Two Buck Chuck is one thing, but the $10-15 Trader Joes stuff is another matter entirely - some of those wines equal in quality to stuff selling under name brands for 3-4x that price. I personally know of several of the sources for some of their stuff, including an estate reserve Pinot from Carneros Creek Winery that used to sell under that winery's label for $50 a bottle, and some Mazocco Meritage that was originally a $40 Alexander Valley wine.

One of the best wine bargains I ever had was a 2007 Rutherford Meritage under Trader Joes label that they sold last year for $10 a bottle, and it was EASILY worth $50. I threw it into several blind tastings as a ringer and it always finished near the top amongst $30-$80 wines. After I tried it, I bought a case of it, and I would have bought much more if it had been structured for cellar ageing, but it was a near term drinker.

BTW, the wine glut also has salutory affect on Two Buck Chuck, as the quality of the grape juice they get presently is more akin to what sells elsewhere for $6-9 a bottle. It didn't used to be - it used to be that it took great blending skills to make Two Buck Chuck even drinkable. That is much easier for them to accomplish now, with the caliber of bulk wine available to them on the open market.

Like I said, I heard that TJs used to get stuff like this and was excited about it, but right now, their top of the line Reserve Cab is a comparable to a Bogle. It really isn't that good in reality.

In theory, your posts make a lot of sense and get me all excited about them, but buying the wine...nope... not anymore.

I really wish it was otherwise.

Always drink whatever you like and don't worry about the people pontificating. You should drink what you enjoy like some people prefer crisp and others like buttery.

We had the same problem. When we got to about $50/night we decided that maybe it was time to scale back. Now we try to look for sales and buy in bulk.

Perhaps you have a place nearby that stocks value imports. I've got a place in my 'hood that has probably 1/3 or more of its inventory at $10 or under - mostly French and Spanish, with a bit of Italian, Portugal and Chile, Argentina. Just got a few bottles of a very good Bourgogne Blanc for $13/btl. I'm sure (to the OP) in Brooklyn, you can add a couple of bucks per bottle, but maybe there's a small merchant like this. Most of what I buy at this place is $10 and under ($6.99 is the floor there) and at worst, I get a "meh, but not offensive." At best, I buy a $7 bottle and go back right away to buy a case.

I don't buy too many domestic bargains, because well, they tend to be worth what you pay for them, or less.

We buy a lot of J Lohr Seven Oaks Cab for $11-12 at Total Wine. My wife and edler son love it more than I do.
http://jlohr.com/wines/estates/Seven-Oaks-Cabernet_2010

I like the Kirkland Alexander Valley Cab from Costco for $9. Trader Joe's can be hit or miss. A lot of the stuff I like are one-time special purchases that are gone by the time I get back to the store.

I try to keep my everyday wine price point under $9. I can usually find enough stuff out there to keep me happy. Let the glut continue!

So true brooklynmatt. Personally, I'm so sick of hearing people who know next to nothing (but think they know much) wax on about "how good" TJ wine is. For God's sake, 90% of it is sh**te. On occasion I have had a bottle that was ok.

But as said before, if you like it, go for it.

Two from my adopted country, just for you:

Marques de Caceres 2007 Rioja (14.99)
Yllera 2005 Rioja (15.99)

a friend of mine who chases cheap oakie chards likes j lohr, bogle and wente. i have had some j lohr and thought it a quite decent $10 chard.

Thanks for this, I have thought for some time that I should be branching out more into imports.

What would you recommend for bold (often Cabernet) type reds from overseas-to date I have enjoyed Tempranillo, Rioja, not done so well with France yet as I tried several cheaper Bordeaux but they didn't hit the right notes...

And I had an excellent Sangiovese the other day when the restaurant I was eating at didn't have a Montepulciano.

Any other ones that I should look at?

Yeah - I am confident that Chards can be found at 10 the Cupcake was a great one, and I have enjoyed Hobnob at AA lounge in Ohare too...

- will check out the J Lohr one... it is the Cabs that are harder to find at lower prices.

Thanks for the comments guys, especially with names that you have tried and enjoyed, will certainly be looking them up.

The news covering the worlds most expensive wine a bottle for $168,000 (of which only 12 were made).

One of the stories about it

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/20...xpensive-wine/

talks about how price is connected to taste for some people

Research shows that people’s enjoyment of wine is influenced by how much it costs. According to Caltech neuro-economist Antonio Rangel, who has studied this, “When people drank the same wine, but they believed it was a more expensive wine, areas of the brain that are associated with encoding pleasure were more active.”

Rangel and colleagues scanned people in a functional MRI machine while they tasted Cabernet Sauvignons that were marked higher or lower than their actual retail price. Tasters reported liking the exact same wine better when they thought it cost more than they did when it had been marked down, and their brains followed suit: The orbitofrontal cortex, a part of their brains associated with experiencing pleasure, was more active when they thought the wine was costlier.

dot dot dot

Interestingly, when Rangel’s team conducted blind tastings (without providing prices) with people who weren’t connoisseurs, they reported liking the cheapest wines the most. When the researchers did this with people from the Stanford wine club, they found the same thing. “I suspect though that if you go to sommeliers – people with very educated palates – the illusion breaks down,” Rangel said

Go to Costco.. get some Chateau st Michelle, indian wells cab.. i think they're 14 bucks.. pretty good for the money.

IMHO, Columbia Crest H3 (Horse Heaven Hills) Cabernet is better, and slightly cheaper (usually under $12) from the same area.