Since Nate brought it up in the Dilemma Thread, lets throw some out for varying palates. I prefer fruit forward red wines. Two EDD’s off the top of my head:
09 O’Reilly’s Oregon Pinot Noir - You’d swear its a full bodied Russian River Pinot, about $17
07 Educated Guess Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, needs a few minutes to open up at about $18
Neither of these wines are expected to be cellared, they are for drink now, pop and pour.
What’s on your EDD list??
Pico Maccario Barbera- Classic Barbera which pairs with tons of different food. $13.
Scherrer OMV Zinfandel, any vintage, and Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine
Benziger and Alexander Valley Vineyards-feel very safe with these QPR’s. (under $20)
2008 McManis Petite Sirah $8-$10 depending on where you buy it.
Ed’s Red 2007
Kenwood 2007 Zinfandel
Sorrel Canyon 2005 Cabernet
Used to carry this stuff when it first came out. It was a definite EDD. The only problem we had was that the Syrah tasted like Cab, the Cab like Merlot, the Merlot like Pinot Noir and the Petite Sirah tasted like an outstanding Zinfandel. Need to revisit these wines again.
CDR. McManis, not so much.
My current is the NV Sherman & Hookers Shebang North Coast Red Wine
Columbia Crest is one of my safe QPR brands.
Muscadet, savennieres, vouvray, Jura, savoie, Beaujolais, simple bourgogne, kabinett, Alsace, Austria, base Nebbiolo, lagrein, Rioja crianza, rueda, mencia, albarino…
My potential sources of daily drinker type wines are many, and most are both ageworthy and contemplative. I can readily find worthy sub $20 wines from all the above disparate categories, at least for my tastes.
I had a wine catch me by surprise last week that would fall into this category. Foris 2007 Pinot Noir. $17 for an Oregon pinot that was really solid is fine by me.
Monte Mast
Last year I would have answered with the Columbia Crest H3 cab. The 2007 was great for the price point. But I recently picked up a bottle of the 08 at Costco and it was not nearly as good as the 2007. Rougher overall with less fruit.
I had the same issue with the Loius Martini Sonoma cab. The 2007 was a great everyday drinker. The 2008 was not even close.
The Merryvale Starmont cab is reliable in most years as something easy to pull from the cellar.
Give the H3 08 some time, they had to release it a bit early since the 07 blew through channels. Also 07 is a very fruit driven vintage and 08 is more structured and will take more time. This was only bottled in the last couple of months.
As to EDD’s it’s hard to say without bringing up wines we sell or represent, but all the Crios wines represent excellent values for ED IMO.
2007 Educated Guess (But I will stash a case away to see how they age)
2007 Cameron Hughes Napa offerings
2007 Newton Red Label Cab and Claret
2008 Dr L Riesling
looks like a costco shopping list!
louis martini sonoma or napa CS
if i can get at a good price, Chappellet Mtn Cuvee
With some friends, V.Sattui Gamay Rouge… they like the sweet stuff
Haven’t seen any Educated Guess at Costco yet.
I would also throw in the 2005 Domaine Carneros for every day bubbles.
Every year I buy a couple cases of “value wine” ($15+/-) to drink in a year or two and 2 mixed cases of David Caffaro futures plus what ever pops up this years are:
2007 Educated guess
2007 Domaine Jaume Côtes du Rhône
2006 Fontanafredda Piemonte Barbera Briccotondo
2006 David Coffaro Petite Sirah Dry Creek Valley
2007 David Coffaro Aca Modot
2007 David Coffaro Terre Melange
2008 David Coffaro Block 4
2008 David Coffaro Escuro
Sub-$10:
2007 Bogle Petite Sirah
2007 Nine North Wine Co Ten Mile Broken Road (zin/pets/carignane blend)
2009 Cline North Coast Viognier
Sub-$20:
2008 Bedrock Sonoma Coast Syrah
2007 Copain Syrah Tous Ensemble
2007 Cline Mourvedre Ancient Vines
2007 Beckman Cuvée le Bec
2006 Bogle Phantom
2007 Martini Cabernet
Palliser Pinot Noir
The ubiquitous Kim Crawford Sauv Blanc
Herman Story Grenache
Clos Siete Malbec
I love a good, cheap Barbera, but I don’t have a “go to” version.