Good Wine Opinion
 

We went on vacation to California in October and I have a new respect for, good but reasonable, wines.
Can anyone tell me their opinion of a good, but "reasonable" wine. From Calfornia or not.
thanks.

I think your question would be better put elsewhere but I'll bite (or sip).

Anything by Gallo of Sonoma. This is the Gallo daughter's business with all the money of the huge Gallo organization behind it. Her Sonoma chardonnay is around $8 at my market and $7 on sale and has that buttery maleolactic taste that Chard's at 3 times the price have. Their Cabernet Sauvignon is outstanding and they have a new Pinot Gris (like pinot grigio) that is causing a stir. I think they don't care if they make money at this point.

Another excellent winery making non-estate bottled wine (eg less expensive) is Beringer.
Their winemakers are top notch and the cheap stuff is way better than it has to be.

LMF

There are lots of choices out there and everyone has a different idea of "reasonable" so here is a few to ponder. Some a slightly more expensive than others but within each winery you will find some inexpensive wines.

Siverado
J. Lohr
Joseph Phelps
Frogs Leap
Clos Du Bois
Lolonis
Robert Pepi
Bonny Doon
Ch. St. Jean
Liberty School
Columbia Crest
Rodney Strong
Murphy Goode
St. Supery
Ravenswood
Simi
Cambria
Sterling
Estancia

As someone had recommended in the past on one of these threads, if you go to a local grocery store, the wines are cheaper than buying them directly from the winery.

We found this to be the case in Healdsburg at the local Safeway. Additionally, if you buy a case of assorted wines, they will give you an additional 10% off, and I think if you get one of their shopping cards, there's an additional 5% off.

Then again, wine is a personal thing. I know people who love that "boxed stuff," and it's pretty reasonable. ((b))

I have found this book to come in handy when trying to find out about Cal wines. The title is The Connoisseurs Handbook of the Wines of California and the Pacific Northwest by Norman Roby and Charles Olken. It is great for anyone - novice or expert.

"Reasonable" will vary by variety, vintage and your palate.

For instance, a reasonable Calif Cab might be considered $25-30.

A good place to start is on the Wine Spectator web site. Registration is free and you can searc thousands of wines.

http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Home/

My latest favorite is La Crema Pinot Noir. It is a Sonoma Valley wine.

If you have a Cost Plus World Market by you, they have a lot of very reasonable wines. One of my favorites is Yellow Tail Chardonnay, which is from Australia (which I've also found at my local grocery store.)

Being a real lover of the big cabernets of California, I have been thrilled with my discovery of Estancia Cabernet. My market normally sells it for $8.99 or $9.99 a bottle and it would fool a lot of people as being worth double to triple that.

And I think SuzieQ's list is quite good. Liberty School used to be my favorite "cheapie".

Our community theatre went through a phase of selling the range of Yellow Tail wines (available dirt cheap from a distributor) and the bulk of our audiences praised our "new and better quality" wine being served.

Yes, Yellowtail is one of our fave cheapies, esp the Merlot. Littlemiss, I think the Gallo Wines are excellent too, esp. Chard. and Pinot Noir, Another excellent wine is Pepperwood Grove's Viognier 7.99$, Viognier being my new fave white. La Crema Pinot is fantastic, as is Villa Mt. Eden's Pinot Noir. Chateau Souverain's 2001 Chardonay(93) was 20th on WS's best of the best list. So many wines, so little time, is my motto! ;-)

Patrick,
If you like Estancia Cab try their meritage red. It is more expensive but really good. Cheers!

SusieQ, I haven't noticed the Frog's Leap but I am a big fan of the Stag's Leap.

Agree with the Yellow Tail.

I remember the days when Robert Mondovi's Chardonny was under $7 a bottle and he didn't have twenty different lables. It was fantastic and cheap.

Glen Ellen used to have a Country Chardonny that was good and quite cheap.

I picked up a bottle of La Crema last May while in Sonoma -- now owned by Kendall Jackson. Looking forward to opening it up. It wasn't reasonable, though -- $20.00. Probably can get it cheaper at a grocery store. ((b))

There is a thread called Wine O's on the Other Topics board of Fodors.com/forums. There are some good recommendations on that thread. Cheers.

SuzieQ, I'm ahead of you on the Estancia meritage. I've liked it for quite a while, but its popularity has brought the price up to around $27 a bottle here -- not bad, but almost triple in price for the cab -- my "daily" affordable wine. My market had a recent sale on the Estancia cabernet at $7.99 per bottle with a 10% discount by the case, so I stocked up.

California wines this year are getting too expensive, and unless you pay a lot, most are not very good...
Try the Montes label of wines from Argentinia. Excellent, excellent wine at a fabulous value. Their Malbec (red) can be found at CostPlus storesfor $6, their Cabernet for about $13. Both are rated highly by Wine Spectator mag.! (The Cab's in their top 100 wines of 2003)
That said, the Coppola-Niebaum Claret is good for around $14, and that's a California wine!!

There is a fantastic and popular California Zinfandel called "Rancho Zabaco Dancing Bull" that sells for around $8. It's a relatively easy to drink red wine that goes over well with many new wine drinkers. If you like that, you may also like a Shiraz from Australia, particularly Rosemount, $7-10. Both of these are pretty easy to find. Andrea Immer has a great book called "Great Wine Made Simple." Happy toasting!

Piper Heidsieck Champagne used to be my favorite wine for the money but it too has shot up in price. I bought a case of it for 1999/2000 New Years Eve at $25 per bottle.

south africa makes VERY good wine. if you like red wine, try kwv merlot, it costs about $8 (at least in nj).

Robert Mondavi puts out quite drinkable reds under its Woodbridge and Private Selection labels-- and they're cheap. Frei Brothers is another excellent winery for mid-range reds (I don't drink whites as a general rule). Stags Leap Winery in Sonoma Valley is one of my favorites, but the merlots start at $30 and the cabs at $37, so they're an occasional treat. The Gallo of Sonoma brand is dependably good, as LMF notes correctly. I like the Coppola 2000 Clarets (these are "generic reds", i.e., not specifically "Cabernet" or "Merlot" or "Pinot Noir" grapes, but a combination), but the 2001 Clarets seem to need more months in bottle to my palate (as I noted in another thread).

Go to a good local wine store and ask-- and don't be afraid to give upper limits on how much you want to spend! They appreciate customers who want to learn about fine wines, and usually love letting you in on their "bang for the buck" specials.