Thoughts on everyday wines

My advice to anyone looking for new ideas is always find a good local wine shop, talk to the staff and find a person/a few people that you enjoy talking to (and ask you good questions about what you like to drink and why), and then let them steer you toward things with a bit of trial and error. Tell them your palate preferences, then ask for them to suggest a few bottles, ideally with a majority being things they’re “sure” you’ll like (obviously it’s hard to predict what you’ll dig with 100% accuracy) but make sure they throw in a few that are varying degrees of outside your comfort zone. You’ll get surprised more than you think—there’s a ton of wine in that price range that’s pretty spectacular.

In a more practical direction: Given your love of Napa wines, I’d really dig into Bordeaux at the $20-$40 level. There’s a lot of wine made in a modern style that reads as very California-ish in its ripeness and immediate appeal at prices that would be mind-bogglingly cheap in Napa for the level of quality.

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Here is a long list. It is wide, but very red focused, and Italian focused. The whites have a (W) at the end. Outside of Goodfellow, these all have higher production volume and are pretty available, though likely not always at your local store.

Italy
Tuscany
San Giusto a Rentennano Chianti Classico Le Baroncole
Felsina Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia
Fontodi Chianti Classico
Cortonesi Brunello di Montalcino La Mannella
Talenti Brunello di Montalcino
Siro Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino Pelagrilli
Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino
Tenuta San Guido Guidalberto

Piedmont
Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco
G.D. Vajra Barolo Albe
Vietti Barolo Castiglione
Vietti Timorasso Derthona (W)
Pelissero Barbaresco Nubiola
Oddero Barolo
AR.PE.PE. Valtellina Superiore Il Pettirosso

Campania
Salvatore Molettieri Taurasi Vigna Cinque Querce
Montevetrano di Silvia Imparato Colli di Salerno IGT
Feudi di San Gregorio Serpico IGT

Veneto
Masi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Costasera

Sicily
Gulfi neroSanlore
Calabretta Nerello Mascalese Vigne Vecchie

Umbria
Paolo Bea Santa Chiara (W)

Puglia
Cosimo Taurino Patriglione

Spain
Rioja
López de Heredia Viña Gravonia Blanco (W)
López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Reserva
La Rioja Alta Viña Ardanza Selección Especial

Castilla Y Leon
Raul Perez La Vizcaina La Vitoriana
Hacienda Monasterio Ribera del Duero
Bodegas Ordonez Las Suertes Nisia (W)
Hermanos Perez Pascuas El Pedrosal Reserva

France
Southern Rhone
Pierre Usseglio Chateauneuf du Pape
Xavier Vignon Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Anonyme

Champagne
Louis Roederer Brut Collection 242

Bordeaux
Grand-Pontet Grand-Pontet

USA
Any Goodfellow Pinot Noir

Portugal

Quinta do Vallado Touriga Nacional

Argentina

Altos Las Hormigas Malbec Appellation Gualtallary
Carmelo Patti Cabernet Sauvignon

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This is outstanding Joe, thank you!

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In our local market, we have an aggressively priced end of the year clearance sale on some Arterberry Maresh right now.