Thursday, February 25, 2010

Thrifty Thursday: My Cheap Wine Picks

I am not going to pretend to know anything about wine. I don't. I like to drink wine. But, pretty much just like the kind I like. I don't appreciate all varietals. I don't understand nuances. The way I describe wine is like, "that was too watery" "that was too sweet" "that was nice & full tasting..."

I like Sauvignon Blanc, but I never can taste the grapefruit or melon. I like Cab, but I don't ever taste the blackberries. It sort of just tastes like wine to me.

I found this list of wines under $10 which looks great. I've never tried any of the wines, nor have I ever heard of them. I would like to give some of them a try.

But, I don't make it to the-little-wine-shop-that- has-everything very often.

Here are my favorites that you can find at Nob Hill or Trader Joe's or Costco or wherever.

All these picks are under $10 & can be often found for around or under $5 if you get 'em on sale.



BV Coastal Estates
We like Cabernet, but other varietals are good, too.

and for a cheap pairing - we had this the other night with out Piroshkis & it was so good. It's also good with Tater Tots.

Barefoot
I never wanted to try this wine, cuz it kinda has a cheap look. And, it is cheap. So, I figured it was bad for sure. But, I tried it. And, it is good. They've won medals for just about all their varietals.
Again, we like the Cab & also the Savingnon Blanc.

Clos du Bois Chardonnay

Jekel Chardonnay

7 comments:

Nini said...

Ah...Markus and I love wine. We don't talk about the oakey taste or the cherry undertones...we just like wine. We consider ourselves to be 'cheap winos'. Ha ha! We rarely ever pay more than $6.99 for a bottle and if we do, we are high rollin'!

Some of our favorites are: Barefoot Zinfandel (SOOO GOOD!), Blackstone Merlot, La Finca Malbec, Beringer Merlot...We have a long list...I will spare you!

Krista said...

We love the Barefoot wines! So good!

I also like some wines that we found at Cost Plus, the Toad Hollow wines (http://www.toadhollow.com/available.asp) being one brand. Which if I remember correctly are about $5 a bottle and have been some of our all-time favorites!

On a related note, you guys should watch "Wine for the Confused- with John Cleese". It is a great documentary/explanation for those of us who don't know "wine talk". One of my favorite parts is where he gives a blind taste test and asks people to rate how expensive they think it is (from a $5/bottle-$100/bottle) and no one could actually pick out the cheap wine.

Erin said...

Barefoot Zinfandel is fantastic. One time, we had just splurged on a bottle of Cardinal Zin (Bonny Doon Winery) & we also had a bottle of the Barefoot. It was way better, in our opinion!
I like the Beringer wines, too.
And, I'll have to watch Wine for the Confused. We like John Cleese!

Melissa Joy said...

I usually buy our wine at Costco, and my mother usually buys wine at Cost Plus -- I will have to look for some of the wines you ladies have suggested.
And one of my friends just told me a few days ago that her favorite place to buy great wine (and cheese) is Grocery Outlet. She said she gets $11 bottles for $3. Pretty slick!

Brittany Martin said...

The list of wines under $10 is pretty good. I've had #1-3, #7-8 and #13. Hogue and Smoking Loon are pretty much always good. I've also recently enjoyed several Argentinian Malbecs from TJ's--all $5 or under.

Mary Anne said...

I just tried a bunch from Grocery Outlet with the goal of findind the most expensive wines I could for under $4. I got about 5 bottles that each retailed for over $30. They have all been some of the best!

Melissa Joy said...

I usually buy our wine at Costco, and my mother usually buys wine at Cost Plus -- I will have to look for some of the wines you ladies have suggested.
And one of my friends just told me a few days ago that her favorite place to buy great wine (and cheese) is Grocery Outlet. She said she gets $11 bottles for $3. Pretty slick!