Arcadian Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay.
It’s not red, and it’s not $25, but it’s what you’re looking for.
Make him start like the rest of us did. Red Mountain Burgundy, Spinada, Annie Green Springs, Blue Nun and Mateus. Then slip him a Duckhorn Merlot and see if he notices the difference and appreciates it. If you can find them Text Book Cab or Playground Cab are in or near the price point. They are not so fruit forward and lower in alcohol.
For your price range, any Pinot Noir will be gross and most Cab-based wines will be gross. If you’re going to get wine from a supermarket, go with a Zin of some type. Or the Qupe mentioned above. Or get Chateau Stm Michelle from WA. It’s an interesting case of the blind leading the blind so explore with him rather than try to guide him. Pour what you like and see if he likes it. Try a bunch of wines together and figure it out together.
And don’t stick only to CA. Especially at the lower end of the market.
If it’s good California you’re after, Hard to go wrong with a Bedrock or Carlisle Zin. But there’s way better qpr in something like a more traditional Rioja (faustino, ldh cubillo, lra ardanza, muga reserva, ygay reserva)… or else a Cdr, starting with the basic guigal cuvée and working your way either to st joe or gigondas/cdp (or both, which is a nice way to show Contrast to a beginner)
Jonata Todos tends to be very versatile at pleasing palates. Once had a Todos with my wife and two brothers-in-law and we all loved it even though I was mainly into syrah, one b.i.l. was a cabernet sauvignon lover, the other b.i.l. was a merlot guy and my wife likes pinot noir. Somehow, we all liked it.
If I understand correctly, it is not yet known if the the friend does, or does not, like $25 Cali Cab. Or Pinot.
That may be the first thing to determine!
Such wines should be included in the grid for reference, but yes, stuff like Rioja, Rhone, Beaujolais, Chianti, Oregon Pinot perhaps.
Also, in terms of getting at the ‘corners of the box’ a few $50-$60 wines should be included for comparison.
And to repeat, don’t forget whites!
Its always rewarding to see someone starting out on the vine road of discovery.
+1 on the Textbook & Starmont
I would add: Chateau Stm Michelle Red Blend “Indian Wells” goes for less than $18.
Thanks for all the input all. Let’s hope I gain a new wine drinking buddy.
Agreed it’s a good wine with appeal across various tastes, but double the price ($50 vs $25) of what the OP has requested.
First of all, lets keep this simple.
1- Go to your local market and pick up some $10 bottles of Cab, Zin, and Merlot. Serve to friend. Does he like or not and find out what he likes or doesn’t in them.
2- Depending on answers above, then serve him some $25 range stuff FROM YOUR CELLAR that you enjoy. See what he thinks compared to #1 above.
3- If he likes the stuff from #1 better, stop serving him expensive stuff. If the opposite happens, try upgrading him to stuff FROM YOUR CELLAR in the $35 range.
4- Keep repeating the above until the person stops liking the wines.
I say “In your cellar” because if he is a friend guess who’s cellar he’ll probably be drinking wines from most often? Friends know what to serve their friends.
That was the basic strategy I was going to employ except I was planning on starting in the 20-25 range since the $10 stuff can be a bit muddled in terms of flavors.
I prefer to do this starting with the $10 range from local markets. For the sole reason that some people really like that muddled flavor, as you call it. The problem for a lot of new wine drinkers is what we all love, complexity. Most inexpensive bottles aren’t complex, they don’t have a ton of protruding tannins/acid/and other things. So this makes them easy to drink for those just starting out. Keep in mind our society doesn’t drink many things through life that are complex like high end wines. So it can take time to adjust and many, if not most, people never do. So I find it helps to start out low so they have something to compare from at a low price point and easy to access in local markets. Then work up from there as needed.
I’ll leave you with one thing you probably already know…It’s about what they like, not what we like. I’ve got friends who’ve never left the $10-15 range of wines. They don’t like upper end wines for the reasons I’ve mentioned. So when they come over I open things I know they’ll like and I just suck it up and enjoy as well since it’s about the company not the wine.
Peruse your local Costco’s wine selection. I’ve found that they all carry a fair to good selection of mid priced Californian wines. Off of the top of my head, at around the $25 and under range, I’ve seen Dutton-Goldfield Pinot, Cambria Pinot, Marimar Estate, various Cameron Hughes wines, Kith & Kin cab by Round Pond, Mondavi Oakville occasionally goes on sale for about $35, Seghesio Zin (bigger in style), Zaca Mesa Syrah, and also some of the Kirkland Signature Napa designates are decent for about $20.
I’m going to third (or fourth) the Siduri AVA wines, they’re a little sweet-fuited and broader on the palate than a zingy and earthy burg rouge or WV pinot but are light-years more interesting than most other sub-$20 pinots out there. But yes, I like the “grocery store wine” then slight upgrade based on comments suggestion. Complexity is weird to wrap your mind around at first, and that sort of blanket, somewhat sweet and fruity/vanilla $10 wine “palate” is made to be pleasing to people that aren’t “into” wine. They’re only gross to us, and can be a good bridge to more interesting wines for newbies. If they like the fruit but aren’t so into the toasty vanilla, head toward france or ca pinot, if they like the vanilla you can go rioja or ca/wa, if they think its sort of flabby and sweet maybe lean toward italy.
Sean Minor might be a good start. Usually a good value around your price point.
Go the opposite route. Pop an incredibly old iconic wine and get them hooked on the old school style… if that doesn’t do it, they’re lost to you anyways, but at least you shared something special together that will help them learn something.
I was actually strongly considering that as that was one of my earliest wines. The memories…
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Wait that was a joke kind of right?
Ah, +1. No Ripple or Boone’s farm?
I think it was serious, but either way doesn’t seem like it would work, though you never know. Whenever I drink wine with other newbies, generally the preference is for younger wines where the flavors are still primary, lush big fruit. The aspects of well-aged older wines that make it magical for some, the structure and tertiary/dry flavors, aren’t necessarily as appealing to someone not used to wine. I’m a big believer in the palate evolution that others talked about above, I think it’s inevitable that as you become more familiar with wine, you become more attuned to the subtle nuances and that changes what you notice and look for in a wine tasting experience.
Yeah it kind of was… I’m really bad at making things seem serious when they’re not… new wine drinkers aren’t used to the older stuff… it’s a hail marry for sure, but you’d at least get to drink a great bottle for you! Although something with a LITTLE age (5-10 years) might be interesting to put up against a current release… both for tastes and teaching.