I’ve been perusing a lot of the threads here lately (some a few years old) discussing the virtues of “mid-priced cabs.” Most recommend Napa wineries that tend to have a good QPR reputation, such as Chappellel, Ridge, Round Pond, etc. However, now in 2020, most of these Napa wineries cabs are in the $60-75 range, and so starting to leave the affordable range for a regular weekday bottle (at least at my house.)
I’ve also seen some recommendations for several Washington cabs (or Bordeaux blends) that may be a better buy in the under $50 range - but when I go to a few of those highly regarded wineries’ sites, I see that they are often in the $50-60 range now too.
I don’t know much about NW wineries. I do like cabs, and red blends as well. At a price point of LESS than $50, which do you think are the best QPR - Napa/Sonoma cabs (doubt it), Washington/Oregon blends, non-Napa California cabs, etc?
True, most of the top Napa procedures Napa Valley Cabs have bumped up to $65+. Anderson’s Conn Valley sells theirs at <$40 and has been pretty tasty some years. The Frog’s Leap is very good but just topped the $50 mark.
There are so many good Cabs and cab/blends from Washington under $50. $40-$50 seems to be about the going rate unless it’s a more limited production vineyard. Ciel du Cheval, Red Mountain, Horse Heaven Hills AVAs from producers like Va Piano, Gramercy, Andrew Will, Spring Valley, Sleight of Hand, Kerloo, Tranche are all solid low 90s type wines.
The '16 Va Piano Red Mountain Cab is really tasty and they were selling it at $25 at one point.
There are still several Napa cabs that are value priced pine ridge, Clos du Val, William hill, and a lot of more moderate blends Joel gott, etc. Also, if there is a particular producer you like; you may want to see if a wine club or allocation may be provide a discount on 2-3 cases a year. Or even case discounts in the local wine shop. (Or you can buy more to stock up and cellar so that you are in essence price mitigating any increases in prices.) It may be a little more work; given the focus on value pricing - auctions may be worth a shot too.
Here are a few. It is hard to find good/great cabs under $50. If you are willing to hunt, you can find deals that bring a lot of those wines in the $75 range down under $50. Some of the best places are last bottle wines (especially marathons), wine.com with $100 off $300 discount codes (several threads with these going now), and Benchmark Wine bin sales.
I suggest looking into Cadence from WA. They are red blends of CS, CF, and merlot. Their entry level wine Coda is in the mid-$20 range. I think their Ciel du Cheval and Tapteil are less than $50. Their reserve blends, Bel Canto and Camarata are slightly more than $50. They age incredibly well and are terrific values IMHO.
Domaine Eden Cabernet at $35-40 (as opposed to their flagship Mount Eden State Cab which is in the $70+ range). This is of course a Santa Cruz cab and maybe not as lush as you might want from the avg. Napa cab.
Seven Hills Winery’s Columbia Valley Cab is a tremendous wine at $30 on the website (and it’s a 2015…nice to have a little bottle age). Another fine choice would be the Walla Walla Valley Cabernet from L’Ecole No. 41 at $39 from the winery site. Both are fantastic and fit your inquiry nicely.
I really like the Andrew Will wines, although a warning that they require time and definitely are traditionally styled. You can usually find some bottlings for around $50 (or less).