There are a few other red Zinfandel blends that are much nicer for the same general price. Cocobon and Apothic come to mind. I ran into a very good $5 wine the other day, Trader Joe's Sonoma coast Syrah.

2014 Trader Joe's Sonoma Coast Syrah

Cucumber and Tomato with homemade blood orange vinager and Greek olive oil dressing.
Grilled burgers with sautéd onions and mushrooms.
Steamed French green beans from the garden with brown butter.
Fresh from the garden red raspberrys with whipped cream.

And before you ask Frank, I did not milk the cow.

Excellent!

2013 Saint Francis old Vin Zinfandel, Sonoma.

California rolls.
Smoked Gouda cheese
Kale salad with Craisins and pine nuts, dressed with sour cream, white vinegar, and honey. My dad's honey.
Grilled chicken with sweet annie, and lavender.
Fresh red raspberrys drizzled with honey. Also, my dads.

Saint Francis makes some fine Zins. One of the best Zins I have ever had was their Pagani Vineyards. Bought every bottle I could find but sadly it's lone gone.

Supposedly Saint Francis still makes Pagani Ranch old vine Zinfandel, but I never see it. Ridge also makes Pagani Ranch old vine Zinfandel. I occasionally see that. I think Ridge owns the vineyard. They bought a number of old vine Zinfandel vineyards in the 70's shortly after Paul Draper took over.

Lot 63 Marietta Old Vine Red

14 Hands Stampede, red blend. Not bad and a little more robust than their Hot to Trot.

2015 Domaine de Pellehaut Harmonie de Gascogne Rose, Gascogny

2014, Gnarly Head old vine Zinfandel.

2015 Willamette Valley Vineyards Whole Cluster Pinot Noir

Very spicy and rich, paired well with artichokes, Mac n cheese and T Bones. Never had whole cluster before, interesting concept.

2014 Dry Creek Vineyard, Heritage Vines Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley.
Big, rich, blackberry fruit.

2015 Berenger Cabernet Savignon

Pretty mild for a Cab but I barely know anything about wine

2011 Haras de Pirque Hussonet is a cab suav from Chile. Couldn't believe the bottle only costs $10. A must try if you can find it.

Did some research and found a couple ratings. Suckling 95 and Parker 90.

Just finished off a bottle of 2000 Fonseca Vintage Port. Also had some really good Abacus (i.e. ZD Wines top Cab) at a party two weeks ago. Forgot the year but I know it was pretty close to it's peak. Thankfully, the host bought it. 🌫

Gloria Ferrer Pinot Noir 2012 from thr Carneros region

Strawberries and cherries but just slightly on the weak side for my tastes.

2 buck Chuck Cab Sav

Haven't had any Charles Shaw in a while and have had folks trying to teach me about wine, so thought I'd compare it to recent Cabs

Finished the 2 buck Chuck, not bad but definitely no complexity compared to a ten dollar or so bottle I had last weekend.

Bogle Pitite Syrah

Hard to beat this jammy wine for about $9.

2013 Cline Ancient Vines Carignane.