Best Value Wine Region for Great Wine?

Hi everyone,

I was curious what you all would say is the best value region for truly high quality wine. I am interested in regions that offer wine as good as Burgundy or Bordeaux (maybe except for the very upper echelons) but without the insane prices we are seeing. As a bonus, are there any specific recommendations that you could offer within that region? Three that I’ve found;

  1. Greece has some real hidden gems. I recently had the 2013 Vaeni Naoussa Grande Reserve made from 100% Xinomavro. It cost $26 and was unbelievable; seriously no joke as good as many 1er cru red Burgundies. For whites I could recommend Argyros “Monsignori”- a wine made form 200+ yr old Assyrtiko vines. It isn’t cheap, but to me, the wine was so good that it was well worth the $60, which made it a great value.

  2. Dao- makes very impressive dry red wines. I have found a few with 30+ years of age on them that sell for less that $50 and taste wonderful, kind of like a cross between aged Bordeaux and Barolo. The varietals are sometimes indigenous and sometimes Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon especially).

  3. Willamette Valley for both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Some of these are getting really expensive, and some can be hit or miss. St. Innocent is a great producer that typically charges reasonable prices. I had a 1998 Chehalem Stoller Vineyard Pinot less than a year ago that was absolutely stellar and I paid less than $50 for it.

What do you all think?

It’s a great question, for me I’d highlight 3 regions I really like, though none have quite as much top tier wine as Burgundy / Bordeaux.

1.Loire Valley - tons of great Cab Francs here in the $20-40 range, and if you want really high quality options there is stuff from $50-300 that is outstanding. Sancerre isn’t cheap, but you can find great stuff in the $30-60 range (Vacheron, the Cotats, etc). Also love me some Chenin blanc, which is rarely >$50. Overall plenty of great bottles in the $20-30 range for both whites and reds.

  1. Rioja - entry level reds and Reservas are generally great QPRs in my book. The top tier stuff used to be a great bargain but has gotten more expensive unfortunately. That said this is still a great place to get $20-50 reds at great prices. White wines aren’t quite as varied as Burgundy or BDX but I like what I’ve had and the value is there.

  2. Mt. Etna - do not at all claim to be an expert here but have gotten some great bargains. The Terre Nere Etna Rosso had got to be one of the best $17-20 reds on the market.

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I think Washington has some of the best Quality/$ around. Some excellent wines in the under $60 including Syrahs from the Rocks and some very good wines in the $15-$30 range, particularly red blends. Sleight of Hand, Rasa, Va Piano, Gorman, many more. SoH and Rasa will have specials on their Conjuror and Occam’s Razor for < $20 which is just a steal.

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Germany

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[winner.gif]

(Second: Austria)

Germany, and by a wide margin.

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Places like Germany and the Loire are certainly leaders in this sort of category.

To a lesser extent there are famous regions where if you drop just below the top labels you can get some tremendous values. I’m thinking of things places like Chablis, Rioja, S Rhone and Sauternes/Barsac.

agree on Germany again, for quantity of great producers that make really good wine. but Rioja is also way up there, it would be #1 if it thought it had as many producers making good quality. Chianti Classico is also up there for me. I would say for top wines in the region there isnt a better deal, they are nowhere near the price of the top wines from the likes of Burgundy, Bordeaux, Piedmont, etc. (thinking Pergole Torte, Vigna del Sorbo, Rancia, Ceparello…)

Lots of 1er Cru Chablis fit the description.

Germany for sure, also lotta good value reds and whites from Italy and wd keep an eye on Portugal and Spain as well

Great inexpensive whites from Southern Italy and Sicily, Etna Rosso, Loire, Germany

Gigondas and the smaller appellations of Southern Rhône.

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I like Spain. They produce a lot of wine, so you may have to search for it. But Lopez and Cune Imperial I think are great values compared to the rest of the world. Plus, it’s already aged. Keep in mind that many Spanish winemaking techniques are patterned after the French winemakers that immigrated to Spain when Phylloxera hit France.

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How specific are we talking for “region?” Germany isn’t a “region” in my mind, it’s many different ones. Same thing for Spain, Portugal, or any other country. And in my mind, value is under $25 US. If you want true regions, then I would say Piedmont (even that is pretty large), Friuli, Alto-Adige, and Tuscany (except big name stuff). In France, there’s some areas of the Loire, Beaujolais, non-hot Rhone areas, and some Languedoc/Provence areas. Some producers in the US work, but I think that’s often more producer-specific than region specific, really.

That

I don’t think its even close.

now i want to know the german word for quality-to-price ratio

I thought they just called it riesling [snort.gif]

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This may be a contrarian view… but I think the best QPR high quality wine region is Bordeaux.

Depends on your price reference, but I have procured so many great bottles in the $40-60 range that few other regions can match.

I guess the Germany votes above certainly apply too, if that’s your palate.

“Preis-Leistungsverhältnis” (PLV).

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Germany.

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