October 2009
I wasn't going to post anything but since this thread is still going . . .
You can find a million wines under $15 but the question is whether you yourself would like to drink them. The more people who answer, the more random the list becomes until eventually you end up listing... Read moreI wasn't going to post anything but since this thread is still going . . .
You can find a million wines under $15 but the question is whether you yourself would like to drink them. The more people who answer, the more random the list becomes until eventually you end up listing every wine in the whole world that is under $15. That might not be a bad thing. Anyhow, here are some things I wouldn't mind drinking and I tried to explain why. I posted this somewhere else a few years ago so it may be dated -
I would love to find a wine under $10 or so that is good enough to justify buying, but rarely is it possible, at least in reds. I tried 2 Buck Chuck and Yellowtail. Both went down the drain. The latter especially was way too sweet - they either left a lot of residual sugar in it or added some. Nothing else going on with the wine other than some horrific sweetness. It used to be possible to get decent values for that price, but over the past 10 years or so that has changed. So we define $10 - $15 as cheap enough for every day. At that range, there is a lot.
Spain is a great source. Try looking for some garnacha - it's by far the most widely planted red grape in the country and consequently in the world, and as a result, there are some real bargains to be found - Artazuri Garnacha - several versions but the cheap one is fine, lots of dark cherry fruit and a touch of spice and earth. Borsao or Las Rocas or Leilia or Tres Picos - all produce inexpensive versions of garnacha with more complexity than you'd ever guess from the price - usually have a touch of earth, ash and spice over the fruit. The Las Rocas can be very uneven depending on which lot your bottle comes from. It's made in millions of bottle runs.
Also try some monastrell - it was grown for centuries but usually made a rustic, unpleasant, stinky wine until a few producers attempted to reach a little higher. Because it comes from a region relatively unknown in the US - Murcia, there is not demand from collectors and prices can be great. Altos de Luzon - a blend of moslty monastrell and syrah and I think cab, very earthy and leathery on the nose, great balance, very good job and one of the best values on the market from anywhere IMHO. They do a cheaper version but it's nasty IMO. The bodega led by Juan Gil has been a pioneer in raising the quality of the wine from the grape, and the Juan Gil wine itself is under $20 and great. In addition Casa Castillo does an inexpensive version and Rafael Cambra does a great one but it's over $20.
Most of all, don't overlook the great grape of Spain - tempranillo. Too many to list but the traditional crianzas or better, joven wines, from Rioja especially can be great values. E.g. Marques de Riscal, Marques de Murrietta, etc, from Rioja. Regarding the Riscal Reserva - I cannot think of another wine in the world that you can pay less than $12 for and keep for the rest of your life. And it improves w age. Look for Joven or Crianza from Ribera del Duero too - Bodegas Arrocal, Gormaz, and Casajus (which I sell), or the wines of Alejandro Fernandez, like Condado de Haza, or from Toro, his el Vinculo.
Greg already mentioned Flavium, which is a really good job of mencia from the north of Spain. There aren't a lot of good value mencia wines out, but that's one and so is the Abad Dom Bueno, which was listed by the NYT as the best value and again, disclaimer - it's something I sell.
And don't overlook the whites. Lots of great verdejo available - usually has a touch of grapefruit and a crisp quality - it's what a sauvignon blanc would love to be but never can. There are many Spanish whites around for under $15 and rather than list them I'd suggest that you simply go to the store and pick one up. If you like it, try another. They're often sold by grape variety, so you can learn fast. And don't overlook the rosados either - as a rule, try to get them as fresh as you can, but there are a few that can age, believe it or not.
Australia is always a good source of value - Rosemount has really decreased in quality, but is still OK w the whites, Oxford Landing, Two Hands (the Lucky Country is their only low-end red and the new imnporter is raising prices), Mollydooker (the new label from Sparky Marquis who used to make Marquis Phillips), Grant Burge, Jacobs Creek, Lindemanns, Penfolds and Peter Lehman all make a range of wines and their low ends are good. They tend to be fruity and also very "clean", in that you don't get funky, leathery notes on the nose for the most part. Also in Australia, don't ignore the whites. They make some of the best value riesling and semillon on the planet - usually very dry. I'd say just pick up what you find and if you don't like it, try something else.
Not much from Napa or Sonoma but if you go to somewhere else in California, you can do well - Fess Parker from Santa Barbara makes a number of wines, Michael Phillips from Lodi makes big, fruity, brawny zins and syrah and cab and petite sirah. And Cline, as mentioned makes pretty good stuff, especially their zin and syrah that come in at your price point. Ravenswoods lower end isn't great - some people like it but go for their better stuff - they've really come back after a few off years. BV is sometimes OK w the Coastal label, but spend a little more - I think their Rutherford cab may be one of the best values in Napa - you can find it for as low as $17 sometimes and worth it.
Washington has good values - the Chat St Michelle companies which also include Villa Mt Eden from CA, and Columbia Crest, among others. All of their whites are solid values. The Eroica from Chat St Michelle wins awards every year - it's a riesling that's got a touch of residual sugar, like many kabinett wines from the Mosel these days, but it's always a nice wine and around $18. But if you spend less on the basic riesling, you won't be disappointed and you'll have a few bucks extra for a red. The Reserve cab and syrah from Columbia Crest lists over $25 but can often be found for much less and like I said, if you average out the price of the white and the red, you hit your price point.
Italy is easy if you stay south - Sicily has decent wines made from Nero d'Avola like Morgante, with dark fruit flavors and great balance, as well as from other local grapes but their prices are inching up. A-Mano is a primitivo (zinfandel) that is made in Puglia by Chris Shannon from California - it goes for around $8 and is a great value every year. May be the best primitivo from Italy, although Appolonio is good too. Usually they have a little more acidity than some of the CA versions and for the price, a lot more complexity. Monte Antico is from Tuscany and is a pretty good value, as is Gabbiano - a Chianti. If you're looking at a cheap Chianti, you could do a lot worse.
Hungary has a few interesting wines - Craftsman is a label that was created to develop good, inexpensive wines as an intro to their grapes and wine. All of them are decent values if you can find them. You can learn about grapes that most people have never heard of and enjoy yourself at the same time. I've had all of these many times and in general, the whites tend to be fruity and have a touch of residual sugar, but they're not sweet.
And don't forget Argentina, maybe the best place for the US right now, given the currency rates and how we are suffering against the Euro. You can get any number of malbecs and cabs - Sur, Ox, Gascon, Altos las Hormigas, Altos de las Terrazas, Norton, Dona Paula, etc. All are actually nice. And if you spend a few bucks more for the reservas, you will have excellent wine. The Terrazas for example, makes a reserva that I get for $14.99 and it can hold its own with wines costing much more. These all tend to be fairly big wines with a good shot of oak and spice.
Chile makes low-cost wines, but I find them frequently rather green and rarely buy them. They are quite different as a rule than the wines of Argentina, which are more lush and softer. Those from Chile, when ripe, still end to have a bit more in the way of herbal notes, but they also have less opulent fruit and a leaner profile. Can be quite nice in some cases if that's your thing.
France remains a strange place. Of its most famous wine, some is the most overpriced on the planet and some represents outstanding value for the money. Beaujolais has a bad rap because people tired of the fashion for the cheap, young wine. As a result, there is little demand for the cru beaujolais and they represent outstanding values. Moreover, some of them are quite ageworthy and for the price of a bottle of Burgundy, you can get a case to lay down. In ten years you'll have a wine that will make your Burgundy drinking friends envious. Brun and Vissoux are 2 that I am happy to own. Syrah from the Northern Rhone is as expensive as Burgundy or Bordeaux, but syrah grows elsewhere and can be delicious. Garnacha, or as they call it, grenache, can be an even better value. There is a lot of swill produced but also a lot of great wine. Chapelle St Arnoux produces my favorite bottle of wine from the South Rhone in the Ventoux region. It's under $10 and drinks wonderfully and is a blend of garnacha and other "Rhone" grapes. It's worth remembering that except for syrah, the most important grapes in the Rhone cam from Spain, so look for the same grapes I mentioned for Spain - grenache, monastrell (which they call mourvedre) and carinena (which they call carignan). These are frequently blended together and in fact, most wines from the south of France are probably blends, so you won’t generally see a bottle that states the grape variety. Doesn’t matter - try them anyway. In the same way that the co-op wines produced in the millions can still represent value in Spain, those of France can also represent value. Many Cote du Rhones are surprisingly good and they have similar profiles to the Spanish wines I described earlier - earthy, strawberry/cherry fruit, spice. Most of the wines I've mentioned from France, Spain and Italy are made with little or no new oak. The cost of a French barrel is around $800 these days, so it can be a great savings to the winery if they use old, used barrels or cement tanks.
France also has regions that are frequently ignored. The Loire for example produces great cabernet franc. It tends to have a green and herbal note to it, VERY unlike the wines from the south which are generally much fruitier and more pleasant up front, but if you like that quality, it's hard to find better values anywhere. The whites from the Loire, especially the far west, are outstanding values if you like super lean, crisp, minimalist whites. It's also the home of sauvignon blanc, and while I'm not a huge fan of the grape, the wines from that region can be exceptional. Lesser known areas like Jura, Savoie, Madiran, and others can be sources of value but as it's unlikely you'll find much, I'll not say anything about them.
At any rate, if you buy a handful of wines from each of the areas I mentioned, you'll get a good overview and have enough to keep you busy for a long time.
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