Had introduced myself over in the other forum. Long story short - I’m 25, trying to be responsible on how much I spend on wine, and I think I’m currently at the $15-30 range for a regular day to day bottle and $50-75 for a splurge bottle.
I do not have direct access to storage so most wines I buy I drink within 1-2 months.
I know some members here are used to drinking wines that are probably older than me, but I’d like a little perspective from the more seasoned members on how they would approach the world of wine while operating under my budget.
I would tell you to find a wine shop with a diverse selection and don’t drink anything in the next couple years twice, be it wine, varietal, or vintage, and buy a mix of red, white, rose and sparkling.
Lots of threads on this very topic scattered throughout this forum, the search engine is your friend. While it may seem that everyone on this Board is drinking mature, $100+ bottles for lunch, I’m sure that the vast majority of us daily drinkers seek values as well. I had two bottles this week that admittedly were pricey, one with a lot of age on it, but then I also popped two excellent bottles that were under $25. Lots of options in the wine universe for fine wine drinking in that sub-$50 category that you identify. Hard to give you recommendations, however, without having any clue what kind of wines you like.
Traditional rioja gives you great complexity, and it’s a region and wine with a ton of history and repute as a great region, and there are a plethora of examples under 50. Plus it’s aged before release so it drinks well now. CVNE Imperial, LRA, LdH all make reservas/crianzas well under 50. And LRA’s 904 gran reservation can be found just under 50 bucks as a splurge.
Yea killer reco, Daniel, hard to think of better values in wine than the 904, if you like that Rioja/American oak style, and when they are released, they have some maturity on them.
CVNE’s Imperial GR is awesome too, below 60 bones. At the 30 range, I’m a big fan of LRA Ardanza, CVNE Imperial reserva, and the LRA Tondonia/Bosconia reservas. Don’t sleep on the LdH cubillo crianza and LRA Alberdi at the ~20 range either.
Jordan, you’ll hopefully get lots of help here, and the advice to search for some other threads that focus on affordable wines is good - there are a few lengthy ones. A piece of advice I’d give is (if you aren’t avers) to look at white wines. I find a lot of people just getting into wine aren’t interested in white, or thing it’s somehow “lesser” wine, and if they want to be serious they should drink red. Nothing could be further from the truth, and we drink far more white in our house than red. The advantage is that there are hundreds, even thousands of white varieties to choose from, and it’s far easier in my experience to find really enjoyable wines at affordable prices, and that don’t need any age to drink well.
Got to try a few red Burgundy in the $200 ish range and really loved those.
I’d say the last few wines I really liked were those Burgundy, Riesling with some age on it, Cru Beaujolais, and new world Pinot Noirs (quite like New Zealand). I also love sherry (Amontillado and Oloroso).
at $50, you actually have a real wide range of wines to choose from. You can get basically any Spanish region you want, loads of southern france, loire valley, champagne, german riesling, almost all of italy, etc etc. What you should definitely do is look for smart, independent wine shops nearby you and get to know the workers. That way they will be able to find wines for you that you will love and at the price range you want to spend, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Oh wow, with Beaujolais, you are in the money! I just posted a note last night or so on the 2009 Foillard 3.14. World class stuff.
I highly recommend the entire 2017 lineup of Bouland, Roilette and you can never go wrong with Thivin. The 2017 Bouland Morgan Delys VV cuvee is exceptional, an ager.
Plus one on Spain. Also interesting whites, from Rioja, Rias (Alberino) etc etc.
Yes to find a good retailer.
And join a wine tasting club if there’s one in your area.
One of the nice things about Bordeaux, imho, is that a lot of the very modestly priced wines will age well AND the older vintages can often be found in the market without too much trouble. So a wine whose current vintage goes for $20 might be available with 10 or 15 years on it for $40. I’d recommend searching out a few of these, ideally opening them alongside their young counterparts if possible, to begin to get a sense of what aging can do.
Where do you live? My tip is to look into auctions as a way to drink wines with age on them. It’s particularly effective if you live close to one of the big houses and can pick up your wines. People are reluctant to buy single bottles of relatively inexpensive wines that will cost another $20 to ship. Having the ability to pick up your bottles gives you a distinct advantage there
I’m partially new to wine as well and around the same age. Been seriously into it now for a little bit over a year.
I’ve rarely gone back and purchased a second bottle of something I’ve had because my tastes and interests change so much. I’ve crossed the whole spectrum. USA, Spain, France (ex. burgundy), Italy, Australia, Germany. Pinot, Syrah, Cabernet, Zinfandel and Riesling have been mostly what I have drank. Can’t get a taste for Chardonnay. Just can’t. (Full disclaimer that I have not even tried white burgundy. I have had Ceritas and Walter Scott whites and they just didn’t do it for me. Highly regarded on this board, btw). To each their own. Looking back some of the wines that have been etched in my memory most are Spain (Clio, Alto Moncayo) and Northern Rhones (Beaucastel and K Vintners). Right now I’m drinking Cabernets. My mind constantly changes.
My budget is the same. Although I’m going for Quality over Quantity (only drink on the weekends) to spend more on better producers. Its a long journey but my hope is that I soon determine what I like and can get some space to start stocking up.
Enjoy. its a fun ride.
Washington has very good wines in the under $50 range: Gorman, Spring Valley, Va Piano, Rasa, many more. That’s pretty much the price point for most of the non “cult” wines.
If you like classic French reds, Bordeaux in particular, the best sub-$50 recommendation that I can give you is the 2014 Chateau Sociando Mallet. I went quite deep on this wine, 18 bottles, which for me is a lot of one bottling. I’m guessing that 2015 and 2016 will be equally strong give the vintages, just perhaps a touch riper. These are wines that age exceptionally well.
I live in New York City! Lucky me. From my very basic understanding of auctions, I see stuff purchased in lots. I didn’t know there was a single bottle option so I might explore that.
Keep an eye open for Winelibrarys Library Pass. It allows for free shipping for a whole year. Get up every Monday and order a few wines, drink them during the end of that week, keep track of your preferences and do it again on Monday following. Do that for a year and you will have an experience of 100 bottles and any price range be it $30 Barolo or $50 Cali Pinot noir.