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Good red wine under $10 a bottle.

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Under $10 is very difficult. However, for $15-$30 there are some very decent reds. Difficult to recommend since everyone has their personal taste. Not even a sommelier could recommend a single red that everyone would like.

yeah. what ^^^ said. red wine is an acquired taste and everyone's taste is different. what is good for one person may not be considered good by another.

that being said, I generally stick to Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinor Noir from Bogle and Robert Mondavi when I'm having guests over for "~good cheap red wine".

Honestly, Robert Mondavi, Kendall Jackson, Menage Trois, Clos Du Bois, Bogle.... any Merlot and Cab from those are what I consider 'good for the price'.

For whites I typically stick to Kendall Jackson Chardonnay and Chateau St Michele Riesling. I'm kind of like the "sweet" whites...
 
Also try the various reds from Rex Goliath brand. A little on the sweet side, but it find most cheap wines (e.g. Ménage a trois) lean that way. For a little over the $10 mark, try Marietta Old Vine Red or Liberty School Cab.

re Al Sherman's comment, i invite many of my wine "expert" friends (these are folks who usually would never even look at a bottle of wine priced less than $20) to an annual cheap wine tasting party. I set the max price and we have a blind tasting. Several self proclaimed experts often never even pick their own wine (after having raved about their favorite and insisted it was the bottle they brought). Actually found some decent cheap wines through that process. The max price is usually from $10 to $12, but we have had some sub-$10 wines win the competition.

For the party, each couple brings 3 bottles of the same wine. I take them away upon arrival, cover and open two of the bottles. The bottles are put out for blind tasting during the evening (along with lots of food to nibble). At the end of the evening, all vote for their 1st (3 points) and 2d ( 1 point) place wines. Points are added up and the couple who brought the high scoring wine get to take home all of the unopened third bottles (which usually is a combination of wines for cooking only and a few good pizza or spaghetti wines). Our last party had 28 entries! We also have a consolation prize for those whose wines get no votes.

You also can scale it down to fewer couples and make it 2 bottles. It's lots of fun and a great opportunity to abuse your wine snob friends.
 
Bonterra organic cab @ Costco is ok for under $10. Several northcoast organics there too but maybe just at our Costco all around $10
I joined the wine club @ Clos du bois since they have free charging/tasting and it was on the way to the Bay Area .Costco has the 2009 Marlstone for $15 -pretty good, I thnk it is $30 or so at the winery

menage sucks IMO, too sweet and always headachey. not the worst taste but not good
 
If you have access to Columbia Crest wines they're generally excellent, especially their "grand estates" varieties, which include Cab, Merlot, Chardonnay, and a couple of others. Around here (Seattle area) they usually can be had for around 8 bucks. Not too long ago, their grand estates cab was in the WS top 100 wines. Excellent value, surprisingly so!
 
< $10 for a good wine is tough, but Macaron (Italy) Pinot Noir is usually on sale for about $10 in local Grocery stores here and I've found it to be good for the money. I've found that $12-15 is the sweet spot for a good wine you can enjoy on a regular basis. Spend more for when you're in the mood for a special treat.
 
re Al Sherman's comment, i invite many of my wine "expert" friends (these are folks who usually would never even look at a bottle of wine priced less than $20) to an annual cheap wine tasting party. I set the max price and we have a blind tasting. Several self proclaimed experts often never even pick their own wine (after having raved about their favorite and insisted it was the bottle they brought). Actually found some decent cheap wines through that process. The max price is usually from $10 to $12, but we have had some sub-$10 wines win the competition.
It's lots of fun and a great opportunity to abuse your wine snob friends.

LOL. I'm definitely NOT an expert, self proclaimed or otherwise. I AM a wine snob though. I admit it. Even being a "snob" is relative. If YOU set the max price at 10-12 dollars the test isn't relevant. If however, you set a max price (10-12 dollars) except for me; I would choose MY wine every single time and crush you. Every single time. Speaking of being crushed; when I come for the party can I bring my golf clubs? :wink:



CostCo regularly has several 90 and 91 point reds for under $10.

"Great" under $10 does not exist, but "Good" definitely does.

Still relative. Good, great etc...


Having said that; for the OP if you want to bump it up to under 20 dollars. You can usually find J. Lohr Cabernet for under 20 dollars. I would give this wine a "Good for under 20 bucks rating." Cheers!
 
I don't think of myself as a wine snob, but I live by the adage that life is too short to drink bad wine. While we drink red wine 95% of the time at my house, I don't like to drink reds without food to accompany them: much of your perception of a red wine derives from the foods that are served alongside.

I've not found any sub-$10 reds I would serve at home, though there are some I'd take to a party where a) nobody cares about how good the wine is and b) I want to have something to drink myself. Nobody has mentioned the better box wines; Black Box Malbec is decent, and well under $10 per 750 ml.

If you open it up to sparkling wines, there are some remarkably good Spanish cavas for under $10. I keep a supply of Segura Viudas Brut Reserva on hand; it's $8.99 where I shop.

@Lawsteve, I like your cheap wine party idea; I may steal it. :biggrin:
 
LOL. I'm definitely NOT an expert, self proclaimed or otherwise. I AM a wine snob though. I admit it. Even being a "snob" is relative. If YOU set the max price at 10-12 dollars the test isn't relevant. If however, you set a max price (10-12 dollars) except for me; I would choose MY wine every single time and crush you. Every single time. Speaking of being crushed; when I come for the party can I bring my golf clubs? :wink:


LOL. If I had $10 for every person who said their wine was going to win, I' be able to afford $50 per bottle wines nightly!:biggrin:

Bring the the clubs for sure! I have mastered the art of hitting that white ball to any water that is nearby. I assure you that you would crush me on the course. Regards!

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@Lawsteve, I like your cheap wine party idea; I may steal it. :biggrin:

Steal freely. Just make sure you have plenty of food, water, and dump buckets. It can be a lot of wine to taste (we also rent wine glasses to avoid losing our good glasses).
 
Luckily some people on this forum know more about cars than about wines. There are plenty of excellent wines below $10 (or below 10 Euro in Europe).

The best thing is to do is go to a trusted wine shop and gain some advice there. And then taste, of course. If you're looking for a list of good budget wines, check out some specialized web sites such as Wine Enthusiast Magazine | News, Pairings, Recipes, Cocktails & More
Incidentally, they have a great list which may suit your needs:
http://www.winemag.com/PDFs/112013_BestBuys.pdf

Cheers!
 
LOL. If I had $10 for every person who said their wine was going to win, I' be able to afford $50 per bottle wines nightly!:biggrin:

If they enjoy 10 dollar wines they might not pick mine. My only point is that if I had no price limit, and ALL the rest were ten dollar wines (including from Europe) I would be able to pick mine every single time.

AND if I had ten bucks for every person that brought wine to our parties and left it half full while drinking from our cellar I'd have to quit drinking so I could count all the money! :smile:

Having said that; my advice is if you find a ten dollar wine that you like/love keep drinking it. It's like drugs. Sooner or later the cheap stuff just doesn't get it done.