Food & Spirits
Sponsored by

Less than $50 wine

20,270 Views | 138 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by reload85
sawemoffshort09
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
We have a lengthy thread on expensive wine, however what is everyone's favorite wine (red or white) to drink more as an any day wine (<$50)? Something to just sip on at home during the week, without a special occasion or nice dinner.
HTownAg98
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Lots of stuff.
Chappellet mountain Cuvee
Atecca
Numanthia Termes
Mollydooker The Boxer
Anything from Ridge
Caravan
Biale Black Chicken

BSD
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Good stuff from Htown, as usual. As just about universally agreed upon in the other thread, if you can get Chappellet Signature cab at that $45-50 level, go for it.


Stan Crowch
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
quote:
Anything from Ridge
sawemoffshort09
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Great suggestions Htown I have enjoyed several of those wines, for a cheap wine my wife has enjoyed McManis Family. I like this due to the fact it is down in the $10-14/bottle ranch
HTownAg98
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Some more:
The lower level wines from Alto Moncayo
Anything from Chapoutier
Bramare Malbec (Paul Hobbs' Argentenian venture)
Schramsburg Mirabelle
Hartford Court Chardonnay
Bedrock red blends
Any Pinot from the Russian River Valley in the $30-$50 range from 2012 and later.
Columbia Crest H3 line
Tamarack (both the red blend and the cab franc)
Upstream
Bruce Almighty
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Meiomi Cab or Chardonnay is good for 20 bucks.
Frog's Leap Zin
Badge Pinot
Duckhorn Merlot
Textbook Merlot
Ags03
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
quote:
Biale Black Chicken

Had this last night!
Absolute
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Second Mollydooker the boxer
Our favorite is the Mollydooker two left feet (buy as much as they have when I happen find it)
The prisoner blend is good
Baldacci four sons fraternity
Jordan cab

We pretty much live in the 15 to 30 range and generally have good luck.
62strat
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
$50 bottle is everyday wine? Damn.
sawemoffshort09
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Not for me, we typically drink the $15-30 range. I just figured I would get more replies with a bigger price range, and judging by the other wine thread people on here drink some VERY expensive wines.
Ag_07
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Some of our weekly pickups at the store. We'll go over if we're having a nice dinner or when eating out but we stick to the <$50 when shopping for everyday/weekday vino

Billhook Cab ($25)
Becker Vineyards Reserve Merlot ($15)
Faust Cab ($40)
Cabanero Red ($10) - This wine is a bit different and only carried at HEB. It's red blend with habanero infusion. It's smokey with hints of peppers and, as intended, pairs well with spicy food. Since we eat a lot of spicy food (Mexican, Thai, Chinese) we buy a bottle or two of this every week.
BSD
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
quote:
Not for me, we typically drink the $15-30 range. I just figured I would get more replies with a bigger price range, and judging by the other wine thread people on here drink some VERY expensive wines.
You have to take my wine consumption posts with a grain of salt. I have a health condition that wont allow me to have an everyday wine. I get maybe a glass or two per month so when I do open a bottle, it will be skewed towards the high end of the price spectrum. If you average that out to price per week, it is actually pretty reasonable!

That said, when I could drink, I would drink a lot of zins during the week because, as you know, cabernet prices can be pretty high. I liked Mauritson, Bella, Carlisle (get on that list for sure!), Keating, and Elyse. Cabs included Paul Hobbs Crossbarn, BV Rutherford, and Conha y Toro Marques di Casa Concha. Schug was a pretty good pinot for the price, as was Pappapietro Perry. We usually drank Cade's and Groth's Sauv Blanc for our white.

There are lots of options under $50 on mailing lists too. I'd suggest looking into Carlisle and Dirty & Rowdy.
AgsMnn
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Like Fiesta Winery red or blush

And Messina Beau
HTownAg98
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I stay under $20 for everyday wine.
bularry
How long do you want to ignore this user?
i don't drink wine over $50 very often.

at Christmas I ordered a couple of cases of wine from a little Cali producer called Horse and Plow. $20-30 per bottle stuff. All fantastic. it is what we've been drinking lately with a few other randoms thrown in.

If you like Zin, for $20 or less you can get some good Seghesio Sonoma County. both the '12 and '13 are real nice expressions of California zinfandel. widely available.

you can always ask the retailer, I did that at a wine shop a few weeks ago asking about a drinkable, med to light bodied wine. got 4 bottles of a $14 2010 chianti. it was a fantastic wine, we plowed through those in a week or so. sadly he's out of them now.

if you like Syrah, the Copain "tous ensemble" Syrah is always a fantastic bargain. I think Spec's downtown usually has it around $21. it is approachable young but not some huge syrupy fruit bomb like so many cheap Cali syrah's can be. some good values out of Washington, too. the charles & charles cab is usually pretty reliable and under $20. same for the Ch St Michelle Canoe Ridge Merlot. they make a nice sparkling, too that is under $15 I think.

lots of stuff out there, but you have to wade through a lot of crap.
jh0400
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
For under $20, we like the following:

Angeline Merlot
Angeline Pinot Noir
A to Z Pinot Noir
Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon
Franciscan Chardonnay

According to my wife there are some great GSMs available for <$20, but I can't comment because I don't care for them.
Leeman
How long do you want to ignore this user?
quote:

Becker Vineyards Reserve Merlot ($15)

Good choice.
BSD
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
damn, I'm getting old. How did I forget Educated Guess? I bought several cases of in '07. That was great juice at $14.99.

Also look at the Cameron Hughes wines at Costco. He'll buy declassified juice from wineries and bottle it himself. Great value.
Stan Crowch
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I've heard that if you come across any Trader Joe's "Platinum Reserve" bottles (red wine). You should basically buy as many as they have. Apparently they are an incredible value. Don't know if that is true or not.
jh0400
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I've had the Platinum Reserve Oakville Cabernet and the Platinum Reserve Russian River Pinot. They were both good bottles for $15. Now that you mention it, I wish I'd bought more.
bhah
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Drinking Liberty School cab right now and I think it's pretty tasty. I think it was $15-20.
dermdoc
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Carlisle is great for the price. And I actually think their Syrah is one of the best Syrahs I have had. Turley Old Vines or Juvenile Zin at about 20 bucks a bottle is very hard to beat. As is their cab from Howell Mountain.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
BSD
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Dont forget WTSO.com as that is a place to try new style on the cheap.
sawemoffshort09
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I have bought twice on WTSO.com and to be honest I have not had the best luck.
BSD
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
not all are winners, that's for sure. But it never hurts to keep a watch on it and cherry pick.


(note: I haven't bought from them in years so I'm not sure what they are selling these days. My worst ever wine mistake was not buying Petrus at $400 from them during the recession)
bularry
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I'd love to hear some great GSM's under $20. There are usually a couple of Cotes de Rhone each vintage under $15 that are really good, but there are certainly some dogs, too.

I've struggled to find nice Grenache from a domestic producers that doesn't get too much of that candied cranberry taste, and the ones I've found that have been good have been over $20.
HTownAg98
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Chapoutier makes a line of Grenache based wines that are typically $15-$20. St. Cosme can be found under $20. Beckmen Cuvee Le Bec can sometimes be found for $20. Zaca Mesa makes some nice wines under $20.
BSD
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Aaron Pott used to make a $12-15 Grenache called La Tarasque. He may still make it but I haven't researched Grenache in a while. I never had the wine but I like his winemaking
Absolute
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
For the under 20 range we like cabernet, shiraz, and red blends of:

Dreaming tree (ok)
Root (good)
Layer cake (dependable)
Chateau St Jean
Yamaha (sp?)
Inspector Spacetime
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
If I was buying a wine in that range for "everyday drinking," I'd probably be spending WAY less than $50, but something right around the $25 range I always loved was Castello di Monsanto Chianti Classico. There are some pretty good Barolo values in that range, too, like Damilano "Lecinquevigne," for probably 30-40.

Obviously you can see I'm a little biased/more knowledgeable about Italian wines, though, and that may not be your jam.
BSD
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
You guys keep jogging my memory on these wines.

Avignonesi Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is a great Italian in the $20 range. Easily available (in Houston, anyways).


bularry
How long do you want to ignore this user?
quote:
Chapoutier makes a line of Grenache based wines that are typically $15-$20. St. Cosme can be found under $20. Beckmen Cuvee Le Bec can sometimes be found for $20. Zaca Mesa makes some nice wines under $20.
I have not loved the lower end St. Cosme stuff I have tried, although I admit it I have only had a few. Chapoutier is a good call, for a Cotes de Rhone. They also have some really pricey stuff.
agnatgas
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
If you are near a Fresh Market, try their 90 (points) under 20 (dollars) kiosk. The rib and I have liked just about everything they've ever put in there.
dustin999
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
My HEB has a 90+ section. I usually just grab a 6-pack carrier and load up on those. Having done that for the last couple of years, we've definitely found some favorites, although I pretty much suck at remembering wine names. Almost everything we repeat buy is under $15 and it's very good IMO.

I'm no wine expert (even though I've drank more wine than I care to admit), but I'll take a mediocre $10 wine served at the right temp in the right glass over some fancy $50-$100 wine served in a crappy glass at the wrong temp.

Investing in a variety of high quality wine glasses and a good wine fridge has done wonders for my enjoyment of wine.
Last Page
Page 1 of 4
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.