Red Wine Recommendation!

[COcheesehead]

If you want to geek out on wine aging, here is an interesting article.

https://www.guildsomm.com/public_content/features/articles/b/kelli-white/posts/aging-wine

 

[NW-Bound]

In France, wines are made, sold, enjoyed and known by the family's vineyard and reputation. This makes "Chateau du Smith" make great wines to keep up with family traditions. In the US, the wine consumer is protected by wine laws that make a bottle of Merlot, contain 75% Merlot and 25% of whatever the the winemaker wants. It may ce some Cab to add structure, or Petit Verdot to add aroma and structure. But you may already be drinking a blend and not know it, unless the label says otherwise. No foul, because the ultimate goal is a great tasting wine. If the bottle has a name on it such as "Apathetic Purple", there is no variety in it greater than 75%.

Oh yes, I know that commercial wine is often blended. However, my knowledge of wine is not to the point that you have, in order to make something to my personal taste.

I can do that with cooking though. Hmmm... I have to add a bit of salt here. Needs some more paprika for a better color, and perhaps a bit more heat from black pepper and red chili. The cumin is still too subtle, so perhaps another pinch...

I once tried to learn more about wine, but found myself losing interest too quickly in order to develop more knowledge.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Rodney Strong is still my goto, until everyone else catches on the price get silly.

 

[SpartacusSchmartacus]

Bot a bottle of red blend "Walking Dead" ... excellent! At least for my taste in red - full body, medium dry, still taste a bit of cherry. and my price 6.99 Melbourne Beach market FL

 

[Winemaker]

Here is a great article about a great winemaker who makes great wine. I do not know him but know OF him. He more or less says anything can sell wine, and it's not necessarily taste. Again, as I say, drink what you like, drink it right, and drink what's right for you. Hey, I might put that on my label, or my forum signature.



https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2020/01/nobody-knows-anything-about-what-sells-wine

 

[newellcr]

I am surprised that this group can't come up with a list of 25 great $10 reds.



Midpack. It sounds like you and I have very similar red wine taste. I like that RM barrel cab, but prefer the Apothic Inferno. We have tried several of the bourbon barrel reds and keep coming back to Inferno. Inferno here is between 11 and $13 - that's also my price for the RM.



Apothic and Menage a Trois makes great blends and are usually at or less than $10.



Menage a Trois Silk, Decadence, Luscious, Midnight, Lavish, the 'original' red blend are great. Their website nice and you can easily see what the mix grapes is.



https://menageatroiswines.com


Apothic Red, Dark, Crush. The web site is ok.



We will still occasionally get a true Cab, Zin, Pinot Noir, Malbec, or whatever, but the blends are so good over the last few years. I don't even hesitate to try a new red blend for $8 to $12.



Some others that we like are Castle Rock Pinot Noir and 19 Crimes red blend. Both are Costco stock items now for us and are $8. To move down in price, the costco 1.5L Cab works and we also like the Three Thieves 1.5L red blend. Our higher end bottles are Infintino Zin at $15 and Capolla Director Cut Zin or Cab. To have a thrifty drink, we like the Franzia Deep Red blend in the big box...



Hope that helps.



Also, I like my reds starting at about 55-60 deg F. We refrigerate our reds and set them out to warm for a few minutes, then pour in a room temp glass. We've been 'playing' with the red blends and enjoying them at the different temperatures as they warm. It is interesting how much a few degrees can make and change - improving, muting, or adding to/removing the flavors. That usually wasn't the case for us when we were drinking varietals. There was a 'sweet' spot for enjoyment but the changing details didn't seem to be there like the blends.

 

[DrRoy]

I like a low tannin red, and pinot noir is my preference. Of the lower price ones, I like Naked Grape.

 

[COcheesehead]

Costco has these for 11.99. Dark fruit, herbs, earth. Hard to beat for the price.

2018 Casa Silva Carménère Cuvée Colchagua

 

[allegra3201]

I’ve never done this and probably won’t again, but we stumbled on $10/bottle Cabernet that we like better than some $100/bottle wines we’ve had. It’s easily the best $10/bottle of wine we’ve EVER had. I bought a case, and may buy another. What we bought is the 2017 vintage at $9.97/bottle, we got 10% off buying a case. Superb to our tastes. Sorry for the tangent, but too good to not share.

For you non drinkers, apologies. This thread isn’t meant for you.

https://www.robertmondaviprivateselection.com/california-wine/bourbon-aged-cabernet-sauvignon/

Have been enjoying 1000 Stories Zin for years, mainly purchased at Trader Joes. I don't turn my nose up at it because it is aged for a time in used bourbon barrels. Really enjoy the flavor profile. Good tasting wine at a reasonable price ($14.99 at TJ's). Thanks for the Mondavi Barrel aged recommendation. Will certainly give it a try.

 

[walkinwood]

Costco has these for 11.99. Dark fruit, herbs, earth. Hard to beat for the price.

2018 Casa Silva Carménère Cuvée Colchagua

+1 Loved that wine.
The Denver area Costcos that sell wine are on the other side of town from us, so we don't venture there often. But stock up when we do.

 

[Steeler75]

Picked up some 2015 Petra Zingari Toscana at Costco last week and what a find! Great Italian wine for $9.99 per bottle. Fantastic QPR!! Went back and picked up a six pack the next day. For those that follow scores, received a 92 from WS and a 94 from JS. Highly recommended.

 

[audreyh1]

I’ll have to keep an eye out for that. Love that Sangiovese.

I look at the online Costco Wine Blog occasionally to see what’s favored. Independent reviewer of Costco wines.

Who is this James Suckling anyway? I know Robert Parker retired last year. Any connection?

OK, I see James Suckling is a Wine Spectator persona. They must have switched from the Wine Spectator name to his name not too long ago.

 

[38Chevy454]

Apothic Red, Dark, Crush. The web site is ok.

I also have liked the Apothic Dark, one I have bought several times. Another that I found that is the $10 range is Gnarly Head, I forget the exact bottle, but it's another red blend. Like it also.

I can agree that there are a lot of good $10 range wines available. Don't get too caught up in the specifics, just buy some and figure out what is good. If don't like it, no big loss at $10. I tend to drink more beer than wine, so I guess I am probably not able to distinguish the subtle differences as some can. I don't like white wine for most part, or the sweet ones. So I stick with red blends or single varietals.

 

[GravitySucks]

Add in Dancing Bull Zin and you have all my favorites listed.

I am surprised that this group can't come up with a list of 25 great $10 reds.



Midpack. It sounds like you and I have very similar red wine taste. I like that RM barrel cab, but prefer the Apothic Inferno. We have tried several of the bourbon barrel reds and keep coming back to Inferno. Inferno here is between 11 and $13 - that's also my price for the RM.



Apothic and Menage a Trois makes great blends and are usually at or less than $10.



Menage a Trois Silk, Decadence, Luscious, Midnight, Lavish, the 'original' red blend are great. Their website nice and you can easily see what the mix grapes is.



https://menageatroiswines.com


Apothic Red, Dark, Crush. The web site is ok.



We will still occasionally get a true Cab, Zin, Pinot Noir, Malbec, or whatever, but the blends are so good over the last few years. I don't even hesitate to try a new red blend for $8 to $12.



Some others that we like are Castle Rock Pinot Noir and 19 Crimes red blend. Both are Costco stock items now for us and are $8. To move down in price, the costco 1.5L Cab works and we also like the Three Thieves 1.5L red blend. Our higher end bottles are Infintino Zin at $15 and Capolla Director Cut Zin or Cab. To have a thrifty drink, we like the Franzia Deep Red blend in the big box...



Hope that helps.



Also, I like my reds starting at about 55-60 deg F. We refrigerate our reds and set them out to warm for a few minutes, then pour in a room temp glass. We've been 'playing' with the red blends and enjoying them at the different temperatures as they warm. It is interesting how much a few degrees can make and change - improving, muting, or adding to/removing the flavors. That usually wasn't the case for us when we were drinking varietals. There was a 'sweet' spot for enjoyment but the changing details didn't seem to be there like the blends.

 

[newellcr]

I also have liked the Apothic Dark, one I have bought several times. Another that I found that is the $10 range is Gnarly Head, I forget the exact bottle, but it's another red blend. Like it also.

I can agree that there are a lot of good $10 range wines available. Don't get too caught up in the specifics, just buy some and figure out what is good. If don't like it, no big loss at $10. I tend to drink more beer than wine, so I guess I am probably not able to distinguish the subtle differences as some can. I don't like white wine for most part, or the sweet ones. So I stick with red blends or single varietals.

38Chevy454, I like the Gnarly Head Zin and will keep an eye out for the blends. We pull a lot of corks and with the $10 blends, it is rare for a real disappointment.

 

[newellcr]

"Add in Dancing Bull Zin and you have all my favorites listed."


GravitySucks, I haven't tried Dancing Bull but have seen it somewhere... Next time, I will grab one. Thanks. Speaking of Zins, we were drinking Boggle Old Vine occasionally, but have replaced that one with OZV zin and have been really happy with the switch.

 

[newellcr]

For the Costco shoppers, not sure if folks know this site. I found it late last summer. There is good info if you dig a bit.


https://costcowineblog.com/5-under-15-great-red-wine-finds-at-costco-right-now/

 

[Chuckanut]

I’ll have to keep an eye out for that. Love that Sangiovese.

I look at the online Costco Wine Blog occasionally to see what’s favored. Independent reviewer of Costco wines.

FWIW, I rarely find any of the Costco Wine Blog recommendations at my local Costco. Sometimes even their own Kirkland wines are not to be found.
I wonder how others are doing finding the recommended bottles?

 

[audreyh1]

FWIW, I rarely find any of the Costco Wine Blog recommendations at my local Costco. Sometimes even their own Kirkland wines are not to be found.
I wonder how others are doing finding the recommended bottles?

The wine offerings differ considerably from Costco to Costco, but I do find some of the wines they mention. I keep my eye out.

 

[newellcr]

FWIW, I rarely find any of the Costco Wine Blog recommendations at my local Costco. Sometimes even their own Kirkland wines are not to be found.
I wonder how others are doing finding the recommended bottles?

I don't find many of the bottles there, either. We have access to multiple Costco stores and the larger ones do seem to have a better variety of wines and better success at finding stuff on the Costco Wine Blog.



I had a discussion with one of the vendor's at Costco. He works for one of the local distributors here (it may be national, IDK). Not sure how Costco gets all of the stock, but the guy did mention that his isn't the only company that provides stock.

 

[zinger1457]

Some good news for wine drinkers, looks like prices are heading down.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/16/business/grape-surplus-cheap-wine-trnd/index.html

The price of wine is expected to drop to its lowest levels in five years thanks, in part, to a surplus of California grapes.
Combined with a decreased demand for wine, drinkers can expect to get better value for every drop they drink this year. The cheaper prices may even last up to three years.

 

[audreyh1]

I don't find many of the bottles there, either. We have access to multiple Costco stores and the larger ones do seem to have a better variety of wines and better success at finding stuff on the Costco Wine Blog.

I had a discussion with one of the vendor's at Costco. He works for one of the local distributors here (it may be national, IDK). Not sure how Costco gets all of the stock, but the guy did mention that his isn't the only company that provides stock.

Costco care fully chooses what it carries in alcohol. It’s not dependent on what the suppliers stock, plus they go direct to wineries for the Kirkland labeled wines. It’s worth reading about how they do it and their all important head wine buyer Annette Alverez-Peters and her team of buyers.

How Costco’s Wine Guru Picks the 250 Labels that will sell $4 Billion a year in Booze

Interview: Annette Alvarez-Peters On Costco’s Continuing Wine Dominance –

What our Costco carries is completely different from what our local grocery stores stock. Far more interesting selection with pretty high turnover. Many more imported wines too. It’s really our saving grace - we would be ordering a lot more wine if we didn’t have a Costco.

 

[audreyh1]

Some good news for wine drinkers, looks like prices are heading down.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/16/business/grape-surplus-cheap-wine-trnd/index.html

Unfortunately I don’t think it’s going to lower the price of my European wines. But I’m all stocked up anyway.

 

[Audie Murphy]

Bogle Essential Red is a delicious wine. It was recently priced $8.99 at our surrounding Kroger stores. Bought a case and got 20% discount. That is $7.19 + tax. Stellar value!

 

[Winemaker]

I encourage everyone to drink what they like but be informed. All of the Apothic series, contain a lot of sugar, even though they are marketed as dry wines. Enjoy!