Stay tuned, and I'll be online and active as the weeks roll on =-)
Till then, let me share with you a brilliant post from foodandwine.com/articles/50-wines-you-can-always-trust by Ray Isle:
50 Wines You Can Always Trust
It’s easy to find great wines made in tiny quantities that cost a
fortune. What’s hard is locating amazing wines that are sold in stores
across the country, that are delicious regardless of vintage, and that
ring up at $20 or less per bottle. Here are our picks for the most
reliable, most readily available wines in the world—50 wines that won’t
let you down. Plus, there are bonus selections: five top-notch
Bordeaux for less than $25, 12 foolproof pairing suggestions and 10
world-class wines from France and the United States that cost a little
more but still offer disproportionate quality for the price.
United States
Beringer
Founder’s Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ($11)
This historic winery makes arguably the broadest collection of acclaimed wines in California. Its Private Reserve has been a benchmark for Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon since 1976. The much more affordable Founder’s Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is also impressive: a velvety, generous, cassis-driven red.La Crema
Sonoma Coast Chardonnay ($18)
At La Crema, winemaker Melissa Stackhouse makes a range of subtly expressive Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. Her Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, one of La Crema’s most widely available bottlings, is also one of her best: round and rich with ripe pear and caramel-vanilla flavors.Blackstone Winery
California Merlot ($12)
Blackstone started out in 1990 producing one of California’s most succulent, affordable Merlots. These days, it makes a large range of wines (including a delicious Riesling only available at its Kenwood, California, tasting room), but the backbone of its business, and one of its best bottlings, is still talented winemaker Dennis Hill’s lightly smoky, plummy Merlot.Bogle
Old Vine Zinfandel ($11)
The Bogle family has been farming in California’s Clarksburg region since the mid-1800s but only ventured into grape growing in 1968. The late Warren Bogle and his son Chris founded their eponymous winery about 10 years later. The family business is currently headed by Chris’s widow, Patty Bogle, and it farms more than 1,200 acres of wine grapes in the Sacramento Delta—some of which go into Bogle’s jammy, luscious Old Vine Zinfandel, one of the best Zinfandel deals on the market.Chateau Ste. Michelle
Columbia Valley Merlot ($16)
Unquestionably the largest producer in Washington State (more than a million cases each year), Chateau Ste. Michelle is also one of the most adventurous: The winery has forged partnerships with famous European names such as Tuscany’s Piero Antinori and Ernst Loosen of Germany’s Mosel, and has developed properties in up-and-coming regions like Washington’s Red Mountain and Horse Heaven Hills. Its Columbia Valley Merlot—smoky, savory and rich with black cherry fruit—is one of the reasons Washington Merlot is so highly regarded.Clos Du Bois
Sonoma County Pinot Noir ($20)
Clos du Bois has been making reliable wines for years; indeed, its Marlstone proprietary red blend has been acclaimed since its first vintage in 1978. In the past few years, though, new winemaker Erik Olsen (who made his name at Washington State’s Chateau Ste. Michelle) has lifted quality levels here another notch. That’s clear in the latest vintage of Marlstone, the 2003, and also in Clos Du Bois’s succulent Sonoma County Pinot Noir—one of the few $20 Pinots that really gives a sense of the allure of this complex grape.Geyser Peak
California Sauvignon Blanc ($12)
This Sonoma-based winery’s vivid California Sauvignon Blanc can convert even the most jaded Chardonnay drinker into a lover of zesty, unoaked whites. Mick Schroeter deliberately picks a percentage of the grapes earlier than most other producers do to retain the variety’s hallmark crispness and grassy zing, then balances the blend with riper grapes that add juicy lemon-melon fruit character.Hess
Hess Select Cabernet Sauvignon ($12)
Although most of the great wines of the world come from specific vineyards, most of the great affordable wines of the world are a blend of grapes from many different sites—as is the case with Hess’s spicy, black cherry–rich Hess Select Cabernet Sauvignon. Typically sourced from regions that range from Napa Valley to Paso Robles to the Sierra Foothills, it’s a reference point for modestly priced California Cabernet Sauvignon.Hogue Cellars
Columbia Valley Riesling ($7)
Hogue’s Columbia Valley Riesling helps explain why Riesling has become such a popular grape variety in the United States (sales rose about 29 percent in 2006). Hogue’s bottling, with its orange blossom scent and crisp, minerally flavors, underscores the appeal of this grape; it’s lightly off-dry (i.e., slightly sweet), but the crisp acidity provides balance and makes the wine a natural match for Asian or Indian cuisines.Kendall Jackson
Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay ($12)
Here are two things to know about Kendall Jackson’s Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay: More than two million cases are made each year, and every single grape that goes into those bottles comes from vineyards owned by Kendall Jackson. (This is why, when you take a tour of the Kendall Jackson vineyards, you do it by helicopter.) Vineyard ownership means control over viticultural practices, and that’s why this wine—despite its vast production—remains so delicious: rich but finely focused, its flavors suggesting ripe mangoes and pears.King Estate
Oregon Pinot Gris ($16)
It takes a certain kind of genius to envision vineyards where cattle are grazing, but that’s exactly what Ed King III did in early 1991. While he was on a hay-buying trip in Oregon’s Lorane Valley, he noticed that the hillside slopes where the cattle were standing were similar to a couple of small vineyards he already owned. The 600-acre ranch turned out to be for sale, so King bought it. Now King Estate has become one of Oregon’s largest and most reliable producers. The winery is particularly known for its Oregon Pinot Gris, a crisp white full of stone-fruit flavors that is a consistently great value.Pepperwood Grove
California Merlot ($8)
Don Sebastiani’s Sonoma-based wine négociant firm, Don Sebastiani & Sons, was founded only in 2001, but its multiple brands have quickly become go-to names for high-quality, affordable wines made with grapes sourced from throughout California. Pepperwood Grove may be one of the company’s least playful brand names (compared to Smoking Loon, say, or Screw Kappa Napa), yet its juicy California Merlot, full of plum and chocolate notes, embodies the appealingly straightforward drinkability of Don Sebastiani’s wines.Rancho Zabaco
Heritage Vines Zinfandel ($17)
Rancho Zabaco is one of many labels owned by Gallo. The company also owns a vast range of vineyards, including many long-planted to Zinfandel. Its Heritage Vines Zinfandel takes advantage of the old vines’ intensity of flavor, and while it may not be as inexpensive as Gallo Hearty Burgundy was in the 1970s, it’s still a steal.Ravenswood
Lodi Zinfandel ($15)
Not so long ago, Ravenswood founder Joel Peterson remarked that when he started out, his wines were considered high-alcohol. These days, Ravenswood’s Zinfandels seem positively graceful compared to some of the galumphing Zin-monsters out there—and that’s why we still love them. Of particular note is its Lodi Zinfandel, a shade pricier than the company’s ubiquitous Vintners Blend, but with a depth of blackberry richness that’s well worth the few extra dollars.Robert Mondavi Winery
Napa Valley Fumé Blanc ($18)
Though no longer owned by the Mondavi family, this is still one of Napa Valley’s defining estates, producing wines ranging from its age-worthy Reserve Cabernet to its citrus-scented Napa Valley Fumé Blanc. Robert Mondavi coined the term "Fumé Blanc" for his Sauvignon Blanc wines in 1968 (French Pouilly-Fumés are made from Sauvignon Blanc), and winemaker Genevieve Janssens still uses French techniques—partial fermentation in barrel, the addition of a touch of Sémillon—to add complexity to this zesty white.Rodney Strong
Sonoma County Chardonnay ($15)
Former Broadway dancer Rodney Strong was one of Sonoma County’s earliest fine-wine pioneers, helping it make the transition from a source of grapes for mass-produced jug wines to a fine-wine region whose reputation can challenge that of neighbor and rival Napa Valley. Strong, who founded the winery in 1959 (and passed away in 2006), focused on vineyard-driven bottlings—he created the first single-vineyard Sonoma Cabernet, Alexander’s Crown, in 1974—at reasonable prices. The winery (owned by Tom Klein since 1989) still produces one of Sonoma’s greatest values, its lightly toasty Sonoma County Chardonnay.
And all of that on a budget! Is that awesome, or what?!
Be sure to visit foodandwine.com to see more of that article, especially if your interests are in ex-US vintages.
Stay online and watch for the new goodies to show up here; more is on the way.
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