I’m no longer a big buyer of $150+ wines, but I’ve been searching for bottles which show the house/winemaking styles at a entry level price. Let’s list some wines where you can get the best winemakers/producers at a low price due to possibly an unheralded grape/region ect.
For example, I’m not a buyer of Rayas unfortunately, but I do buy Des Tours to get a fix on the style. Who else in the wine world offers the best insight to their style at an entry level price.
Chateau Samion is owned and made by Jean-Claude Berrouet who made Petrus for 40+ years. Domaine de Villaine is made by the co-owner and director of Domaine Romanée Conti, Aubert de Villaine.
As much as people complain about how burgundy is expensive and confusing, this is one area where it excels. Plenty of good bourgognes from producers that also make bottles than can cost hundreds. Hudelot noellat, barthod, bachelet (aligote), heck even Leroy’s bourgogne can be quite good for $50.
Kabinetts from most German wine producers like Prum, Zilliken, etc. Here you can get even top terroir at a reasonable price.
Ridge Geyserville
Bourgogne Rouge from producers like Hudelot-Noellat or Jouan
Chorey les Beaune from Drouhin.
Bourgogne Blanc from producers like Bernard Moreau.
Macons from Lafon.
Villages level Chablis from Christian Moreau.
At a higher level in white Burgundy, St. Aubins from producers like PYCM, Bernard Moreau or Lamy.
Red Chassagne Montrachet from Ramonet.
Rully from Aubert de Villaine
Barolos from Vajra
Barbaresco from Produttori
This is what I buy, many are great everyday wines, and some are quite fine in their own right:
Coudoulet de Beaucastel
Clape Vin de Amis
Gonon ILes Feray
Baudry Les Granges
La Gravette de Certan
Baudry Les Grezeaux
Prum Kabinetts
Donnhoff Kabinetts
Lauer Kabinetts
Bouland’s base Beaujolais
Thivin CdB
Bedrock Old Vine Zin
Ridge Three Valley Zin
These are all fantastic wineries producing incredible flagship wines.
Clape’s Vin de Amis tends to be about $15 less expensive, and for the price, a much better buy for regular consumption, IMHO. I do like the CDR, but it is priced at St Joe and almost Cornas level.
In the old days, the answer was the Louis Carillon Puligny village wine.
But it looks like the boys - both Francois & Jacques - and their import/distribution channels into the USA, now have the basic Puligny priced at about $65 retail in the USA.
Similarly, the old Bruno Giacosa “White Labels” were often very aggressively priced [and much more amenable to a simple pop-n-pour than were the Red Labels], but it looks like the White labels now have ballooned up into $200 to $250 territory [and that’s on futures - you can probably add another $50 or $75 once the wines actually arrive on these shores].
Personally, my advice [in an era of ubiquitous central bank corruption of fiat currencies] is to turn your back on the trophy labels and instead learn to develop a taste for simple Vins de Table.