<p>I liked Yellow Tail when it first appeared, but I think they’ve changed the formula. A lot of them just seem too sweet to me.</p>
<p>You have to love the names. Horse Heaven Hills, Kung Fu Girl… Since Chateau Ste Michelle was being discussed and all. </p>
<p>Food friendly reds…Hmm. I like Italian and spanish reds. You can often find good Montelpuciano D’Abruzzos for under $10 and Spanish Garnachas or Monastrells. For classic varieties Columbia Crest Grand Estates makes Merlot and Cabernets Sauvignon that tastes much better than it’s $10-13 price and they make them by the hundreds of thousands of cases so you can find them nearly anywhere. Very good inexpensive Pinots are harder to find. I wish some makers of good reasonably priced wines would bottle them in half bottles. My wife and I could them split a bottle of wine with our weekday dinner and only have about a glass a piece. It’s tough to leave left over wine.</p>
<p>Check out some of Cameron Hughes wines if they sell them in your area. All are decent values and some can be tremendous. I once found (a couple of years ago) a Cameron Hughes Flying Winemaker Cabernet from Chile for about $5 a bottle. I was easily the equivalent to any $20 Cab I’ve had. I bought three cases and was really sad when the when the last one was gone. He is a negocient and buys left over juice from a variety of winemakers (some quite high end) and sells them for a very fair price. They are sold as lot numbered wines.</p>
<p>The past couple of years I got cases of Icon Cellars Seraphina for $9.99 a bottle (lists at $19.99) at a local wine store. It’s a blend of Viognier, Roussanne, and Chardonnay grapes grown in the Yakima valley. One of the nice things about blended wines is if one year one of the grapes is a little off they can change the recipe to compensate.</p>
<p>We used to drink Toso Malbec from Argentina for $8/bottle until Costco “discovered” the winery and drove up the prices. Now it is mostly Italian reds recommended by our favorite wine steward at the local organic market, PCC.</p>
<p>The list on my iphone is growing. If someone were to accidentally see it, they’d think I have a problem! </p>
<p>I’ve learned a lot about wine from a DVD wine appreciation course offered by the Teaching Company. <a href=“The Great Courses”>The Great Courses; There are 24 1/2-hour lectures. It costs less than a single college credit ;). The woman teaching the course is annoying, but she is very informative and can be quite entertaining at times. Skip lecture #1 where she brags about her qualifications. Lectures 3 & 4 describe the winemaking process, lectures 5 & 6 discuss the varieties of grapes, and lectures 10-22 give an overview of wines from various countries and regions. I actually appreciate wine more now that I have learned something about about it. </p>
<p>The Louis Martini (Sonoma) cab from Costco at $11.89 is pretty good. They also have a Joel Gott 2012 cab for less than $14 that is my favorite right now. </p>
<p>I concur with the Louis Martini cab. I’ll have to try the Joel Gott someday when I run out of my stash of Menage a Trois Midnight.</p>
<p>Apothic Red tonight…Nice wine, even nicer price point! Thx for the recommendation :). This lst is gonna be fun to work through!!</p>
<p>My husband also loves Louis Martini cab, we still have the decal/sticker in our old car. I also like Franciscan cab, $15.99 from Costco,</p>
<p>Costco has some good deals. I need to look at them again.</p>
<p>Shellz, if you like very dark, rich wines, Apothic Dark is even better. And cheap, also.</p>
<p>Predator reds are a great buy for about $20:</p>
<p><a href=“Rutherford Ranch”>Rutherford Wine Company | Rutherford Wine Company;
<p>(“Predator” is a clever reference to lady bugs). </p>
<p>Ok, the Apothic Dark is just wonderful! On faith, I bought the last 4 bottles at the store, and boy am I glad! Thanks for the tip!</p>
<p>2012 Concha Y Toro Gran Reserva Cabernet After we bought out our local liquor store, wife found it at Costco for 12.99. So good.</p>
<p>Wine, chocolate and coffee. I have found my people.</p>
<p>And cheese…then your list is perfect, @jym626 </p>
<p>Chacewater in Northern California has some nice wines as well as EVOO & vinegar.</p>
<p>I will admit I like a sweeter Riesling- Barefoot Riesling sure fits the bill.</p>
<p>Any recommendations for good sav Blancs in the 10-15 dollar range?
We like Kim Crawford, Cottesbrook, and I’m going to try the Oyster Bay someone recommended up thread. A to Z is another Pinot Gris we really like, but it’s become more expensive over the years. </p>