What Josh H said:
2015 K Vintners Syrah The Beautiful - USA, Washington, Columbia Valley, Walla Walla Valley (10/29/2018)
Day 1: Not what I would expect from Washington State. Very Northern Rhone. White pepper, game, violets, earth and black licorice. This has a medium to long finish and is quite a complex wine. Not many would pick Washington State in a blind tasting. I am quite please with this day 1 showing on quite a young wine. Should evolve on day 2, 3 and possibly 4. 94 points
Day 2: Violets, white pepper, soy sauce, game and menthol. This has the least amount of fruit I have ever tasted from a Washington State Syrah but I love this wine! One of the more interesting wines of the year for me. A must buy! 95 points
Day 3: Holding form from day 1 and 2. I love this wine.
Recommendation: Buy three or four and try one young and see how this evolves over the years. I see this as a 15 year wine. One of my top wines of the year considering the price of $45. (95 points)
Might be harder to find but a crowd favorite:
2010 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Temperance Hill - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (2/2/2019)
Oregon Pinot Noir vs. California Pinot Noir (Minneapolis): Day 1: Wow! Amazing complexity and vibrant nose. The favorite wine of the group. Cranberry, spice, rose petals and earth. Medium plus finish and good acidity. This wine has many years ahead based on where it is now. Drink now to 2024. 94 points
Day 2: Amazing. I highly recommend experiencing this wine on day 2. Wonderful nose of cranberry, forest floor, rose petals, spices and wafer. Medium plus finish and acidity balances out this amazing wine. Could be the best Pinot from Oregon for me since the epic 2007 White Rose. 95 points
Day 3: Still amazing. This wine has a long life ahead.
Recommendation: Drink now to 2024. This is one of the best Pinots I have ever tasted from Oregon!!! (95 points)
Ridge is what I bring when I either don’t really know the audience or know it’s a mixed group. I’m not sure I have encountered anyone that didn’t like Ridge Geyserville, and most just love it.
Dirty and Rowdy Mourvèdre. Not a lot of people know that grape and those that do will be surprised by how bright, clean and tasty Hardy’s wines are. Highly recommend.
If it’s just newbies & neophytes & blowhards, then the wine you’re looking for is the Austin Hope Cabernet Sauvignon, at very roughly $39.99 to $49.99 [it’ll be mostly the 2016 in the supply channel right now, with maybe just a little of the 2015 here & there].
I bet you might even be able to win if you were to go downmarket by about 60%, and serve the Hope family’s “Treana” Cabernet Sauvignon, at roughly $19.99 to $24.99.
The Treana has been as high as the #3 label overall at Vivino [and Vivino must have tens of thousands of labels in their database now].
In fact, I bet that if you snuck the Treana in there with the Austin Hope, then they’d finish #1 and #2 [in one order or the other].
I used to do things like this all the time and the wine that wins usually is something I would never buy myself.
Don’t bring anything too complex. People won’t get it. Just because you dig it, doesn’t mean everyone else will.
Sweeter reds suck, but usually stand out as more “drinkable”. I know, good god, right?
Winners tend to be the zag in a room of zigs. Be different.
Hope you win the $50.
Yes, a Ridge Geyserville or Lytton Springs could span a lot of different tastes. It’s got lots of fruit, but would outclass a lot of other fruity wines.