$10 Wine Finds ???

Can anyone recommend (use that term loosely) any <$10 wine and where you bought it. Last one I had that was acceptable was a Caldora Montepulciano d'Abbruzzo from Costco. Cheers!!!

FWIW, $14 is the new $10.... The Dollar had taken a few hits in the last few years....

Are you serving wine with dinner or drinking for cocktails? How tolerant are you of oak smells and tastes in wine?
Earth and mineral or Fruit and softness?

$14 would have to be for special occasions. Looking more for everyday dinner wine. Our standards are pretty low, but usually like lighter, but not too fruity wine. Not fussy about variety either. There seems to be quite a few wines (both domestic and imported) under $10 that are not called Almaden.

If you are looking for a white, Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc at Costco - <$10.

Luzon Verde monastrell (mourvedre) is $7.99 at Binny's and quite tasty. There is another Luzon monastrell (also quite good) for $6.99 (also at Binny's). The Altos Los Hormigas Malbec is also consistently good and currently 9.99 at Binny's. The 2005 Castano Hecula (old vine) is very good for $9.99 and the "regular" monastrell is quite tasty for $7.99 (also at Binny's).

I'll try to come up with a few more. These wines are fairly large production and are probably available elsewhere. Is there something in particular that is of interest? Red or white? Varietal?

mhill95149 wrote:FWIW, $14 is the new $10.

And $10 is the new $6!

An old thread, but still surprisingly relevant.

For reds, just go to wine discount center and buy a bottle of any spanish or Rhone wines that are in your price range and try them. Go back and buy a case of the ones that you like. There are still quite a few Spanish ones around under $10, and there are usually some of the French ones too, but if you are willing to go to $12, there are a lot more.

-Will

Always in the $9.99 range from Dominick's to Sam's, Monkey Bay sauvignon blanc. I agree with the malbec selections too, hard to get a bad one.

Back in the day Cotes du Rhone was where to look, along with some Chianti. Now, many of those Cotes are pushing $20, even $30. I believe there is still reliable mass market Chianti that would meet your self-advertised low standards.
I agree completely with the recs. for the Malbec (in fact that's a whole other ripe area for well made under-$10 investigation), as well as the Luzon. Another spanish bargain is Protocolo. Completely fits the bill for an every day wine. It's gone up a buck or 2 over the years, but still under $10, I believe.
I also had a Rhone-ish wine from CA called "Pastiche" a couple of years ago which I enjoyed and was about $8 at the time.

I like Hirschbach & Shoen Riesling, which I think was about $7.99 when I bought it last at

Schaefer's
9965 Gross Pt. Rd
Skokie

Trader Joe's has some awesome Rieslings and other wines for under $10. I go there every time I need a cheap but tasty wine!

I recently enjoyed a $2.99 Winking Owl Cabernet from.........Aldi's!

Dignus 2003 Navarra, purchased at WDC. Deep purple color. Big black pepper is first hit, and then plenty of dark red fruit and chocolate taste. A drinkable yet complex wine for this price range. Not much left, and if you don't beat me to my next WDC visit, I will have bought it out.

50% tempranillo, 25% merlot, 25% cab

Trapiche Malbec Mendoza 2005 $8.99 at Sam's. This was a really nice wine. The Norton Malbec 2007, I think a dollar cheaper, also very nice.

I love love love Cline Zinfandel, available at Trader Joes for $8.99 and Bogle Petite Syrah, usually only at Costplus or Sam's, for $9.99

Lush on Roscoe has $10 bins for reds and whites-I've never been disappointed by any choice.

I received a text coupon from Sams yesterday, everything in store is 15% off 10-25-08, all locations. I usually go in and ask to talk to one of the wine specialists. They are always more than happy to walk me through the store. I tell them my price range and taste and they always have all kinds of suggestions. There are lots of good buys on Spanish wines (more bang for the buck than some other places), but they can help you search by country, price, etc. I'm a sucker for great service and I've been impressed with the level of expertise and assistance I receive (Downers Grove location).

Update: called today, 10-24,regarding purchasing wines for a work function and was told that they in addition to sale mentioned above, Sams is also giving coupons tomorrow for 10% off purchase in December. Just wanted to share that bit of holiday cheer.

Have been going to Trader Joes lately and found lots of acceptable $10 wine. Gaetano d Aquino Chianti and a Salneval Albarino were very good. Some California Chardonnays (Napa River and Santa Barbara Landing were also pretty good.

An old standby available at Trader Joe's for about $9.99:

2006 d'Arenberg "The Stump Jump"
46% Grenache, 34% Shiraz and 20% Mourvedre
McLaren Vale, Australia

It's fruity upfront and has a slightly peppery and smokey finish. Perfect for colder weather.

I also highly recommend the Santa Julia Torrontes, available at Sam's when you can get it, for about $7.99. Torrontes is a slighty funky white grape from Argentina which I think goes really well with the mixed flavors of Thai food.

aschie30 wrote:An old standby available at Trader Joe's for about $9.99:

2006 d'Arenberg "The Stump Jump"
46% Grenache, 34% Shiraz and 20% Mourvedre
McLaren Vale, Australia

Just finished off a bottle of Stump Jump with Mrs. WAK and will concur that this is quite a find. Thanks Ashie.

Bill

wak wrote:

aschie30 wrote:An old standby available at Trader Joe's for about $9.99:

2006 d'Arenberg "The Stump Jump"
46% Grenache, 34% Shiraz and 20% Mourvedre
McLaren Vale, Australia

Just finished off a bottle of Stump Jump with Mrs. WAK and will concur that this is quite a find. Thanks Ashie.

Bill

Wak: Glad you enjoyed it!

annak wrote: . . . Bogle Petite Syrah, usually only at Costplus or Sam's, for $9.99

Kennyz wrote:Dignus 2003 Navarra, purchased at WDC. Deep purple color. Big black pepper is first hit, and then plenty of dark red fruit and chocolate taste. A drinkable yet complex wine for this price range.

I recently purchased and consumed both the Bogle Petite Syrah and the Dignus Tempranillo/Cab/Merlot blend. Both are fantastic wines at that price point, which was $11.99 at Sam's. Both are smooth and complex. Good drinking reds.

Our local Binny's (Mt. Prospect ) has a section where employees display current favorites and I've been having good luck there ... just bought my 2nd case of 2005 Columbia Crest Two Vines - "Vineyard 10" - an everyday red for $8.

Costco had a Modavi Merlot that my wife and I like for a table wine at 9.69 for a 1.5 liter. Not sure of the size but it is the size up from a standard bottle

TJ's Black Mountain Pinot Noir - $7.99

Also liked the TJ Black Mountain Chardonnay. Also tried a Whole Foods French Syrah/Cab (JP Chenet) in a 3L box ($16). Good enough for everyday use.

Correction, the JP Chenet was from Jewel Osco. Still good enough for daily use.

This, and several related forums have been very helpful so I thought I should share some recent finds.

I just opened a Andeluna Malbec Reserve 2004 (Argentina) that I bought from Joe Caputo & Sons in Algonquin. I hope they have this at their other stores because at $7.99 a bottle, it's a good buy in my opinion. It might be a little more dry than most Malbec wines that I am used to (or it could be that I drink too much Carmenerie), but very good. It reminds me of a good Cabernet Sauvingnon but a little deeper, if that makes sense.

Another wine that I cannot get enough of is the Santa Alicia Reserve Carmenere 2005 which I find at Woodmans way out here in Carpentersville. Sorry for the Chicago people (I lived in the city for many years) but Woodmans seems to blow away any Chicago liquor mega-store (Sam's) or mega-chain (Binny's) on prices. Their selection is excellent in terms of both micro-brew beers and wines. But to stop the advertisement (I do not work for Woodmans), this Carmenere is a great representation of the grape. Much softer than a Cabernet, but certainly a "big red" wine and very open to quaffing with or without food.

The last one I will mention in this post (although I could go on and on for wines under the $10.00 mark) is the Penfolds Koonuga Hill Shiraz 2005 that was on sale at Trader Joes. I think this might be gone or moved into a hard to find shelf, but for awhile it was something like $6.99 or maybe $7.99 at TJs ( I bought a case, which is rare for me). At any price below $10.00 this is a great find if you like a good Australian Shiraz.

As you can tell, I like big reds. I just found this forum recently and have found great ideas many times. I hope some of you can find these wines and enjoy them as I have and I look forward to many more posts along these lines.

Thanks for the recommendations, particularly the TJ's. They are most convenient for us and they seem to have a good selection in our price range. Maybe I'll start a thread here for just TJ's.

It's a merlot that drinks like a cab - "Genesis" by Hogue. Found it for $10.80 per bottle in Ft. Myers, FL last week and then my local purveyor scored me two cases at $11.66 in central Illinois. I didn't want to like this wine but I do. Very inky like a cab, nearly as full bodied and with very nearly the finish I've come to expect in the $25 cab range.

Davooda

Found a 2005 Carmenere by Carmen on sale for $4.99 at Teddy's ( NW Burbs )

Worth twice the price and still would be appropriate for this thread !

gp