An Ode to the $50 or less wines

[John_Glas]

2014 Tercero Grenache Larner Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley (5/12/2022)
Day 1: Small red berries, mild funk, spice, violets and chalk. Flavorful and nice acidity. Drink now to 2025. 91 points
Day 2: Small berries, spice, earth, mushrooms, menthol, funk and violets and minerals. This is wonderful on day 2 and a nice improvement. 93 points
Day 3: Similar to day 2 and encouraging for additional cellaring time. My initial drink now was 2025 but this should go to 2030.
Recommendation: Buy! (93 points)

[Dav1d_Sawyer]

2014 Tercero Grenache Larner Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley (5/12/2022)
Day 1: Small red berries, mild funk, spice, violets and chalk. Flavorful and nice acidity. Drink now to 2025. 91 points
Day 2: Small berries, spice, earth, mushrooms, menthol, funk and violets and minerals. This is wonderful on day 2 and a nice improvement. 93 points
Day 3: Similar to day 2 and encouraging for additional cellaring time. My initial drink now was 2025 but this should go to 2030.
Recommendation: Buy! (93 points)

Just had this a few weeks ago and I agree it’s wonderful. I also loved his '17 Cinsault. A joy to drink.

[Kirk.Grant]

Unless you 1) don’t pay ridiculous retail prices, and 2) don’t post about what you drink.

I have wines that would cost a lot if I were to buy them at full retail, or from lists, but why would I ever do that? And most people, including me, are probably not interested in what I drink!

For example, I had a Perricone the other day - who covets that? And yesterday we had Bobal, tonight we’re having a blend of Furmint and some other grapes, and so on. I was criticized once for bringing wines to a dinner because the wines were not known and expensive, so I figured I’d stop bothering.

For Chardonnay, I own some Aubert, Kongsgaard, and Leflaive, but if you know those, you already know what you’re getting, so what’s the point in posting a TN? Wines like that I pick up here and there but mostly just to taste, not to get hot and bothered about. And I save them for friends who care about such things, although I’m lucky in my choice of friends who would rather pick up something interesting than something predictable.

I absolutely get what you’re saying here. Back a decade + I went to an off line that had 30-40 people. There were a group of Bordeaux enthusiasts that grouped themselves together at a table. I went with a friend & his wife. They brought a magnum of 2010 Keller Abtserd GG & a magnum of 2004 Vilmart Coeur de Cuvée while I brought a pair of ‘81 LdH Blanco Gran Reservas. What we got, was to meet some very interesting people, some friendships even lead to more gatherings further down the line. I hope we all get a chance to share wines we find exciting here, and I’m just as curious about the $28 Bobal as I am about the $65 Trousseau or the $500 Burgundy.


People missed out on some seriously great wines because these we not the coveted wines that they are now. I’m very glad you shared this, and hope to get to share a glass of wine with you at an offline in the future.

[dougwilder]

I realized a couple years ago that high quality, value-priced wine were out there and decided they could use their own publication. The Central Coast and Pacific Northwest result in the biggest issues, Maximum $40 and minimum 90 points is the framework. There is a Tuesday in every week when you just need something decent and affordable.

[Howard_Cooper]

We went up to Ridge in Healdsburg today. They were pouring the '21 Lytton Assemblage, as well as the '19 and '14 Lytton Springs. All good! The 2020 Geyserville comes out next month and is retailing for $50 there. Now at the top of $50 and under. Unfortunately, they were not pouring it, but the 2019 Ridge Lytton was very good. Maybe not quite as good as the 2018 we had a few weeks ago!

This raises the question of what is a wine that is $50 or less? Is it based on what I paid for the wine (which could be as much as 40 years ago in the case of 1982 Bordeauxs), what I paid on close out or at a winery, or what the current general retail price is for the wine today. Most of the time, for wines I bought a while ago, I have no real idea of what it is selling for today.

Some wines I have had recently that I paid $50 or less for that I have really liked include:

2010 Weingut Reinhold Haart Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Kabinett
2015 Domaine Dublère Chorey-les-Beaune La Maladerotte
2005 Domaine Pavelot Savigny-lès-Beaune
2005 Von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Spätlese
2013 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Kabinett
2016 Alain Hudelot-Noëllat Bourgogne
2009 Mastroberardino Taurasi Radici Riserva
2013 Ridge Lytton Springs
2005 Domaine Rossignol Trapet Gevrey-Chambertin
2017 Domaine Bernard Moreau et Fils Chardonnay Bourgogne Blanc
2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Beaune 1er Cru Beaune du Château
2014 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Kabinett
2012 Noël Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Boudriotte Rouge
2019 Von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett

I really enjoyed each of these wines, but if I had to pick one favorite among these it might well be the 2019 Von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett.

[k_i_r_k_crow]

2019 DeLille Cellars Chaleur Estate Blanc - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley (2/23/2022)
Adding a 3 minute tasting review on this one. Best white wine value in the last 3 years. Honey suckles, minerals, apricots, spice and floral notes. Wonderful wine. 93 points
$23.99!!!

such a consistently good wine… at least to my palate. I’d be curious to know what their production volume is. I don’t have any '19’s, alas.

[bretrooks]

Sub-$50 wines are 99+% of what we drink - a decent amount well under that, too. Many aren’t worth mentioning, but I’ve also had some very enjoyable wines thus far this year. Some top bottles, in reverse chronological order:

2020 J. Bouchon País Salvaje*
2012 Tercero Grenache Larner Vineyard
2020 Cadre Vineyards Albariño Sea Queen*
2016 Artazu Navarra Pasos de San Martín (Garnacha)*
2013 Tercero Mourvèdre Thompson Vineyard
2020 Sabelli-Frisch Picpoul Blanc Milk Fed 3 Shergill Vineyard (& the Milk Fed 4 Zwiegelt & the 2018 La Malinche Mission*…)
2019 Domaine de la Taille aux Loups Montlouis-sur-Loire Clos de Mosny
2016 & 2019 Coudoulet de Beaucastel*
2017 Tiare Pinot Nero Pinuàr Venezia Giulia IGT
2020 Tercero Cinsault Rosé*
2011 Petterino Gattinara Riserva
2018 Birichino Scylla*

• = I paid less than $25

[Mattstolz]

This past week my wife and I drank through a bottle of Champagne Delamotte, $42 at local Costco. delicious classic champagne, happy paying less than $50 for it!

[PaulMills]

This past week my wife and I drank through a bottle of Champagne Delamotte, $42 at local Costco. delicious classic champagne, happy paying less than $50 for it!

Pretty sure we have served you guys that before. It is good.

[Mattstolz]

This past week my wife and I drank through a bottle of Champagne Delamotte, $42 at local Costco. delicious classic champagne, happy paying less than $50 for it!

Pretty sure we have served you guys that before. It is good.

let me know if ya want me to grab ya a restock this Saturday!