I’m New and have 1,000 Questions

…but I’ll just start with 1 at a time! I don’t have the resources to purchase high dollar wine. I usually drink what I buy on a monthly budget of $100. I ususally buy 8-10 bottles with this much. What would you buy if you only had $100 a month and drank 2-3 bottles a week???

Looking forward to getting to know you good folks.

I’d buy beer.

Hmm check out white burgundy from the Macon region. Plenty of great wines coming out of that region for $15/btl. Andre Bonhomme being one of those producers. Also look for the reds coming out of Puglia in southern Italy. Negroamaro is pretty cheap and tasty for the money. For my money I like Cantele Salice Salentino Riserva for about 10 bucks a pop. The 2013 is drinking quite nicely now.

Welcome aboard, Clay.

Here is one easy and inexpensive purchase:

Welcome! Can you tell us what you have liked? Oceans of good, inexpensive wines out there.

Welcome to the board. With that budget I think it is easier to find good, inexpensive whites. Quite a few can be found in Italy. Collestefano Verdicchio is one we drink a lot of. For reds I would look at Cotes du Rhone.

Yes, stylistically we need to know where to point you. There are bargains everywhere but Northern Rhone and Burgundy (and Champagne)

Clay, welcome to the forum! It would help to know what wines you like first…but there are a lot of value wines out there that are also really special. I’d suggest starting with Matua Pinot Noir for about $12 to see if you like high acid, light bodied reds. I’d suggest trying some mid-level German Rieslings in the $15-$18 range as I think they are some real values. Welcome to the forum, hopefully you can link up with some folks at offlines. Its a great way to learn…

So 8 to 12 bottles per month?

100 / 12 = 8.33

100 / 8 = 12.50

$8.33 to $12.50 is an almost impossibly difficult price range.

For whites, you might be able to find Torres Vina Sol down around $9.99

And there are some jurisdictions where Zardetto Prosecco can be had in the $11’s.

On the sweet side of things, Paolo Saracco Moscato d’Asti would take you over budget by a dollar or two.

But as for reds, you got me.

I don’t know of any reds, with strong nationwide distribution, which are worth seeking out in that price range.

Locally, I’d purchase this by the case: https://www.westgatewinestore.com/2013-Vinalba-Malbec-Reservado_p_4366.html

But that wouldn’t do you any good if you were off in Alaska or Guam or wherever.

That’s an uninformed and unhelpful response.

When I graduated from college, I caught the wine bug from working in a package liquor store owned by a wine lover. I regularly bought absolute shit at the time. But, I learned a lot. Today, nearly 30 years later, I can assure you that for the SAME price I was paying then, you can buy wine that is orders of magnitude better. The quality of $10-$15 wine today – particularly from places like Spain, Beaujolais, the Loire Valley (Muscadet!), the Languedoc and Corsica, Portugal, and Italy dwarfs what was available in the States back then.

You’re in a golden era for wine. My suggestion: find a high quality retailer with a broad selection who has experienced staff (or prolific shelf-tags) and operates on low margins. Experiment like I did. You’ll find that you can drink very, very well for under $15 today. Tonight, I sampled three wines – a ~$70 Bordeaux, a $45 Freisa from Piemonte, and a $14 Corsican Red from Domaine Petroni. The cheapest wine was showing the best tonight.

Anyone who thinks you can’t swing what you’re trying to do doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Period.

Cheers,
JD

What all these people said - tell us what you liked and it’s easier to make suggestions.

BUT -

It’s really hard if you’re talking $10 a bottle. There are precious few wines at that price level, unfortunately. You can find some whites from here and there, and the occasional rosé, but you do better at $15 and if you’re between $15 and $20 you will have a lot to choose from.

Ten wines on $100 is really hard. If you’re OK with seven or eight wines, or can increase your budget to say, $150, that’s what I would go for. At the $10 level, you’ll get a lot of industrial wine you find in supermarkets, or really cheap stuff that is specially bottled for outfits like Trader Joe’s. It’s really what you want to avoid.

As you move up, and not like triple but only slightly, you start getting into wine that’s from regions that aren’t as famous or in-demand as others, or from grapes that are less in demand, or from places where families have owned property for generations and don’t have to amortize their hundred million dollar purchase. So you can look at parts of Italy, which has an ocean of good cheap wine, or parts of France, that has a lot of inexpensive wine that is radically different depending on whether it’s from the north or south, or Spain, which has another ocean of good wine, or even other countries in Europe. You also start finding decent stuff in the US, South America, Australia, and elsewhere. But it all depends on what you like - random recs aren’t going to be particularly useful. Cheers!

Welcome aboard, lotta very tasty affordable Italian whites, I like Zenato for Lugana and Pinot Grigio, from NZ, Matua also makes nice Sauv blanc as well as the previously mentioned PN, , from Washington, Kung Fu Girl reisling , once you get past the kitchy name, is an easy drinker for about $10…Also from Washington, Columbia Crest Grand Estates line, Cab and Merlot around $10 or less.
for an occasional sparkler, Zardetto and Mionetto make affordable Proseccos.
and an occasional beer ain’t all that bad either

I agree with that. For whites – $12 and reds, $14 and up.

Wow! Thanks for all the responses. I don’t drink anything carbonated so beer is out :slight_smile:

I generally like big, thick cabs but can’t afford them. I have had some great ones but didn’t have to pay…one of the best I can remember was a Magnus? (this was years ago and I guess I have mistaken the name but I thought this was it from California $199 per bottle at a business function). My “go to” is J. Lohr. I generally stick to California wines, but am willing to experiment. I do like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and some Merlots but prefer Cabs. Thanks again! newhere

My impression is that California isn’t where it’s at if you want really good red wine for less than $15. Lots of very high production industrial stuff… Not knowing where you live, you might try to find a Total Wine. While they sell LOTS of plonk – there’s a good bit of high quality and inexpensive wine from the regions I suggested. Try 2014 Lanessan Haut Medoc from Bordeaux, for example. I’d explore Spain, too.

I’d suggest Ravage Cabernet based on the “thick cab” and $12 price point information.

IMO, It would also be worth seeking out some deals on Seghesio Zinfandel and Tenshen Whites. Good deals would likely still be a bit above the price range you mentioned, but it would be worth trying them given their quality/price ratio (QPR).

Good luck out there.

Thanks for the great info. I just updated my profile with my location. I know we have lots of good wine places around so I will have to start exploring. A LOT to learn!

I don’t know what part of the world you’re in, but if K&L ships there, you might have some options. I love Cal cabs, but the cheapest one I’ve had that I’d recommend was $25. However Bordeaux occasionally has something interesting. This is $12: 2016 Grand Bateau Rouge, Bordeaux - SKU 1382579 and if you do a search based on price, you can find others of similar quality.

It’s not cabernet, but for the most flavor, there’s this crazy thing called Domaine Lafage Bastide Miraflors – it’s mostly syrah, and it has the rich taste you might like, but also a lot of extra gears, and it’s $13, maybe the best $13 I’ve spent on wine: 2015 Domaine Lafage "Bastide Miraflors" Côtes du Roussillon - SKU 1322647

Funny you should mention Ravage! I have a bottle of that in the wine rack. I do like this. I also have some Josh, Joel Gott, and some Wine Garage I got for $10 per bottle that was one of the best wines I have ever had (2006 I think). Thanks for the other recommendations.

I don’t know of anyone who is making a wine like that at the $12.50 price point.

Back circa 2005, you might have been able to get a Marquis-Philips Cabernet, from Australia, for $12.50.

But the successor venture to Marquis-Philips, called “Mollydooker”, has its cheapest Cabernet at about $19.99 to $24.99: https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/mollydooker+maitre

I have never personally tasted the wine, but you might look for Bonny Doon “A Proper Claret”:

https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/bonny+doon+proper+claret