Are there any wine aficionado's out there that can lend some advise for the holidays? I'm generally looking for some good value in the $10 - $15/bottle range. I usually keep both whites and reds around and may try a red zin this year.
I'm sure it's alot like recommending cigars. i.e. what are your tastes? I shoot for the drier red wines and I like the vanilla flavors in a chard. I lean toward Italian and Aussie reds and CA chards.

KV

for the money, in a red, especially if you like them oakey, you can't go wrong with Penfolds. The Koonunga Hill Shiraz/Cab from Penfolds is about 10 dollars. A little thin for my taste, but a great value. The more expensive Penfolds will be similar, but with fuller body. The William Hill Chards are a good value too. The Kenwood Sauvignon Blanc is very full of fruit, apricots, very tasty. The Alsatian whites are a great value also.

Try a zinfandel from Ravenswood. The most common is their Vinters' Blend, for around $8 a bottle. They have several others, (my favorite is San Giacomo) but they may be difficult to find, depending upon your area. For a chard you might try to find Arrow Wood. If there is a Trader Joes in your area, get your hands on the Charles Shaw they have for $2 a bottle. It's not Chateau Mouton Rothchilde, but for an every day wine you can't beat the deal. As a general rule, just about anything that is made from fruit grown in Napa or Sonoma counties will be good, and with the glut of fruit hitting the market, prices should be going down.

A wine we drink here in our circles. I have not gotten any complaints from anyone on is Luna di Luna the merlot/cab mix. For about $10 per bottle it is a great buy! The bottle is a plastic coated red with embossed lettering near the stem with black & gold oval label. all in all a nice and elegant looking bottle as well.

Anything from Wild Horse Vineyards.You can even order online from them.

http://www.wildhorsewinery.com/home.html 

http://www.wildhorsewinery.com/pdfs/pricelist.pdf 

My recommendation is, considering the time of year, George Duboeuf's Beaujolais Nouveau. (That's pronounced George Da-BOOF bo-ja-LEI new-VO). It's fun, it's flirty and it's not meant to be taken too seriously. It is a red that is on the dry side, but not as dry as a shiraz. Beringer also makes a beaujolais nouveau, but this California version, in my opinion, if far inferior to the French George Duboeuf version. Beaujolais Nouveau arrives just before Thanksgiving and you should drink it by Christmas. If you have a bottle after New Year's Day, just throw it out. This wine always makes it to my Thanksgiving table because the tannins are strong enough to cut through most of the seasoned dishes, yet light enough not to overpower the turkey. This is the wine I judge the year's vintage by for the French wines so that I have an idea what I have to look forward to. For some strange reason, it seems that the even numbered years have a tendency to be better than the odd numbered years. This year, being 2002, I am anticipating a pretty good wine. Last years was ok, but not necessarily terrific. 1995 was definitely worse.

I'm not sure of prices, but Alexander Valley makes a Sin Zin and a Cigar Zin that are both excellent. Also, you might try Beckman's Syrah. Another excellent wine. 1996 Chateauneuf du Pope (sp?). These wines go great w/ a cigar. Fonseca Bin 27 Porto is a great, inexpensive Port that complements a cigar nicely.

Try Ca' de Solo Big House Red out of California. Way to go if you are serving a big crowd. Around 9 to 10 bucks a bottle. Might try some of the reds out of South America, sometimes you can get some great deals on them.

Ravenswood & the 2002 Nouveau are both decent choices, but for great value track down Bogle Petit Syrah and/or Merlot. You also can't beat Coppola Diamond Claret for the grocery store price.

For about 7 bucks you can get a whole gallon of Gallo. It goes great with a nice Lone Wolf torp.
Enjoy

Sammy ... that'd sure be a step up for my non-discerning neighbor ... he's happy with wine in a box and a Centurion ...

I agree with JJ on the Wild Horse wines. Excellent. Just a few hors away from here.

BTW Kenwood is Gallo. If you like box wine, then any of the Gallo offshoots will make you happy. Kenwood, Turning Leaf etc.

This turkey day we had a Rayel Reserve Merlot (St Helena CA). Zaca Ridge Chardonnay (Santa Maria CA) and real good Fresno State Merlot (they have a great vintaculture program). None of these wines topped $12.
The first two were less than $10.

We had a Kendall Jackson Pinot Noir ... excellent wine, goes well with turkey ... also less than $10 per (on sale at Safeway) ... I'm spoiled by living near the heart of California wine country ... so many,. many choices, so many of them good ...

a 40 of Cisco does just fine......

Shoot me your email address. I got a great little PDF of $15 and under vines that are 'outstanding'.

ROSEMOUNT ESTATE SHIRAZ!!!! (Aussie wine at it's finest!)Approx $15.00
Also try: Delicato Shiraz (Calif wine) $8.00
**Both have gotten high marks in the "Snob Guides". I just really liked them.

Back after a fews days off in AZ. The Aussie Red wines are always a favorite and I keep a few bottles around all the time. I prefer the Wynn's and the Greg Normans are premium. I cracked open an Italian Pallazo del Torre that I picked up at Costco for around $11 and it was wonderful. The Italians and Aussie wines have great value. Any opinion on Caywood?

KV

Timinator, too quick with the send button. my email is: kenven0901 at aol dot com. Thanks for the PDF.
KV

Email Sent

Best bet is to ask a 49ers fan. They are experts at sipping of the wine & cutting of the cheese. Hehehe!! Mag