if you don’t mind saying, which Total Wine is it? We could look online at their inventory (at least I think so). There should be some solid options in your price range for a cabernet that is varietally representative and of decent quality.
Or you could PM me if you’d rather.
If you were open to making an internet order (no different than ordering anything else online, except that an adult has to be present at the delivery to sign for it), this is an amazing bargain in classically-styled cabernet. Glenelly “Glass Series” Cabernet from South Africa.
This might be moderately to the other side of the stylistic spectrum compared to the wines you tried (that is to say, it’s not a down the middle style but a little more towards old world / old school style), but I don’t think it’s extreme.
There are various places you could order from, maybe depending on where you live. If it interests you, I can PM you a few places you could order. At $8-16 a bottle, paying some shipping still keeps it in your price range, and you can average down the shipping if you order a few bottles (either of this, or pick a couple others from that store).
Just to summarize what I’ve learned here in this discussion…
Yes, yes, yes and yes!
If you want to stay in budget, the less known / hyped regions can really deliver bang for the buck. And it’s definitely worth the effort to go beyond the Cab horizon!
Hi Erika, welcome to the wine journey, it’s a long and never ending one, but the good part is that you’ll be drinking wine all along during this trip.
I may suggest something that worked for me to break away from the conventional and really opened a new world of wine appreciation: Go to the extreme opposite of what you are drinking, try to get something like a Syrah from Cote-Rotie, which sometimes tends to be on the salty, dirty martini side of the spectrum, they are certainly expensive (I can see one for $70 at Total Wine), but worth trying at least once.
There’s also some fun and revealing wine tasting exercises that you may want to try, like getting 2 wines made out of the same grape, from the same country but from 2 different regions, let’s say a Grenache from Monsant or Priorat (Catalonia, Spain) compared with a Grenache from Avila (usually labeled as “Vinos de Madrid”), also from Spain.
Or you can even taste the contrast between 2 wines, made out of the same grape, in the same region, from the same country. For example, La Rioja Alta “Viña Alberdi” ($24 at Total Wine) and Lopez de Heredia “Viña Cubillo” ($35 at Total Wine), both Tempranillo from Rioja, Spain. The 2 wineries are literally across the street from each other, but the wines are 2 different animals.
Look at Washington cabs. They are definitely bigger and more tannic. Quicelda Creek is at the high end and takes a decade to be approachable, but there are many good choices at a reasonable prices.
Maybe so. This is what I know, and I am by no means an expert in EU law. I just didn’t want it to be over complicated because 4g/l is discernable to the taster. If I recall, Yellow Tail Shiraz has something like 8 g/l but some of the popular whites like Cupcake and Barefoot (don’t know if they’re available in the EU) are 10 g/l or more as are Caymus and Meiomi PN, and Apothic Red is even higher at 11 g/l. All of those are upsettingly sweet. Don’t know the acidity levels.
From the EU
Article 16
Indication of product type
(a) “sec”, “trocken”, “secco”, “asciuttto”, “dry”, “tør”, “ξηρός”, “seco”, “kuiva”, “droog” or “torrt”, on condition that the wine concerned has a residual sugar content not exceeding:
(i) 4 grams per litre; or
(ii) 9 grams per litre, provided that the total acidity expressed as grams of tartaric acid per litre is not more than 2 grams below the residual sugar content;
They are and their acidity hovers normally around 4,5 and 5,5 g/l, so they’d be automatically labeled as half-dry, not dry.
From the EU
(i) 4 grams per litre; or(ii) 9 grams per litre, provided that the total acidity expressed as grams of tartaric acid per litre is not more than 2 grams below the residual sugar content;
And this is exactly what I said - although I remembered it was 10 g/l and not 9 g/l. Nevertheless, with high enough acidity, a wine can be labeled as “dry”.
Quick follow-up here after a few days…
I’ve been browsing many value/QPR threads here with varying degrees of success. Hoping to use some of those recommendations although suggestions from the folks on this thread would be most welcome of course!
Had a special occasion and rather than go for our usual $15 fare from TW, I bought this:
I realize a $60 bottle of wine is definitely not anything to brag about in this forum but me it is a rare treat. The difference between that and the Michael David/Meiomi stuff was very real. The nose was a lovely mix of dried cranberries, Raisin, tobacco, and a touch of leather. Mouth feel was silky smooth and the tannins were present but smooth rather than the very aggressive ones on the young Carmen Cab I had recently.
It’s so interesting how paying 4x as much was a more sublime experience than the simple, more overt sugary sweet, low tannin combo I’d gotten out of those CA wines. Maybe it’s like comparing a big mac to a decent homemade steak…
That was a great choise and a great example of the value for the $ that the wines from Rioja can deliver.
Spain produces plenty of wines in the $20-$30 price range that are really good. You might not get a wine with 17 years of aging but they will offer plenty of enjoyment. Also, plenty of Cotes du Rhone available for $25.
Lots of good recommendations. I’ll just add one.
Sign up as a member at Davenport Cellars (https://www.davenportcellars.com). Costs nothing, there are no obligations, and they never automatically send you wine. What you do get is a few emails a year and 50% off case purchases. A case purchase sounds like a big commitment. And it can be, financially. But, buy a case of 2014 Mr. B - a Washington cab blend that a few of us have posted about here and on CellarTracker. It’ll run you $11/bottle and way over-deliver. I can’t imagine not liking it but, if you don’t, you can always gift bottles and not feel like you took a big loss. It really is great, though, and is ready to drink now. It’s the best wine value I’ve purchased in the last year or two.
I have no relationship to the winery at all. I’m just a happy customer who just purchased another case of this wine (#4) yesterday. They have less than 25 cases left, though, so it won’t be around a lot longer.
Thanks for the suggestions!
I definitely saw quite a few intriguing red wines from Rioja that looked to be in that $20-30 sweet spot which I plan to try soon.
Is Tondonia Reserva now $60 in the States? Yeesh.
I’ve been buying Tondonia Reserva for 20€ on this side of pond, although now the prices hover around 25€. And it wasn’t more than a couple of years ago when I could buy Tondonia Gran Reserva for 49€.
The wine is definitely worth the price even at $60, but it sounds quite steep for me.
That really depends on where you live but yes, the average price is around $50, if you buy a back vintage it could easily go to $60. I have the privilege of being able to buy directly from the distributor and I pay around $39, but nothing compared to Europe, the last time I went to Bilbao we paid €25 per bottle at a restaurant for a vertical of 2001/2004/2006. In the US that would probably have cost us $150 a bottle easily