Orowines (Gil Family): Priorat "BlueGray" 2013

Blend of 45% Garnacha, 30% Manzuelo and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon

About $16-$18 (Seen as low as $14). WS 91 points.

Evodia Garanacha (Grenache) is also a great value. Consistently gets great scores, and can be found for around $10, and can be cheaper if you buy a case of it. It's the perfect summer barbeque red wine for a crowd.

I just want to say that I love this thread. Have tried lots of new wines based on suggestions here. Keep them coming!

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Evodia Garanacha (Grenache) is also a great value. Consistently gets great scores, and can be found for around $10, and can be cheaper if you buy a case of it. It's the perfect summer barbeque red wine for a crowd.

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good suggestion

All 6 of these bottles of wine cost me less than $20. Homemade strawberry

Need to figure out a way to sticky or something an ongoing List to make using while at the store easier.

Just add this page to your mobile browser's bookmarks.

Or just make a note and copy posts into it. More work but you make your own notes on it.

Starmont CabSav
Twisted Paso CabSav

If you had any idea how many times I have started and stopped or lost lists of wines you would understand the humor of that response.....

Did open the thread yesterday while at total wine.

Found a couple listed here to try.

I'll add some regions in France to look for for under $50 wine. As I've noted earlier, Premier Cru and Grand Cru St. Emilion wines can be found in the $30-$40 range and can be some very good to exceptional wines. Other regions like the Pessac-Leognan and Pomerol can hold some very good wines for less than $50.
Heading south, the wines of the Cote-du-Rhone for red and whites, and Provence for roses can hold some excellent values. Beware though, because there is a lot of cheap plonk coming out of the Rhone that isn't very good. The next step up, Cotes-du-Rhone Villages, offers a significant upgrade without a significant price jump. There's a lot of Villages wines in the $15-$25 range that are very nice Grenache dominated wines. There are some CdP wines that are below $50, but be careful, because there are some producers that are relying on the CdP AOC for their price, and not what is in the bottle. For Northern Rhone, stay out of Cote Rotie and Hermitage. While they are excellent wines, entry level Cote Rotie is $60, and Hermitage is close to $100. Better alternatives are St. Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage. The reds have to be at least 85% Syrah, but can have some Roussanne and Marsanne added in. The wines generally run in the $25-$50 range, and are meant to be consumed relatively young. If you are tired of jammy Syrah from Australia and central California, these wines can be a nice change of pace.

or buy better Central Ca or Wash Syrah that isn't jammy.

those northern rhone syrah's have never struck me as "made to drink young" but I don't drink enough to question you on that. I did drink a '12 Crozes Hermitage last night that was well under $50 and a very nice Syrah. It was approachable at this early stage, but others I have had from there and St. Joseph have always been fairly closed off as young wines.

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Llano Sweet Red.... $5.64 at HEB. Serious. It's mostly sugar but I like it..... a lot. Go ahead and laugh.

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My wife and I have a couple bottles of that, and a couple bottles of Jam Jar, in the house at all times. The Jam Jar's a little more pricey, though: $8-$9 at Target.

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or buy better Central Ca or Wash Syrah that isn't jammy.

those northern rhone syrah's have never struck me as "made to drink young" but I don't drink enough to question you on that. I did drink a '12 Crozes Hermitage last night that was well under $50 and a very nice Syrah. It was approachable at this early stage, but others I have had from there and St. Joseph have always been fairly closed off as young wines.

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There's a quote along the lines of "you drink the St. Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage while the Cote-Rotie and Hermitage is aging."

Justin Isoceles
Orin Swift Prisoner
T-vines T

All blends. All delish.

drank a couple of Parallele 45 Cotes du Rhone recently. '12 vintage. they've gone up a bit to $13 but still a very nice bargain for a tasty Grenache heavy blend. medium bodied.

available at Spec's

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drank a couple of Parallele 45 Cotes du Rhone recently. '12 vintage. they've gone up a bit to $13 but still a very nice bargain for a tasty Grenache heavy blend. medium bodied.

available at Spec's

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Good to know. I haven't had that in a while.

One to add in the $20 range

Davey Estate Shiraz - Maclaren Valley Aus. (Same area as Molly Dooker) Pretty good. Not quite as deep and bold as The Boxer, but good for a few bucks less.

Another pretty tasty daily cab I didn't see mentioned is Sebastiani. Also the Cosentino varieties, Cab, Cab Franc, etc.

Couple other cheap Pinots that are excellent imo are Angeline Reserve and Villa Mount Eden.

Great thread!

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Need to figure out a way to sticky or something an ongoing List to make using while at the store easier.

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Cellar Tracker.

Almost everything I drink is less than $50. I buy most of my wine from small shops and online so not sure if any of these will be at Specs or HEB (except for the USA stuff--I know Specs carries some of the producers listed below), but if you like hunting down wines with good value here's my list of my favorite producers by country/AOC/region:

France: Most of what I drink is from France. I steer clear of Bordeaux and Burgundy for the most part simply because they are so expensive and I've been priced out. Most of what I drink is from the Loire Valley and Cru Beaujolais (I'm partial to the villages of Morgon, Fleurie, and Moulin--Vent)

Loire:
CAB FRANC: Catherine et Pierre Breton, Chateau Yvonne, Olivier Cousin, Olga Ruffault (The newer vintages are around $25-$30 and I know it's not in the spirit of this post but if you can find old Ruffault--buy it. It probably wont be very expensive considering its age [<$100]. This is one of the benchmarks that shows what some bottle age can do to Cab Franc. I'm fond of the '79, '89 and '02.), Domaine Filliatreau, Domaine Guiberteau, Clos Roche Blance (sadly, 2014 was their last vintage) //
CHENIN BLANC: Frantz Saumon, Agnes et Rene Mosse, Richard Leroy (this is getting more and more expensive and might now be out of the $50 range), Domaine Huet (Sec and Demi-Sec Vouvray), Thibaud Boudignon, Nicolas Joly, Domaine Guiberteau, Francois Pinon, Pascal Potaire (CB Pet-Nat), Domaine de la Taille Aux Loups //
MUSCADET: Domaine de la Pepiere, Domaine de L'ecu, Domaine Pierre Luneau-Papin
OTHER LOIRE: Domaine Phillipe Tessier (Cheverny AOC), Christian Venier (Cheverny AOC), Clos du Tue-Boeuf (Cheverny and Touraine AOCs)

Beaujolais: Yann Bertrand (Fleurie and Morgon AOCs), Jean Foillard (Fleurie and Morgon AOCs), Marcel Lapierre (Morgon AOC), Domaine Dupeuble (Beaujolais AOC), Jean-Paul Thevenet (Morgon AOC), Daniel Bouland (Chiroubles and Morgon AOCs), Jean-Paul Brun, Yvon Metras (Fleurie AOC)

Jura: Benedict & Stephane Tissot, Phillipe Bornard, Domaine de la Pinte, Jacques Puffeney (sadly no longer producing, I believe 2014 was his last vintage)

Savoie: Domaine Belluard (some of his wines are getting up in $$$ but his sparkling Gringet is still cheap [<$25 and a great value]), Domaine Dupasquier, Patrick Bottex, Domaine des Ardoisieres, Jean-Yves Peron

Northern Rhone: Domaine Faury (St. Joseph AOC), Alain Graillot (Crozes-Hermitage AOC -- This is one of the best buys for your money IMO. Just a really well-made bottle of wine. Approachable young, but also fabulous with some age on it).

Italy:
Sicily: COS, Tami, Frank Cornelissen, Ariana Occhipinti (her Frappato is excellent but buy now if you see it--I bet this will be out of the $50 range soon)
Piedmont: G.D. Vajra (the Langhe Nebbiolo and Langhe Rosso), Roagna (Langhe Nebbiolo and Dolcetto D'Alba)
Emilia-Romagna: Denavolo (if you are in to skin-contact (orange) white wine then this will be up your alley)
Latium: Monastero Suore Cistercensi (Made by Cistercian nuns under the supervision of Paulo and Giampiero Bea--also an orange wine)
Trentino-Alto Adige: Foradori (Teroldego)

USA:
California: Broc Cellars(Red blend, Cab Franc), Folk Machine (Pinot), Birichino (Chenin), Lieu Dit (Cab Franc and Chenin), Stolpman (La Cuadrilla red blend), Arnot-Roberts (Trousseau), Matthiasson (Chardonnay), Scholium Project (some of their wines are $$$ but there are quite a few that are under $50), Lioco (Indica red blend)
Oregon: Fausse Piste (Garde Manger red blend is a good value at <$30), Teutonic (Rose and Pinot)

Also, should have included Sherry as an affordable option. A lot of sherry is wildly under priced for its quality. A nice fino or manzanilla sherry with shellfish or seafood is one of the all time great culinary pairings. You can get some great quality fino sherry for under $20.

I like the following producers: Bodegas La Cigarrera, Valdespino, Bodegas Hildago, El Maestro, Bodegas Grant, Equipo Navasos (their single barrel "La Bota" bottles are $$$ but they made a Fino En Rama that is inexpensive), Hijos de Rainera Perez Marin

If you are in Houston check out the Sherry selection at D&Q (The Beer Station)--one of the best selections I've seen outside of NYC.

Cheers!

I finally drank the bottle of Castello di Monsanto Chianti Classico I bought on recommendation of this thread. I liked it very much and thought it was a great value.

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A lot of sherry is wildly under priced for its quality

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True dat. I heard that a lot of scotch producers bought sherry wineries for the casks alone. There is such a demand for casks that they just pour the sherry out. They can't sell it for a high enough value to capture the bottling and transportation costs.

A little recommendation here - St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc. A Napa appellation with the classic Napa sauvignon blanc flavors (i.e. fruit salad). Last couple bottles I've found are <$18. Comparable bottles I've seen are about $5 a bottle more.

Walmart's $6 red wine named one of the best in the world

There's a red blend at Kroger called Aconga. $3.50 a bottle and it has become my out go to when we don't want to uncork a $20 dollar bottle. I'm a Pinot noir/cab sauv fan and this is decent stuff. Can't beat it for the price!

3 reliable bargain priced wines I drank recently, all purchased at a local HEB (Sugar Land)

Merlot - Snoqualmie Merlot '13 (WA State) $11. Nice merlot flavor profile, decent structure and had a touch of elegance. not icky sweet
Cabernet - Columbia Crest H3 Cabernet '14 $10 (I think) - pretty young but certainly drinkable and tastes like cab. a bit oaky, but I'm not overly sensitive to that so didn't bother me not icky overly vanilla/chocoate from the oak. evident but soft tannins. nice structure and held up over 2 nights
Chardonnay - Columbia Crest Grand Estates '14 Chardonnay. $8 (or cheaper) consistent mass produced chardonnay. tastes like chardonnay, not like apple juice or super sweet oak water.

All these are Wash St products from vineyard areas that were cheaply acquired, thus the costs are relatively low.

HTownAg98 said:

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Evodia Garanacha (Grenache) is also a great value. Consistently gets great scores, and can be found for around $10, and can be cheaper if you buy a case of it. It's the perfect summer barbeque red wine for a crowd.

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I tried Evodia on recommendation of this thread. I thought it was very good. At $8/bottle it's a steal.

Another wine we picked up for about $17-18 and enjoyed was an Italian red "Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre." I thought it was full-bodied with decent tannins (I like tannic wines).

For white, I had a glass of Domaine A&P Villaine's Aligote at dinner the other night. Very good wine from a man who knows a thing or two about wine. Great story behind this one!

Ttt

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For white, I had a glass of Domaine A&P Villaine's Aligote at dinner the other night. Very good wine from a man who knows a thing or two about wine. Great story behind this one!

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Nice!

I had my first taste of Aligote a few months ago. I don't see much of it in any retail or with distributors. Got my hands on Jean Claude Boisset Aligote. Loved it. The acidity & fresh characteristics are what drew me to it.

Based off of advice on this thread my wife and I just go to the Spanish section and buy any red wine they have for less than $15 that is rated 90 or above. We've had some of the best wines we've had since our honeymoon in Italy by picking that way.

Off the wall picks for the adventurous souls amoung you is Greek red wine. I am a huge fan of Xinomavro, but please try the other great grape varieties as well. There is a beautiful Xinomavro/ Cab S. Blend from Karenka for 13$. Paired will grilled meat.

As mentioned previously you can't go wrong with wines from Spain as long as you know the importer. Great Italian stuff exist find a good vintage and start digging. For Syrah lovers look for wines from Bre'ze'me in France best QPR northern Rhone as mentioned previous ST Joseph on the low end can over great stuff in the 30$ range. Domestically for me it is WA or OR although I am hearing nice things about lake county in CA.
PN lovers need to try the one from Germany and Austria. Anton Bauer 15' is a steal under 20$ .