Delicious Wines

patrickBOOTH · Jun 22, 2011

Can anybody recommend a cheap dry, French red that is good for casual drinking? A decent table wine so to speak? I can never seem to find a decent French red for under $25

Manton · Jun 22, 2011

No shortage of good Bord for under $20 and even under $15.

Beckwith · Jun 22, 2011

Chateau Greysac is a solid pick in that range

gomestar · Jun 22, 2011

Originally Posted by patrickBOOTH

I can never seem to find a decent French red for under $25

this is, IMO, one of the easiest categories to shop for. Basic AOC Bordeaux for $12-15 is usually solid for a bigger red, Beaujolais for lighter, Cotes Du Rhone is super easy to find and a great bet at under $15, and then there's plenty of great stuff from Provence, Chinon, and CorbiÃ¨res from the Languedoc Roussilon is a good bet under $10.

patrickBOOTH · Jun 22, 2011

Originally Posted by Manton

No shortage of good Bord for under $20 and even under $15.

Originally Posted by gomestar

this is, IMO, one of the easiest categories to shop for. Basic AOC Bordeaux for $12-15 is usually solid for a bigger red, Beaujolais for lighter, Cotes Du Rhone is super easy to find and a great bet at under $15, and then there's plenty of great stuff from Provence, Chinon, and CorbiÃ¨res from the Languedoc Roussilon is a good bet under $10.

I have been a fan of 05' Bord but it seems like they are getting hard to come by and I have been paying at least $27 to $30. I really need to go to better shops. Are there particular years to stick with for less expensive bords and cotes? I am guessing newer on cheap bords.

gomestar · Jun 22, 2011

yeah 2005 is a monster vintage for Bordeaux, but there's absolutely plenty of great wine from the other vintages that is cheaper and just as serviceable. When you get to sub-$15, I find that vintage really doesn't matter a whole lot (unless it's a wash vintage like 2002 in Italy) when you're looking for good everyday wine to drink. Go to a place like Astor and pick out a few $15 AOC Bordeaux from any vintage to see what they're like.

Beckwith · Jun 22, 2011

You can also check out Garnett, they are priced fairly well and have a decent selection.

Manton · Jun 22, 2011

Originally Posted by gomestar

yeah 2005 is a monster vintage for Bordeaux, but there's absolutely plenty of great wine from the other vintages that is cheaper and just as serviceable. When you get to sub-$15, I find that vintage really doesn't matter a whole lot (unless it's a wash vintage like 2002 in Italy) when you're looking for good everyday wine to drink. Go to a place like Astor and pick out a few $15 AOC Bordeaux from any vintage to see what they're like.

There hasn't been, IME, a genuinely bad Bordeaux vintage in at least 10 years. The weakest might have been the 2004s and even they drink fine at the low end. I haven't had a lot of 2007s, another relatively weak year, but what I have had has been OK.

patrickBOOTH · Jun 22, 2011

Great, thanks fellas.

gomestar · Jun 22, 2011

Originally Posted by Manton

There hasn't been, IME, a genuinely bad Bordeaux vintage in at least 10 years. The weakest might have been the 2004s and even they drink fine at the low end. I haven't had a lot of 2007s, another relatively weak year, but what I have had has been OK.

you certainly have much more Bord. experience than I, but from what I've consumed I find this to be true. And I actually like the 2004's since they're very affordable and drinking well now.

looking at Parker's vintage report card, the last bad vintages of Bordeaux were really 1991-1993

Mark from Plano · Jun 22, 2011

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Trimbach is pure win.

Originally Posted by patrickBOOTH

Can anybody recommend a cheap dry, French red that is good for casual drinking? A decent table wine so to speak? I can never seem to find a decent French red for under $25

Cru Beaujolais. Especially now, the 2009 Cru Beaujolais are fantastic (at least the ones I've tried) and still pretty cheap. I find that locating a particular one is difficult because it just depends on what your local wine shop decides to carry. However, I had a 2009 Domaine de la ConseillÃ¨re JuliÃ

nas (made by Mommessin, so should have decent distribution) was just fan-freaking-tastic. Had a Fleurie from one of their labels the other night that was pretty decent too. Great lighter weight summer reds. I paid $15 for the Fleurie and $13 for the JuliÃ

nas.

IMO, a much better value for my drinking pleasure than any of the lower $ bordeaux I've ever tried (and I love Bordeaux).

gomestar · Jun 22, 2011

I'm still not a big fan of Cru Beaujolais despite the love they get from a lot of people

It's not that I don't like what I've had or that I've had bad ones (boring yes, bad no), but I just find a good Dolcetto to be more exciting.

Mark from Plano · Jun 22, 2011

Originally Posted by gomestar

I'm still not a big fan of Cru Beaujolais despite the love they get from a lot of people

It's not that I don't like what I've had or that I've had bad ones (boring yes, bad no), but I just find a good Dolcetto to be more exciting.

As difficult to find as Cru Beux are here in the hinterlands, Dolcetto's are worse. Can't remember the last time I saw one on a shop shelf. Not that I'm looking that hard, but I do scan through the Eyeties pretty regularly.

For Cru Beau, I have basically one store in Dallas that carries a decent selection. If there's someplace in Dallas that carries more than 1 or 2 Dolcetto's I don't know about it.

Also, the JuliÃ

nas I mentioned above was far from boring to my tastes. It was a "Delicious Wine" in the full spirit of this threak.

patrickBOOTH · Jun 22, 2011

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

As difficult to find as Cru Beux are here in the hinterlands, Dolcetto's are worse. Can't remember the last time I saw one on a shop shelf. Not that I'm looking that hard, but I do scan through the Eyeties pretty regularly.

For Cru Beau, I have basically one store in Dallas that carries a decent selection. If there's someplace in Dallas that carries more than 1 or 2 Dolcetto's I don't know about it.

Also, the JuliÃ

nas I mentioned above was far from boring to my tastes. It was a "Delicious Wine" in the full spirit of this threak.

Yeah I am going to have to go with Gome on this one. I have found most Cru Beax to be a bit uninteresting and a bit too light.

What's the deal with Merlot? I don't think I can remember a time where I drank a straight Merlot.

gomestar · Jun 22, 2011

Merlot is great, especially right bank Bordeaux. A lot of this is blended, but so are a lot of Cali wines that are labeled as stright merlot (they are allowed 15% of 'other' varietals even though the label only says merlot)

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