Posted on 07/25/2012 4:34:22 PM PDT by nickcarraway
WHAT’S the right price for a bottle of wine? Silly question, I know. All sorts of prices are right, depending on the quality of the wine, the scarcity, the demand and other economic, social and psychological imperatives.
Strictly speaking, a wine can be a great value at $10 or $200, though for most of us, a steal at $200 is small consolation, like a $5 million apartment deemed an excellent deal because its price has dropped by half.
Beyond the realm of the theoretical, though, there are wine bull’s-eyes where high values intersect with low prices. On the low end, that sweet spot ranges from $15 to $25; practically speaking, let’s call it $20.
Now I admit: $20 a bottle is not cheap. For that price, you could buy 10 bottles of Two-Buck Chuck, headaches no extra charge! For a little more (say, $10 a bottle), you can find wine that is perfectly palatable. But is palatable good enough?
Not for me. I want wine that excites me, that feels so good to drink that one sip urges on the next and the next after that. I want a wine that tells a story of a place and a people and a culture, that is not the predictable equivalent of a franchise restaurant but more like a little mom-and-pop’s, where you’re not always sure what you’ll find but you know it can have the capacity to inspire.
You might be able to find a bottle like that for $10. But it’s rarer than you think. At $15 to $25, though, the odds swing decidedly in your favor. With a little experience, you can find dozens of joyous bottles, plucked carefully from the ranks of the routine.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The minimum price of wine is a drink that doesn’t taste bad.
In experiment after experiment, wine “experts” were unable to tell expensive, fine wines from “almost” bottom of the barrel wines.
They also discovered that most personal label and type taste in wine is based on associations that drinker has with that wine. That is, the food he drank it with, his company, and whether he was enjoying himself at the time or not.
Of course, some wines are so distinct, like heavy, sweet port wines, that they are hard to miss. Likewise, it’s pretty easy to spot “damaged” wines that have a bruised or vinegar taste, from improper storage or travel.
And travel is very important to taste. Wine at the winery where it is produced will almost always been better than after it has been trucked a few hundred miles.
all i drink are local wines and to me, Shalestone is as good as it gets around here
http://www.shalestonevineyards.com/wines
Merlot - 2008 $22
Pinot Noir - 2010 $24
all they make are reds cause like Rob says, why make wine you don’t like? so no whites
Yep that’s it. rofl
I've tried some very expensive wines but I find that the point of diminishing returns occurs around the $40 pricepoint. The difference between a $40 and a $200 bottle of wine is not that noticeable to me. But once you get below $15, it's pretty much undrinkable.
"... Thirty twice." That's $0.60, not $60.00...
(from the vintage advertising ditty of an Ernest & Julio fortified vintage offering.)
We like J Lohr also. One of our mainstay’s is Dynamite Cabernet. Its about $12 in the grocery but we found a wine shop where we get it for $10. It has a good oak finish.
You need to find a better retailer. I think it’s around $12 at Total Wine.
At $20 you should be into Sonoma Cutrer, if you like the KJ style of chardonnay. Further on up the food chain try Rombauer or Mer Soleil.
There happens to be a bottle of that sitting on the bar right now here at the beach condo we’re in this week in FL. I love going into TJs and buying a bunch of stuff in the $5-$12 range, trying to find something that punches above its weight cost-wise.
We do have a Trader Joes here in our area. We drink the two buck chuck and we used to get a cab called Bears Lair for about $5.99 that was really tasty. Have not seen it recently. We will look for that Pinot Noir.
I usually try not to buy a wine with a fancy label,...odds of a good hit seem to be less with the fancier marketing.
Mendoza Melboc Sensual though is a decent buy,..argentinian
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