Red Wine

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I love red wine. I drink some almost every night. In spite of this, I'm no expert at all- more like the "this tastes pretty good" character from Sideways. Needless to say, since my wife and I drink quite a bit of it, I spend a decent amount of money on it through the year.

So what is your personal choice as the best value for red wine? Also, please include the approximate price if purchased at a liquor/wine store, not restaurant. Very cheap and very expensive are welcome so long as you think the price is completely justified.

I'll throw one out as a good, affordable weeknight (for me) wine: Marietta Old Vine Red. Right now I'm drinking one from lot number 35, but I've been drinking it since the lots in the mid-upper 20s. Usually can get it for around 11 bucks.

Any contributions would be welcome and, if accessible and under a couple hundred bucks, most likely tried.
 
another vote for klwines.com
Great selections, great prices, great wine club. Bought some really good port wine from them recently.
 
Goat Roti is a $13 South African cab. It is a very good bang for the buck. Also, if you like chianti and can find any chianti riservas for $13-15, that's usually a good value. There's one called Monsanti or Monsanto or something like that. Its label is colorful.

Also, there is a good sangiovese called Ruvei that is $12-14 I think. Supposedly Beaulieu Vineyards makes a great ~$12 cab. I haven't had it yet
 
Sorry, 1 more. Peppoli is an Italian (somewhere in Tuscany, I think Chanti) wine made by Antinori (very good winemaker). It is a bit more expensive, I tink around $30 a bottle, but is quite good.
 
I have drank so much Marrietta Old Vine Red that I am burnt out of it. Its a great value though. I've never seen a BV cab below $20 but I would try it if you see it.

The two best values I've come across lately are a 2001 Chateau Montelena Cab for about $30. This is an excellent bold cab that Robert Parker scored in the lower to mid 90s. I think the price has gone down after a guy from Wine Spectator trashed it in a review.

Yesterday, I picked up a 2001 Duckhorn Cab for about $36. Both of these are great values, as many other wines from these vineyards are usually in the $80-120 range retail (not restaurant).

Other recent good wines:
2002 Redemption Zin
2001 Chimney Rock Cab
2002 Seghesio Zin (about $15-20)
2001Chappellet Cab
2001Reignac St. Loubes ($21 at Central Market)

You probably know this, but for California Cabs, 1999 and 2001 were very good years.

I don't remember how much all of these cost, but they are the best bottles I've had within the past month or so. Most were bought at the downtown Spec's in Houston. All are from California except for the last one, which is from Bordeaux.

Also, Central Market sells 1L jugs of Three Thieves Cab and Zin for $9.99, and it is pretty good, especially for the price.
 
I am a lot like you. If large quantities of wine didn't have serious negative health effects, I'd replace water with wine in my daily life. I can't quote this maker or that maker of the top of my head, so I actually keep a wine book where I record my purchases, my likes and dislikes, etc. I guess I am a wine nerd. Still, I love the Italian wines the best. Amarone (my absoulte favorite wine type in the world), Valpolicella (poor man's Amarone), Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Montepulciano di Abruzzo, etc. Many of these can be bought for under $20. Some, however, cost a minimum of $40.

The best way to learn about wine is to find a helpful employee at Central Market, Grapevine Market or some other wine store. There are literally thousands of wines in this world that are fabulous and cost under $25, many in the $15 range. With just a little information from you, these guys (and gals) can help you explore your wine tastes, teach you about the variables that go into wine making, the regions of the world, the odd labeling/regulatory process in places like Italy and France, all of which will help you chose wines on your own with confidence in resturants or in wine stores when you are left to your own devices.

I highly recommend making friends with a wine guy at a local wine shop, your experience will just take off.
 
MT - was the Duckhorn at Specs? That is an amazing price.

I would consider doing most of my shopping at Costco and World Market. For the most part, Costco has great wines (sometimes stuff that is just real popular, which is annoying) at great prices. I bought some of the Casa Lapostolle Cab Cuvee Alexandre, that is normally about 20, for 15, and it is excellent. Same with the Peter Lehmann Clancy's Red and it cost 13. A couple other great wines there are

Liberty School Syrah for 10
Yarra Burn Cabernet for 16
Marques de Conchera Don Mejor Cab (sp?) for 32
Chateau Ste. Michelle Indian Wells Vineyard Cab for 15.
Whitehall Lane Cabernet Sauvignon for 35 or so
Marchesi di Barolo Barbera for 10
Decoy - this is a Cab Franc blend for 25 - awesome


Cost Plus had some of my favorite wines as well

d'Arenberg Stump Jump - Grenaches, Shiraz, Mourvedre
d'Arenberg Footbolt Shiraz
Seghesio Zinfandel
St. Francis Old Vine Zin
Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel

Other good ones I have had lately

Chateau La Nerthe Chateneuf du Pape 2001
Torbreck - anything they do
Novy Syrah
Siduri Pinot Noir
Saintsbury Pinot Noir
 
Zins and Meritages (blends) are a good place to start- Like "Red table wine" probably a meritage.

I too like the Seghesio Zin- I bought a crap load of it at COSTCO a month or so ago, when they had it prices at around $11.50 a bottle, It's the top side of $15 now.

The best thing to have is a knowledge of what you LIKE and a friendship with someone in the business, who will taste probably more varities in a year than you will in a lifetime. OHHHHH .... I miss Antoinette at Twin Liqours downtown...
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Since it's winter we will drink much more Red than anything else from here on out. We tend to lean towards Zins for Everyday drinking and Cabs that we bought long ago for more special occasions. If you are into wine buy cabs today to drink later. It's fun to open a bottle that you bought for $25 bucks that now would cost you in excess of $120 to open at your local restaurant.

Rancho Zabaco- NOT the dancing bull
St, Francis Old Vine Zin- big red for meats strong cheeses

There are a LOT of Spanish and Chilean wines that offer a good value as well as the Australians.

We actually were drinking a lot of the Ravenswood Shiraz this Summer and it was CHEAP about $7.79 for a while on sale at HEB. You can also get case discounts of 10% at HEB according to my Dad. The Ravenswood Zins are also a good value for the money.

I really like some of the Ridge Zins, Lytton Springs in particular, they specialize in Zins and do a fine job.

One REALLY COOL thing you can do now is Austin is go out to Tuscany which is out NW in the Riatta complex between Duval and Oak Knoll. they have a debit card deal where you can get samplings of a large variety of wines. It's pretty coll actually. Many restaurants like Flemmings for example also offer tastings where you can buy 3 or 4 small tastes to see what you might like.

Still the best is to know what you like and buy it in bulk if you think it is outstanding. It is amazing how once a wine becomes recognized it leaps up in price. Then you love having that case you got vor 40% less all the more!
 
Do either Wine Spectator or Robert Parker publish a comprehensive guide on a yearly basis? I've had pretty good luck buying off their ratings.
 
thanks for all the input. Definitely going to try as many of these as I can.

They like me at my liquor store (Pogo's in Dallas), so they give me 15% off my wine. Which probably about cancels out the "we're just outside the Park Cities" premium.
 
Yes Wine Spectator does a top 100 listing each year. Which reminds me of a very funny/sad story.
I was cooking some steaks and opend a bottle of Chateau St. Jean red that I had recently bought at the behest of Antoinette at Twin Liquors. the wife and I had been gong though cases of their chard as a cheap mass consumption for friends drink, so I pulled the Red.

Wile I was grilling the steaks my well traveled friend kep remarking on how good the wine was. I was slamming Jack N Coke's but finally had about half a glass. HE was right it was DAMN GOOD...

I went to my Father's the next weekend and there was the bottle on the cover of Wine Spectator... it was the #1 bottle of 1999. Chateau St. Jean "Cinc Cepages 1996."

Of course there were none to be had on my return to purchase more, to this day I laugh about it with my buddy saying that if not for his glowing repetitive review as he drank it I wouldn't ahve even tasted a drop....
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Wine Spectator usually does this in the Dec/Jan issue if my memory is correct.
 
Silverado - any Merlot or Cab
Sebastiani
Anything that Cakebread makes!
And believe it or not, any of the Coppola wines are good, especially the Claret.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll be sure to check some of these out!

AFF, as to your question, I know mostly California wines. On the low end... Hangtime Pinot Noir is one of our favorite everyday reds; around $13, has more substance than a standard pinot. We tried the Folie a Deux (Napa) Menage a Trois recently and thought it was great; zin/cab/merlot blend, got it at World Market/Cost Plus for $9.99.

Have to agree with Woland, Gun Bun makes fantastic reds; we joined their wine club this year. Love the single vineyard zin and Mountain Cuvee (blend). Most wines are priced in the 20s.

On the high end...

-Franciscan 1997 Magnificat, about $75 (1998 and beyond can be had for about $42); the 1997 is a blend of 3 varietals; after that, they used 4 or more varietals.
-Quintessa, any vintage, about $100-125; typically cab/cab franc/merlot blend; Magnificat is Quintessa's *****.
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-Allegrini Amarone 1995, about $60. We have been searching for this specific vintage since we purchased our one and only bottle about 4 years ago. We let it decant for about 2 hours, and my husband and I enjoyed it with a prime rib dinner the only Christmas we've ever spent alone (without family). I can still taste it... If someone knows where I can find some, I'd love to know!
 
Malbec Budini 2002 and Malbec Dona Paula -- both around $10 and outstanding. Also, if you live in Dallas, go to Pogo's at Inwood and Lovers and ask for Lonnie. She will hook you up no matter what your price range. You will never drink bad wine again.
 
I can't appreciate expensive wines at all, and I've tastes pretty expensive wines.

Back when I was teaching jujitsu, I taught this guy for free just cause he was my buddy. He's a sommelier, he's mentioned in Wine Spectator frequently and he has a wine website. In return for my jujitsu lessons, he would send me wine all the time.

One time, he sent me some 1969 Barolo that was said to be worth hundreds. My buddy said it's the best red he's ever tasted it. I shared it with my wife and some friends. My wife took a sip and she raved about how lovely it tasted. My friends flipped out over it.

Me? To me it tasted like if you were to take a 3 year old glass of Cabernet, leave it out on a table for two days and then drink it while chewing a mouthful of top soil. That's what it tasted like. I hated it.

Now if you're talking about an expensive Sauternes, like a $1,000 bottle of Ychem, then that's something I definitely would love.
 
One of my favorites is Rosemont Shiraz (sells for around $10 a bottle). The Rosemont Merlot is also very highly rated, but I've never had it.
 
I have had the Rosemont Estates Shiraz and I actually like Penfold's Shiraz a bit better. If you have never had Shiraz, be careful - its not your normal red...it tends to be more tannic wine than a cab or merlot...
 
I would disagree about Shiraz being more tannic. Normally, Cabernet is the most tannic red, except for maybe a young Barolo. Shiraz, imo, is very fruit forward, can range in alot of styles, and can be a crowd favorite. Also, the price point on the Shiraz is lightyears ahead of what California puts out as far as the quality is concerned. Lord knows I have drunk enough of it.
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I don't think Shiraz is more tannic it's just that you are generally drinking a much younger Shriaz than you would a Cabernet.

What's fascinating to me is how disappointing some of the finest red wines may taste without the compliment of cheese of meat. I drank a '95 Niebaum Coppola Rubicon last year without any cheese or beef to complement it and it was not nearly as outstanding as it could have been paired with food.

1990..... I have a bottle of 1994 Quintessa that I am going to crack with some rib eye roast this Christmas....
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h4l... 95 Rubicon?... 94 Quintessa?! Wow, I feel like such a poseur...
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Cheers--I'm so jealous!

Regarding very expensive wines/very old vintages, I tend to agree somewhat with ajax... either my palate hasn't developed enough to truly appreciate them, or maybe I just don't care for them.

Last week, I had a completely random opportunity to taste a 1982 Chateau Margaux. It was very bricky in color and contained quite a bit of sediment. It tasted of smoke, leather, wood and I could tell that it had more depth and complexities than the wines I usually drink. I didn't dislike it... but the earth didn't move either.
 
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