Mea Culpa - I was mean so let's do something useful . .Good wine under $10 for newbies, and oldbies

[bretrooks]

We swim in these waters fairly regularly… Some re-buys in recent months:

2013 Herencia Altes Garnatxa Negra Terra Alta
2011/2 Espelt Garnacha Empordà Old Vines
NV Espiral Vinho Verde ($4.49 at TJ’s…a great cheap wine for summertime)

At various times in the past, we’ve enjoyed most of the garnachas mentioned above (my wife, especially, is a fan of the category) as well as the La Vieille Ferme (white, and sometimes rosé). Château Le Cacheflo is our friends’ house red, and it is a crowd-pleaser.

[mpst0ck13y]

@Chris Seiber

I think the one category under $10 that still has much appeal to me is New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. If you go to the grocery store, and particularly if you look around at what is on discount that day and/or if you get the discount for buying six bottles, you can find several solid producers’ offerings for $7-10. Oyster Bay, Villa Maria, Kim Crawford (this has creeped up in price, not sure you can get for under $10 anymore), Matua, Monkey Bay, not sure all the other names off hand.

These are very dependable, food-friendly wines, that generally work decently with civilians as well as with wine enthusiasts. They’re also very good for picnics, light lunches, discreet plastic cup drinking while watching youth sporting events, and other daytime wine drinking.

I would suggest getting the most recent vintages - they are usually best in their first year from release, so if you see the 13, 14 and 15 on the shelf among the various brands, buy the 15.

This is also a good recommendation for ordering at restaurants, particularly if you’re having seafood. Wines like these will probably be in the $20s or $30s per bottle on a restaurant list, will go well with your fish or shellfish, will be reasonably well-received by your company without driving the bill into any uncomfortable territory. It’s what I usually recommend to friends who ask me what they should order on restaurant wine lists (in situations where I don’t have the actual list in question to be able to give specific recommendations).

Beyond that, I agree with the chorus that the wines to recommend go up exponentially in number and quality if you raise the bar to $15.

Very much agree here. A little over $10 on sale but the Whitehaven at $11 is another good one.

[mpst0ck13y]

@Jay Miller

@mmarcellus

I haven’t had Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc/Viognier lately and don’t know if it is still under $10, but it was always a reliable choice

Not as good as it used to be. I opened that at the same blind dinner where I opened the La Vieille Ferme and absolutely no one liked it (including me - and I was a fan 15 or so years ago). It got dumped pretty quickly.

My wife likes it but the RS is overwhelming for me.

[Chuck_Anderson]

@Robert Alfert

@Jay Miller

@Robert Alfert

Pepiere is a great call!

If the question was under $15 it would have been on my list. $10 is slimmer pickings.

True, but the Pepiere Sur Lie is $12.50 by the case at Chambers. I’ve seen it cheaper elsewhere from time to time.

About the same price, I’ll take (and did, last night) Jo Landon’s Amphibolite.

$10 is pretty slim pickens, agreed, but ~$13ish opens up more possibilities, including Guion’s entry level red.

[bob_parsons_alberta]

Some great ideas here. I am interested cos I usually take a red wine to the Hutterite colony near Milk River…wrapped in a newspaper of course . Good exchange for a couple of sausages!!

[Drew_Goin]

Y’all have hit most of the wines I would have recommended.

I particularly liked the l’Oupia “Les Heretiques” Carignan. The local liquor store had the Catena “Alamos” red blend on sale for $2.99/btl a while back. I was pleasantly surprised (similar to the “Patriota” red blend).

My quest while working at a wine and gourmet food shop was to find the perfect $5.00 wine. Nowadays, it’s a greater challenge, though the so-called “winners” are around the same price today:
• Rene Barbier Mediterranean Red
• Gallo “Hearty Burgundy”
• Beringer “Chenin Blanc” (pear water)
Discontinued:
• Torres “Sangre de Toro” (free plastic bull!)
• Osborne “Solaz” Tempranillo/Cab Sauv

I am certain that I have forgotten some great values but, even today, Spain reigns supreme for value IMHO.

[Scott_Goodwin]

Finished off a bottle of this last night :

2015 Domaine Lafage Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes Côte Est

And at $9.50 a btl is a pretty solid summer sipper.

[Daniel_McIntosh]

Château Pesquié Ventoux Terrasses. Just under $10 including tax on sale here. I bought a case of (I think) the 2013.

[Nola_Palomar]

I’d like to add my Veleta wines to the mix.
While some are in the $18 and under range (my most expensive runs around $30), most fall in the $10 +/- range. Estate grown, cellar aged and bottled on premise. So, if any newbies ( or anyone else) want to explore them let me know!

[Dav1dZ]

Chateau de Campuget (a good value producer all around) makes an lovely rose with character that’s widely available for $10. Highly recommended.

[Vince_T]

<$10 is way more fun than <$15 - it’s an order of magnitude more challenging.

I tend to veer straight for Spain, especially for Verdejo and Viura based whites. Marques de Riscal Rueda ($8) and Bodegas Puelles Rioja Blanco ($9-10) offer decent complexity and good quaffability.

Good red under $10 is a bit harder; Campo Viejo Rioja is not bad (K&L is stocking at $8 right now), and i’ve had a decent $10 CdR recently at a bbq (but name escapes me).

[Marc_Frontario]

Biker truant zin
Faustino VII

Both under $10

[Martin_Steinley]

Having read through this thread, the hands down winner has to be Pepiere Muscadet, but can one really find any such bottling for $10 or less?

Kermit Lynch brings in the wines of Elvio Tintero, located in Piedmont. The emphasis is on Moscato, but I would happily drink the Rosso, Bianco and Rosato any time. They are all clean, pure and fresh, and all are about $8. They work beautifully at the table with their bright acids.

[Greg_Xu]

Jean Claude Debeaune Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon $9.99

[Lou_Radivoyevitch]

Agree on the Campuget Rose but its now $10.99 in Ohio. Just had A Cameron Hughes 2011 Riesling chenin blend that was kickass for $6. The Campo de Borgia always perforns at $7. Tres Ojos will also Qualify. also plenty of s friends av blanc from NZ.

[CWun]

@J a y H a c k

As my penance for being a New Yorker all the way, let’s start a useful thread on good wines for the neophyte to try that are under $10. In addition to naming a wine, you must explain why it is on the list.

My nominee is Borsao Campo de Borja Garnacha. The base level wine. Available for $6 all over the place. It’s a red wine that is what other call varietally correct in that it has the classic flavor of Grenache - Raspberry. In my opinion, it delivers well balanced flavor throughout the palate. My guess it that they ferment and age in steel or giant old oak barrels (how else could they sell it so cheap), so there is no wood intruding into the fruit. I once held onto a bottle for 6 years and it was outstanding. Here’s my tasting note on that bottle.

• 2002 Bodegas Borsao Campo de Borja Borsao - Spain, Aragón, Campo de Borja (2/19/2008)
  Hey! This stuff really ages. I was making beef stew tonight so this morning, after getting the other ingredients together in a pot, I pulled a bottle of 2002 Borsao and set it on the counter. At 5:00, I called my son, told him to uncork the wine, pour it into the pot, and put it in the oven. I asked him to leave a few ounces in the bottles for later. At 7:30, I uncorked the left over in the bottle on the counter and unceremoniously took a swig from the bottle, expecting to quench my curiosity more than my thirst. Intense and complex cherry and raspberry flavors with some pepper and spice. I poured the rest into a glass so I could write a proper note. Moderate red color but not opaque, a little like a dark ruby. Cherry on the nose. still the same palate. Tannins softened and sweet. No oak or vanilla. This is a bona fide very good to excellent wine, 88 pts without the QPR factor. I bought a case of this 4 years ago at Zachy’s on sale for $4.59 per bottle. Best bargain since the $6 Le Montrachet I got in 1978. (88 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

I agree with this pick 100%. This is sold as a loss leader/eye catcher window display wine at my local, mom-n-pop wine shop, but it delivers ridiculous value at the price if one isn’t too snobby.