Coppola's Rosso is a very drinkable $8.00 wine. Available at Cost Plus, Trader Joe's and Costco. The Coppola claret is a bit more expensive, but really nice.

Patrick: Liberty School used to be the second label of Caymus. Nice parentage but I haven't seen them for years. Lots of the big wineries have second labels. I used to consult on wine in Michigan and bought wine for a small gourmet/wine shop for two years.

Rancho Zabaco is also a Gallo label making pretty good Zinfandel for the price.

I've had the Two Buck Chuck which is a cult wine for anyone with a Trader Joes nearby.
It is ok, like a generic chard or merlot.

With the huge excess of juice in California, high prices have been hard to sustain. There are huge bargains in merlot particularly. (the popularity of the majority of this plonk eludes me). I chuckle when people pay huge prices for Cabs and drink them right away. Like drinking paint thinner. These expensive cabs are meant to lay down for at least a few years so that they mellow and expand.

I bought a great Viognier at the supermarket the other day. Never heard of it but it was $9. Smoking Loon. LMF

LMF

Liberty School now stands on it own. Caymus is starting to do the same thing with Conudrum. You will notice on the new lables there is nothing that refers back to Caymus except the name of the wine maker is mentioned on the back lable.
Smoking Loon is made under the Sebastiani umbrella. It is a reasonable wine for the price. The Syrah is very nice from Smoking Loon.

There's a fun article in today's "LA Times" (available online at latimes.com-- follow the Food link in the Sections menu; registration required to read articles) about California's "big reds". The author, Emily Green, notes that one of the hallmarks of the California reds is their immediate drinkability. It's informative and a witty read (Green wrote for several years for London's "Independent"). And, she mentions one of my faves, Stags Leap Cabernet Sauvignon!

Three of my favorites are Geyser Peak Sauvignon Blanc (about $8.00), Meridian Chardonnay ($6-$7)both from California and Lindeman's Bin 65 Chardonnay ($6-$7)from Australia. These are great, inexpensive choices.

Patrick,

Today I bought a bottle of Estancia cab per your recommendation. I thought my head cold was far enough along I'd be able to enjoy the wine, but I can barely taste it! :(( I do like the smooth tannins, though...I guess I'll cork it up and try again tomorrow.

The Wine Spectator website has a very nice search function linked to their ratings.
Can specify price, rating, vintage, region, etc.

BTW, Frog's Leap and Stag's Leap both produce some outstanding wines (for someone who thought there was no Frog's Leap). The Frog's Leap winery tour was one of my favorites. Their Rutherfords scored in the low 90's in Wine Spectator recently.

my fav's are burgess chardonnay, peppergrove chardonnay & markam chardonnay. all reasonably priced...i go to trader joes to buy my wine.