Domaine Lafage Bastide Miraflors
Wines of Substance Cabernet Sauvignon
Seghesio Sonoma County Zinfandel
La Sonriente Garnacha (Trader Joe’s)
I will second the Substance cab.
Also may be impossible to beat the value of Davenport cellars wines - but you have to order a case (for 50% discount) to get the bottles under $20
Michael P and Peppiere Briords for the win!
Seghesio Zinfandel
Love the wine and price. Not personally going to spend more than $30 for many Zins and this one is always on sale in the Twin Cities for around $17.00
Not below $20, closer to $22-$24, but year in and year out a great cheap cab available just about everywhere is
Alexander Valley Vineyards.
Italy dominates whites in this category, and the best distribution will be with the Zardetto Prosecco & the Paolo Saracco Moscato d’Asti. [You could also use the Nino Franco Rustico, but I don’t think it has the market share of Zardetto.]
In my experience, Argentina consistently delivers the best reds in this market segment, and there you’d be looking at Michel Rolland’s “Clos de los Siete” and Herve Fabre’s “Vinalba Malbec Gran Reserva”.
Sadly, I’m not aware of quality sub-$20 Chianti with nationwide distribution.
And I don’t know of anything from France, with nationwide distribution, which could deliver the goods at those prices.
[The entry point for swallowable French wine now seems to be about $24.99, and that was before the tariffs.]
Rodano Chianti at $15 is pretty good and available everywhere.
If I am going to spend $15 on a widely distributed Italian wine, it will be Antinori Toscana though.
red:
Chateau Senejac
white:
Josef Leitz - Riesling trocken (but maybe not the best for “non-wine people”)
Pepiere - “Briords” Muscadet
Pepiere - Muscadet (if you want to save a few dollars per bottle over the Briords)
Bdx. blanc, generally, knocks it out of the park in this price range (but, remember the price range you’re playing with). Some examples in this category I’ve greatly enjoyed, for the price, at $20 or less:
Chateau Ducasse blanc
L’Esprit de Chevalier blanc
Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) Selection Prestige Blanc
Ben, if you are going to ship them why not use a connection and see if you are ordering the quantity, if they can cut you a deal on the cost or look for lower shipping. Are you asking participants to pick up the wines themselves? If so, perhaps Pine Ridge Chenin+Viognier, the 2019 are being widely distributed now, and a Pat Green PN Reserve. Perhaps you can go for a lower price point white and then splurge a bit on the red where you can get more for your dollar. (FYI, duckhorn and sister brands are doing a $5/bottle shipping that may be attractive. Otherwise, why not go for a small winery that could send out to the county and appreciate the biz. Like st amant, cep wine, or some of the berserker wine friends tercero, halcon, etc. that have posted. I’m sure they will work with you. Everyone has excellent wines at great price points right now. So hard to narrow it down.
following-on from Julie’s post: send a PM to Larry — if he can get you his Grenache Blanc in your stated price range I would add that to my list of recommendations without hesitation.
I’ll second that. Larry’s Grenache Blanc is fabulous (IMHO)
Thanks so much for the suggestions everyone, these have been really helpful.
I’ve decided to go with the Seghesio Sonoma County Zin and an as-yet-undecided Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc (plenty of good choices under $20). I moved to the county about a year ago and the friends I’m tasting with are all people I knew in other places at other times before I entered the industry, so I decided ultimately to send them something from my new home. I love how much support there is on here for our Berserker producers and small producers in general. That’s a love I share and spread through my own drinking with friends here and other winos elsewhere. The tasting I’m planning at the moment falls under a slightly different remit, which is as part of a series I’ve been putting on for many years for my non-wino friends, focusing on inexpensive, widely available wines to democratize and remove the pretense and intimidation surrounding wine appreciation in general. For some people this ends up being a gateway to the more niche stuff 