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Your favorite red wine under $12/bottle

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Your favorite red wine under $12/bottle

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Old Mar 15, 2015, 9:18 am
  #376  
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I've had excellent success with Trader Joe's Grand Reserve red wines (Meritage, Cabernet, Merlot) at the $12 price point, though not so much with their GR pinot noirs. But expecting anything much from a pinot noir at less than $100 a bottle has never been fulfilled IME.
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Old Mar 15, 2015, 12:48 pm
  #377  
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Our Costco has a small stock of Kirkland-branded Rioja Reserva right now for $6.99 a bottle, which is quite a deal for a wine which compares favorably to other Riojas they have carried for up to $20 or so.
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Old Mar 16, 2015, 7:34 am
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Originally Posted by exerda
Our Costco has a small stock of Kirkland-branded Rioja Reserva right now for $6.99 a bottle, which is quite a deal for a wine which compares favorably to other Riojas they have carried for up to $20 or so.
Respectfully disagree on this one. I saw that 2009 Rioja the other day, and for $7 figured it couldn't hurt to try a bottle or two. Unfortunately, I found it barely drinkable, with little resemblance to a decent Rioja at all, let alone a Reserva. I'm actually taking the second bottle back for a refund.

Parker's vintage chart gave the 2009 Riojas a 92 but said they are tannic. I was hopeful that an inexpensive wine coming from a great vintage would be worth a shot, but if I put this down for a year or so I doubt the fruit would outlast the tannins. I'd be very interested to hear from anyone else who has tried the wine--we may have gotten a bad bottle or a bad shipment at the Northern Virginia store where I bought it. Exerda, I got mine at the West Ox Road store, where they had a fairly large supply. You?

OTOH, the H3 (Horse Heaven Hills) Merlot from Columbia Crest at around $12 a bottle has been our go-to wine for the past several months. Highly recommended. The Cab is about a buck less and also a nice bottle of wine.
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Old Mar 16, 2015, 8:21 am
  #379  
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I'm partial to Shiraz; Little Penguin from Australia @$9.99 for 1.5 L (relatively speaking) is pretty good. [Ditto for Yellow Tail, though not quite as good.]
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Old Mar 16, 2015, 11:01 am
  #380  
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Originally Posted by MaxBuck
I've had excellent success with Trader Joe's Grand Reserve red wines (Meritage, Cabernet, Merlot) at the $12 price point, though not so much with their GR pinot noirs. But expecting anything much from a pinot noir at less than $100 a bottle has never been fulfilled IME.
I agree with this - but I find their White Label Reserves at the $10 price point to be just as good, but normally less fashionable varietals than Cab, Meritage and Merlot.

Try the current GSM from Paso, and the Syrah from Mendocino - both very nice $10 bottles.
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Old Mar 16, 2015, 1:51 pm
  #381  
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Originally Posted by nrr
I'm partial to Shiraz; Little Penguin from Australia @$9.99 for 1.5 L (relatively speaking) is pretty good. [Ditto for Yellow Tail, though not quite as good.]
We've not been able to find the Little Penguin since moving to Florida. Their Merlot was Mrs BamaVol's favorite cheap wine back in Tennessee.
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Old Mar 17, 2015, 8:53 pm
  #382  
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Originally Posted by lhgreengrd1
I agree with this - but I find their White Label Reserves at the $10 price point to be just as good, but normally less fashionable varietals than Cab, Meritage and Merlot.

Try the current GSM from Paso, and the Syrah from Mendocino - both very nice $10 bottles.
We haven't yet seen the GSM; I'll keep my eyes open for it. Thanks!

We're lucky to have an excellent big-box retailer here in Ohio (Anderson's) who operate a huge wine department with outstanding service. Consequently we've had the chance to buy remainder gems like Deep Sea Red Wine and Canyon Road Syrah for less than $20 a bottle - and they're (like Terri Hatcher's rack) both real and spectacular.

(Sorry about that potentially offensive analogy, but it's one of my all-time favorite sitcom lines.)
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Old Mar 18, 2015, 10:51 pm
  #383  
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Originally Posted by MaxBuck
We haven't yet seen the GSM; I'll keep my eyes open for it. Thanks!

We're lucky to have an excellent big-box retailer here in Ohio (Anderson's) who operate a huge wine department with outstanding service. Consequently we've had the chance to buy remainder gems like Deep Sea Red Wine and Canyon Road Syrah for less than $20 a bottle - and they're (like Terri Hatcher's rack) both real and spectacular.

(Sorry about that potentially offensive analogy, but it's one of my all-time favorite sitcom lines.)
I erred on the current GSM - it's from Sonoma, not Paso. Another good Trader Joes White Label reserve presently available is the MCS (Merlot Cab Syrah) from Columbia, Washington. Very comparable to the H3 Meritage from the same area.
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Old Mar 27, 2015, 12:53 pm
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Columbia Crest H3 Cab and H3 Red Blend are far and away the best ~$9 bottles of wine I have ever had (currently $9 at my local Costco).
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Old Mar 28, 2015, 6:07 am
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Originally Posted by andyh64000
Columbia Crest H3 Cab and H3 Red Blend are far and away the best ~$9 bottles of wine I have ever had (currently $9 at my local Costco).
Is that a sale price? Generally these go around $11-$12, even at Costco in the DC area. At $9 that's an absolute steal for wines of that quality. Be sure to try the Merlot if you can find it, which I think is even better than the Cab or the Blend.
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Old Mar 28, 2015, 7:08 am
  #386  
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Originally Posted by RBirns
Been drinking some Gato Negro cabernet-merlot blend lately. Surprisingly good, embarrassingly cheap. Around $5 a bottle, or around $12 for a 3L box (equiv. 4 bottles). Dry, good body, surprising character. Better than many $10 wines. Trust me. I usually can't stand ultra-cheap wines, but this one is different. You would never guess it's so cheap.
I also like Gato Negro, but man, has it left me with a hangover. My wife and I usually split a bottle over dinner.

We've been drinking Beronia as our "case wine" for the past six months. Smooth and no hangover, at least for us. It's available in Europe for around $7/bottle. My last few transcons with Lufthansa had that as one of the main reds as well.
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Old Apr 8, 2015, 5:18 pm
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Originally Posted by bob12403
Is that a sale price? Generally these go around $11-$12, even at Costco in the DC area. At $9 that's an absolute steal for wines of that quality. Be sure to try the Merlot if you can find it, which I think is even better than the Cab or the Blend.
That was the regular price...maybe they got a home state discount for my Costco but I don't think they work like that.

I will check out the Merlot.
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Old Apr 8, 2015, 7:58 pm
  #388  
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Originally Posted by andyh64000
That was the regular price...maybe they got a home state discount for my Costco but I don't think they work like that.

I will check out the Merlot.
Actually, my Costco was running that deal as well last month on the Columbia Crest H3 wines, but it was a $2.50/bottle discount off of the regular price. I believe that they were normally $11.49, knocked down to $8.99
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Old Sep 10, 2015, 4:55 pm
  #389  
 
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$2 check at trader joes!
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Old Sep 10, 2015, 6:19 pm
  #390  
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Castore Malbec, La Rioja
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