BYOB - What's Your Favorite Under $10 Wine

[unleash]

...it's an outstanding value at 4 bucks at Trader Joe's, and a great value at 10 if you can find it anywhere else.  my guess is that it's available only through TJ's. 

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Would you (or anyone else) happen to know which North Jersy TJs sell wine? I know mine (Florham Park) doesn't.

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The Westfield TJs sells wine and beer.

[tommy]

...it's an outstanding value at 4 bucks at Trader Joe's, and a great value at 10 if you can find it anywhere else.  my guess is that it's available only through TJ's. 

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Would you (or anyone else) happen to know which North Jersy TJs sell wine? I know mine (Florham Park) doesn't.

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aside from TJ's in westfield, as unleash suggests, i'm tempted to consider this wine:

http://www.winerz.com/9cc_7124.html

not exactly the same, but at 64 bucks a case, it might be worth a try. same producer i think.

[Peter Conway]

...it's an outstanding value at 4 bucks at Trader Joe's, and a great value at 10 if you can find it anywhere else.  my guess is that it's available only through TJ's. 

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Would you (or anyone else) happen to know which North Jersy TJs sell wine? I know mine (Florham Park) doesn't.

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aside from TJ's in westfield, as unleash suggests, i'm tempted to consider this wine:

http://www.winerz.com/9cc_7124.html

not exactly the same, but at 64 bucks a case, it might be worth a try. same producer i think.

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It has become harder for me to find under $10 wines I like. It is not about the wine because the under $10.00 selection is growing and getting better. It's me, just getting older and fussier. Ha Ha.

Nevertheless.

These were not bad:

Droughin Laforet Bourgogne Chardonnay 9.99 at Gary's

Naia Verdejo 8.99 Most Places

Now I am inspired to find some other goodies on the cheap.

[bgut1]

I couldn't pass up a bottle of 2005 Vina Antigua Sangiovese Bonarda @ $5 a bottle. It had a card next to it proclaiming that RP gave it an 86 and calling it a "stunning value". Nothing complex but very drinkable and quite enjoyable as an everyday red. As Rachel Ray says "You can't beat that with a stick." Sorry.

[Jeff L]

I would add Smoking Loon Viognier to your list of whites. Although I'm not usually a white wine drinker, this is lovely for about 8 bucks at Canals in Lawrenceville.

[docsconz]

I'll second (or third) the recommendation on the Borsao. I recently bought some at Bottle King for $4.99/bottle with my BK card - tremendous value. A good rule of thumb for inexpensive, yet excellent Spanish wines is to look at the importer. If it is a Jorge Ordonez Selection and it is under $15, buy it! You won't go wrong. Eric Solomon is another excellent importer of great value Spanish wines - Bottle King and Carlo Russo have excellent selections of both.

[Jeff L]

I'll second (or third) the recommendation on the Borsao. I recently bought some at Bottle King for $4.99/bottle with my BK card - tremendous value. A good rule of thumb for inexpensive, yet excellent Spanish wines is to look at the importer. If it is a Jorge Ordonez Selection and it is under $15, buy it! You won't go wrong. Eric Solomon is another excellent importer of great value Spanish wines - Bottle King and Carlo Russo have excellent selections of both.

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Doc, which vintage did you pick up the 04 or 05? That is an amazing value at $4.99.

Edited February 4, 2007 by Jeff L (log)

[markk]

The Borsao is just not to my (screwy) taste (though I have serious wine friends who swear by it), but I heartily second the Altos Las Hormigas Malbec.

My contribution here is likely to evoke some strange reactions. It began with an article in the NY Times by Frank Prial in May '04 "WINE TALK; Raising a Glass to Affordability", in which he spoke of the $1.99 "Lost Vineyards" wines primarily available then at Astor in the city, and now widening.

My recommendation is the "Portuguese White" (The label says "White Table Wine" and then "Portugal") though I don't want to build it up too much (we buy car-loads full of it, honestly). It's well worth a taste. I like a wine that's got the profile of a Sauvignon Blanc, or something that tastes like a really nice white that you get in Italy along the seashore. This wine delivers a combination of very, very clean flavors, and a very enjoyable grape flavor (to me, anyway). I'm just afraid of building it up too much. But in blind tastings at our house, it beats the pants off all the other simple, quaffing whites. They bottle many other whites (Argentina, Italy, etc., ) but for grape-flavor reasons, I'm not crazy for those, and also a Portuguese Vinho Verde which I really don't like. There's also a very real incidence of corked bottles of the "Portuguese White" (though at $1.99 I don't care, as long as I have backups), so beware; if you're getting off-flavors, don't write it off as the price - it's a bad bottle. Try another. I've amazed people with this wine (and now I've built it up too much.)

Then we became addicted to their White Lambrusco from Italy. No, I don't drink White Zinfandel (hate it, hate it), but this wine's just not like that. Although you might want to wait a few more months to appreciate this one, it just tastes like "summer in a glass", and you might marvel at it. I don't know how they did it, or how to describe it. A beguiling wine, truly.

A lot of stores are carrying these now. I've been getting them at the Shop Rite Liquors of North Bergen, which has an entire wall stacked with cases of them, which I mention since everybody's citing sources. These wines do not keep from year to year, so getting them from a place with a good turnover is important. (I learned that one the hard way.)

[gia]

Meridian pinot noir

[Anonymouze]

Anyone have a "guide" or a way to find out what wines you'd like based upon your tastes - I know of the old "spoon of sugar" etc... any links? ideas?

I like some Rieslings but I really don't like dry wines at all I like off dry. Every supermarket in this state sells wine (some sell LOTS of variety) but there is a "Wine specialty store" at least in every other town.

My preference is something with a light fruit taste not TOO strong or too "thick" tasting with either chocolate or vanilla or woody undertones would be best.

We bought one from Trader Joe's and it wasn't half bad the other day... something moon or moon something. I've heard that 8 is good but unsure if i'd like it. We rarely drink wine but I'd love to have a nice glass once a month or on that special occasion.

[Marigene]

Any of Kelly's Revenge around $5 a bottle.

[jim07044]

Jacob's Creek Shiraz Reserve $10.99 to $14

(they make a non-reserve Shiraz for around $8 but its not as tasty; the reserve is smoother and fuller in body)

Peter: I believe wine tastes grow as you add experiences and knowledge. When I began drinking wine years ago, I started with $8-14 wines, but after time and a few experiences with some more expensive bottles, I started to gravitate upwards a little. Most of what I drink now is in the $15-$30 range, with the Jacob's Creek Shiraz Reserve as an everyday bottle. I find anything less than $15 usually tastes like grape juice to me now.

Maybe a guiding philosophy came from my father: "Life is too short to drink cheap wine."

[markk]

Peter: I believe wine tastes grow as you add experiences and knowledge. When I began drinking wine years ago, I started with $8-14 wines, but after time and a few experiences with some more expensive bottles, I started to gravitate upwards a little. Most of what I drink now is in the $15-$30 range,

I agree that wine tastes grow. Now I'm unable to enjoy anything I can afford. I wish (in one sense) that I'd had less great wine in my journey. Wouldn't have spoiled my tastebuds so. But that's not meant to be a pretentious comment, just a lament that after learning what really great wines taste like, sometimes it's hard to go back to what I can afford everyday. (I am more easily satisfied with an inexpensive red than white, though; I think that a lot of other factors in a red can make it enjoyable at the low end, but I don't think that there's anyway to give a lively acidity to a white wine that's lacking in it.)

But- do you not find in a lot of cases that today's $15-$30 dollar wines are simply last year's $8 wines which Parker has discovered and driven up the price of?

I think the mid-range is now a very strange area of wines (and I think it's really sad when these wines go through restaurant mark-up). I believe this is the reason people are seeking out the under $10 wines, and rightly so.

[jim07044]

There are so many brands of wines at stores today ... overwhelming for even experienced wine drinkers ... and especially at the $5-to-$15 range (I know a lot of people who buy wine by how "nice" the label looks) ... yes, we live in a heavily-advertising-and-marketing-influenced culture that constantly bombards our decision-making process, but with limited time and finances I'd like to think I've wisely used Wine Spectator's ratings as a general guide to discovering what I like to drink ... and, with the exception of their champagne ratings, I've found their recommendations to be very agreeable with my tastes ... but I'll also add that WS could be even a better resource if it hired a few people to taste and recommend nothing but $5-to-$15 wines (a decision that could invite a whole new demographic of readers, raising the magazine's profits and debunking the notion that enjoying WS recommendations is only for the rich and elite).

Re: restaurant markup

Whenever I fill-out one of those Zagat surveys, I make sure to always indicate my worst complaint about eating out is the markup of wine at restaurants. I'd be willing to pay a premium for convenience ... say 10-20% markup ... but how 100-200% (and even more sometimes!) became an industry standard is beyond me. Thank goodness I live in an area with plenty of BYOs.

Edited February 8, 2007 by jim07044 (log)

[Jeff L]

I just had a bottle of Liberty School the other night and it reminded me of how nice this little wine is. I used to drink a lot of it when I think Caymus produced it.

Can be had for $10 at Total Wine Cherry Hill according to wine access. Might even throw in a 10% discount for full cases.

[Beth E.]

I bought this as a gag gift for a friend's birthday -- but we really liked it.

Bitch Barossa Grenache -- I bought it at Wine Legend in Livingston and I think it was under $10 a bottle.

Edited March 4, 2007 by Beth E. (log)

[waves2ya]

Whoa - good thread; I'm feelin' woozy...

Will contribute at some point but seems there's a lot of good Jersey drinkin' to be done.

Thanks Peter...!

[meredithla]

I would add Smoking Loon Viognier to your list of whites. Although I'm not usually a white wine drinker, this is lovely for about 8 bucks at Canals in Lawrenceville.

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I second the Smoking Loon Viognier! Great to just sip with friends, with hors d'ouevres, etc.

[bgut1]

I would add Smoking Loon Viognier to your list of whites. Although I'm not usually a white wine drinker, this is lovely for about 8 bucks at Canals in Lawrenceville.

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I second the Smoking Loon Viognier! Great to just sip with friends, with hors d'ouevres, etc.

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Another vote for Henry's Pillar Box Red. A steal at $7.99 (in my case at Wine Library). I popped and poured (or should I say twisted and poured) the other night and was blown away by the quality of this wine. Great QPR. Enjoy.

[albie]

All of the Blackstone California appellation varietals, which in my neck of the woods are priced as low as $7.99

[Mommy Dearest]

Thanks everyone for all the posts.

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Delicato Merlot

[Oceangroveguy]

Given the beating the dollar has taken since this string began, I wonder how many of the wines are still under $10....

[PicnicChef]

Frequently on sale at Bottle King for $12ish, I think Simi makes a nice inexpensive chard.

But, like the rest of you...

Give me a 1986 Cos d'estournel anytime!

Having one next weekend!

YAH