Originally Posted by
lhrsfo
No. I've tried very many US wines over the years and only liked a handful, all at the most absurd price points - in the order of 3 to 10 times the price of wine of equivalent quality from elsewhere. Whether it's the $40 wine at the cheap end of a California wine list - almost undrinkable -, a $10 bottle from Costco - filthy when a similarly priced Italian wine is perfectly ok - or a $100 bottle from a Napa or Sonoma tasting room, where I'd prefer a $10 wine from the Languedoc, I just don't like them.
There are exceptions - Hanzell and Ridge (Santa Cruz Mountains) spring to mind but they're still triple the price of similar quality from elsewhere. Which of course is why they can't export the stuff.
While I would not agree with your characterization of American wines, we have had the wonderful experience of driving around France, Italy, and Switzerland and inevitably have enjoyed the house wines served on our lunch stops or for dinner. I am unable to say that I have ever enjoyed a house wine in an American restaurant (or airplane), although the house wine may or may not be American.