I agree with Rhône blends and Zin. I would give the edge to Rhônes if weighting quality more and Zins if weighting price.
AG’s annual report- Turnbull Napa cab was his best value under $50 in 2019.
Ridge Monte Bello
I voted for Rhône’s. While the Zins are good, they don’t stand out like some of the better Rhône producers. When I can buy an unbelievable $30-$40 Syrah, that strikes me as a great deal compared to a nice Zin at $20-$30.
Zin.
As for sparklers, I’m with Michael Powers on this and would choose options from the Loire and a few other European regions over CA at the lower price points, and then Champagne at higher prices.
I have to agree with this. And that’s why I continue to buy it on futures. My only winery list.
Carignan
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Agree with the Rhone votes, although I understand the sparkling wine fans. But it just seems to me, no matter how meticulous the process, that CA sparkling just does not quite capture the essence of a good Champagne. It is good, and if the tariffs outlast my ability to drink up a hoarded stock of Champagne, that is likely the natural substitute. (Assuming Loire and Cava is under the same 100% tariff structures).
Wonder why it is that the bubblies just don’t get to quite the same heights that a decent Champers can reach? Obviously climate is different. Perhaps the next overlooked source would be the limestone terroirs of Ontario. They just produce too little at this point to matter much in the wide wine world.
I didn’t see Ridge Monte Bello posted on the poll. If it had been I would have voted for Mount EDEN or Simi Reserve
I can’t vote for any particular variety. There are specific wines I drink, from specific producers, that I think are tremendous value. But that term can’t be applied to any general category, IMO. Zin is one possible exception, just because it’s the variety most “native” to the U.S., produced in quantity, and there are numerous excellent examples at very fair prices.
Exactly. The premise makes no sense to me. You can find more better values off the beaten path, but it still comes down to producer.
I was ignoring tariffs. Time will tell how much that changes things.
Agree about single varietal wines vs. blends. I was thinking of CA Syrah vs. Côte Rôtie when I posted. There are too many really good $15-25 Côtes du Rhônes for CA to win best value honors for Rhône variety blends.
That was the first thing that came to my mind.
I voted Zin. I rarely drink it, but with stuff like zesty bbq, it does well. Cal Zin is my favorite origin of the variety, and there are good examples at reasonable price as compared to other varieties.
I actually think there is value in Cal Cab. It is priced higher than a lot of other varieties and origins, but I think it reaches a pinnacle that can make it worthwhile.
If I had to pick a couple of single wines that I think are excellent value wines, I find Pine Ridge Chenin-Viognier to be really satisfactory in certain settings at $10, and also like the value sparklers from Gloria Ferrer and a few others.
If we’re naming individual wines, Jaffurs Santa Barbara County Syrah, year in, year out. $22 ish.
Ridge Geyserville is towards the tops for me. Myriad, Rivers-Marie and Becklyn Napa cabs for Cabernet.
If you know what you are doing you can find values in every category.
Bingo for me. To make this thread more useful, one would almost need to list the varieties they drink and of those which have the greatest “value”. Unfortunately price plays the largest role and there is a reason some varieties, like Zin, are priced lower on average. On average there are less people wanting to pay top dollar for them - on average mind you.
For me I think access plays a large role in opinions. When you think of value you think of “what can I purchase on a whim and drink that night and be relatively satisfied with?” and that tends to be a producer like Ridge, which can be found at most retailers. That’s not to say I don’t love me some Geyserville!
I’ll state the best value to me is one of my favorite producers selling Pinot Noir at restaurant/close out prices during the quarantine. However that value may never be realized by the consumer again, or not for another 10 years, and is not really useful for anyone wanting to explore good wine at an inexpensive price.
Maybe the best advice would be to continue exploring producers, varieties and regions but only those within your budget and buy what makes you happy after you figure out what you like most? Drinking really fancy wines outside of my budget from time to time really starts to create an ever escalating expectation in taste and leaves me unsatisfied when I do not enjoy my $80 bottle.
I totally agree with your picks - I lay down a bunch of these every year and I have not been disappointed yet! I will sometimes splurge on a few bottles of L’Ermitage or a frenchy Roederer, but very seldom because of the perceived value of the Cali Sparklers. I also get a lot more pleasure from some of my $40-$50 Cali Zins than I do from most of my $70-$90 Cali Cabs. Cheers!