Wine.

[Cristobal]

I drink about 2 ounces of wine daily for the health benefits. It must be a dark wine, and I am biased toward Cabernet Sauvignon grapes as the source. I have tried various exotic wines at times, even some Armenian pomegranite wine.

I wonder what your take is about the price of wine these days. I get ordinary dinner wine, vin ordinaire, vini typici, as some call it. Good wine now is INCREDIBLY cheap. I can find decent wine for $1.97 a bottle on sale, as at Trader Joe's the other day.

Considering inflated dollars, that price back when Ronald Reagan was President would have not bought the crudest bum wine for you. $12.00 will now get you wine that even kings could brag about a few hundred years ago.

I wonder what your take is as to why this has come about.

 

[Silk]

I depends on where you live...here anything under $10 is a cheap wine.$8.95 is about as low as they go.In my wine drinking days we used to pay .75 cents for a bottle of port,and $2 a flagon.

 

[Shannow]

When I was in Ca, there were bottles that sell here in Oz for $14-$15, that in Guyserville were selling for $5.

(Coopers Sparkling Ale was $18 over the road from my parents for a 6-pack, and $10-60c refunds in Guyserville.)

 

[tom slick]

Cheap wines from Calif. companies, such as Bronco, are cheap because they are made from cheap grapes on cheap ground, in huge quantities in Calif.'s San Joaquin Valley. The market now is such that there is a mass appeal to drinkable cheap wine so the cheap producers focus on making a drinkable cheap wine. I don't think there was as large of a wine drinking crowd back when Regan was POTUS.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I drink wine almost daily, and I'm part of a partnership that provides the venture capital for a local winery. Much of my spare time is spent on site lending a hand. The local wines sell for $10 to $25/bottle. My home wine cellar usually has around 300-400 bottles at any time.

Wine drinking has matured over the last 30 years or so, and the proliferation of smaller local wineries has made for some outstanding price competition and creative blending. In the 1980's I can only remember a very few local wineries in the entire state, now there are 10 within an hours drive.

I'm not fond of the fruity sweet wines, but rather the big reds, especially Italian and Latin varieties. There are indeed some extremely good inexpensive wines available today if you know where to look.

I recently picked up a few bottles of 2007 South African Makulu Iswithi Pinotage which has turned out to be an outstanding sub-$10 wine. One of the real joys of wine drinking is enjoying the result of a product that a vintner has spent years making and aging, not only from the United States but from countries all over the world, many that you'd never associate with wine making.

It's also important to note that there is a reason why some wines are expensive and some are not. If you ever have a glass of wine that's in the $100/bottle range you'll know the difference.

 

[Cristobal]

That is true, very expensive wine is in a league all its own. The thing is, very few people will ever consume anything more rare than 1975 Chateau Meyney, if that.

For regular wine consumed on a regular basis, I think the competition that you mentioned is what it is all about. Wines from South America, Europe, Australia, and now South Africa are all competing with one another for customers. Lower prices are the result.

 

[ryland]

best inexpensive wine is Columbia Crest two vines. Its about $5.99-$6.99 its a series so they have almost any grape vanriety you want.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: ryland
best inexpensive wine is Columbia Crest two vines.


"Best" is an extremely subjective term, especially when it comes to wine. While ok, I've found Columbia Crest 2 vines to be too strong on the oak and a bit thin elsewhere.

 

[sciphi]

There are lots of wineries competing for your dollars. I live an hour from one of NY's premier wine-making regions. There are scores of wineries I've never heard of popping up in the past few years. Most of them make very good wine. Some make excellent wine at incredibly low prices. When there are 20 wineries within 20 miles of you and approximately 50-70 within 100 miles, it's an incubator for good, inexpensive wine. Trying to stop at every single winery on just one side of one of the Finger Lakes will leave you hospitalized!

Stepping up to a $12-15 bottle of wine from a $6-10 bottle from around here is a large step up in quality.

 

[D189379]

I love wine. Don't see much around here under 10. I don't usually drink anything under 20 (usually 20-30), but there are a few sub-20 gems I like.

I guess it's difficult to gauge the price in a different country.

 

[Spazdog]

I used to be able to get what I felt was a top-quality Pinot Noir at a bargain price. Now granted, it was Chilean, but it was a really good Pinot Noir.

I told some people about it who apparently told some others who told some others.....they must have agreed because my wonderful $7.99 Pinot Noir is no longer $7.99

 

[HTSS_TR]

Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon at Trader Joe's is pretty good for $2.

 

[KurtJ]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon at Trader Joe's is pretty good for $2.


Ah, "two-buck Chuck". I've read about it but unfortunately never had access to taste it.

 

[Volvo_ST1]

Life is too short for cheap wine.

 

[CivicFan]

Mix 50/50 cheap 2-buck Chuck dry red wine with orange soda and you have a decent drink called kalimocho. That's probably the only way to down those wines.

 

[Volvo_ST1]

Either way, it's still better than pruno.

 

[greenaccord02]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan
Mix 50/50 cheap 2-buck Chuck dry red wine with orange soda and you have a decent drink called kalimocho. That's probably the only way to down those wines.


I'm going to have to try that... Sounds pretty good.

 

[ahoier]

I had some Moscato and it was delicious

Then I had some other dark red wine that was extremely "bitter" - it wasn't a "bottom shelf" nor a "top shelf" wine.....started with an "S" if I recall; Shiraz or something LOL. I got it simply because it "sounded" like it may taste good

Chardonnay was "OK"

Moscato is my most favorite, well, tied with Sangria

Based on my list here....what should I try next? Keep in mind, my typical retailer is Walmart lol....they actually got a fairly decent wine selection at my store.....

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: ahoier
Moscato is my most favorite, well, tied with Sangria

Based on my list here....what should I try next?

Apple juice.

 

[Shannow]

Family bought me a bottle of AC/DC Cab Sav for Father's Day on Sunday.

It was sooooo good with a Fillet Steak and Mushroom beef wellington on Sunday Night