<p>Do you have a favorite house wine? If you and I were just hanging out at your house, what wine would you offer me?</p>
<p>If I wasn’t expecting you, you’d be stuck with the three buck chuck. If I knew someone was just coming to hang out, nothing fancy, it would probably be Lindeman’s Bin 65.</p>
<p>For an inexpensive everyday wine, I like Yellow Tail Sauvignon Blanc. Some don’t like it - but it’s fine for me for casual stuff.</p>
<p>If you want to go a more upscale - see if you can find a Cloudy Bay SB or Chardonnay.</p>
<p>I just bought a case of 06 Gnarly Head Zin as well as a case of Small Wonders Chardonnay (Russian River), so that’s what we’re drinking for the next few weeks. Both are cheap but good.</p>
<p>I like Gnarly Head Zin. </p>
<p>When D1 started college and we needed to pare back our expenses a bit, we started drinking Bota Box wines. The Pino Grigio is quite good (85 points from Wine enthusiast) and some of the reds are pretty decent as well (Zinfandel is good and wins lots of awards, Cab is OK, and the Malbec isn’t bad). But when someone’s coming over or we’re making a special meal, we’ll upgrade a little—nothing fancy, but maybe in the $10-$15/bottle range. I can usually get the Bota Box for about $15, but that’s the equivalent of 4 bottles.</p>
<p>For cheap red would be Woodbridge or Gallw Family (in the big bottle). For white it would probably be Bella Sera or Cavitt Pinot Grigio. If Naked Grape is on sale, we like it for both red and white. If we know you are coming you would get a Mirassou or Louis Martini red and for white a Marco Felluga Pinot Grigio or Louis Jadot Chardonnay. Anything more expensive would mean that the guest has brought it.</p>
<p>We make an effort to learn what our friends like. “No Pinot Grigio, sorry, but here’s a nice Pinot Noir. Same same, right?” There’s always a selection of wines on hand that we like … Zins, Cab-zins, Chardonnays and Savignon Blancs. We keep a (dusty) bottle of Grigio, just in case. We prefer Napa/Sonoma wines with exception of the Cab-zins. YMMV, and probably will!</p>
<p>There was a cheap wine recommendation this summer, but I have no idea how to find it.
We buy Ca Montini pinot grigio by the case, and everyone seems to like it. It’s about 10.99 a bottle at the big wine stores.</p>
<p>St. Panteleimon wine from Cyprus. Impossible to find 
unless you live near or drive to a Jungle Jim’s in the Cincinnati OH area, but well worth the trouble.</p>
<p>It would be a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand or Chile (and would have been on sale that week for ~$10).</p>
<p>Lately I have been buying a wine called New Age–from Argentina. It has a bit of a bite to it. I really like it. It’s $9.99 at our liquor store :D.</p>
<p>For white I always have Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc on hand and multiple bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir. The reds vary but we usually have Estancia or Greg Norman on hand that is inexpensive at Costco. Just returned from a trip last week to Napa/Sonoma/Paso Robles. Loved the wines at two wineries that were new to us. They are Lambert Bridge and Kunde. Loved them! I know that these will be our dinner wines with company! :)</p>
<p>Ha, coincidence.</p>
<p>I DVR’ed the movie Bottle Shock and am watching it (again) now before taking a break to check in on CC.</p>
<p>There are so many wines, I don’t know how to keep track.
Usually have about a 75 percent success rate trying different wines at Costco.</p>
<p>Also, just tried Mirassou Pinot Noir at a local supermarket tasting and liked it.</p>
<p>Here’s the recent similar thread if anyone is interested. Always a fun topic.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1389419-good-favorite-inexpensive-wine.html?[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1389419-good-favorite-inexpensive-wine.html?</a></p>
<p>I like Apothic Red as a “house wine”, but I wouldn’t buy it at what I’ve seen as the “list price” - which is low 20’s. I’ve always picked it up for between $10-12.</p>
<p>Bud lite with a bit of pomegranite juice. I am turning people who hate beer into beer drinkers with this one. And others who loved beer to begin with, all complemented this. I have it almost every day. Just taste heavenly. Another one I like in a winter is any dry red wine warmed up in microwave with honey. I know I am ruinning wine, but I do not care much, I love the taste and it makes me feel good. I also love sake, but I would not buy the cheapest. No added ingredients here, it taste very good all by itself (do not forget that it is served hot, yes, stick it in microwave).</p>
<p>GolfFather…they filmed boxing scenes from Bottle Shock at Kunde. I saw the boxing ring that is still set up at the winery last week.</p>
<p>I like the Gnarly Head Zin too!</p>
<p>I’m the only wine drinker in my family, so I lean toward the screw caps;)
Unless it is a special occasion, I usually look for this winery.
[Eliseo</a> Silva](<a href=“http://www.eliseosilva.com/]Eliseo”>http://www.eliseosilva.com/)</p>
<p>I’m serving Chianti from a box these days.</p>
<p>At my house, you’d get a Kendall-Jackson Cab or Chardonnay, depending. We like California wines. :)</p>