap it out.

I was honestly shocked at the price of that pinot gris too. I thought it was a misprint, but it turns out that they're trying to turn it into a cult label like everything else out there. I find it sad, because that property produced some great wines when Steve Burgess and Kelly Woods were making the wines.

He was a crotchety old cuss. We visited in (I think 2015). My wife, who uses a cane, held the door open for an old man to come in. It pissed him off and he made it clear. Didn't realize who it was until a few minutes later.