The Best Bottle of Red Wine for under $15

[rsbeck]

I've got a couple of recommendations;

The 2007 vintage in both California and Southern France was fantastic. This is a big boon to wine drinkers!

When you have an unusually good vintage, it means you can find better wine at lower prices because everyone has better fruit from which to craft their wines.

Even the most serious wine collector needs to have a stash of $12 or $13 ready-to-drink-right-now red wine he/she can serve with pride for either a casual mid-week meal or a larger get together with a mixture of both casual drinkers and wine-snobs. Sometimes you just want a real nice wine at a low stress price.


So, here are a few suggestions;

2007 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County (around $13) (Parker 90 points)

2007 Avalon Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (around $13) (Parker 88 points)

If you like to drink French wine, here is one from the Southern Rhone made from a blend of Grenache and Syrah...

2007 Chateau Pesquie Cotes du Ventoux Cuvee des Terrasses (around $12) (Parker 91 points)


All three of these wine are balanced, feel good in your mouth, finish on a soft, lingering note.

They are tasty, reasonably complex and seriously out-perform their price point.

Where can you find them?

Believe it or not, the first two can be found at your local CVS store. I noticed them there the other day. You can also find them at Bevmo. For the third, you will probably have to find it in more of a specialty shop. I purchased mine at K & L in San Francisco, which is also the answer to the question "what's the best specialty wine shop in SF?"

 

[Steve Williams]

Rob

Without question the best bottle of red wine I have ever had was the one you brought to my house when we first met..I think a 1971 Margaux (?spelling)

As for a desert wine (now OT) I have to go with that Chateau D'YQuem desert wine you brought to dinner that night with Mike and Marty. One of the finest wines I have ever had

 

[rsbeck]

Thanks! That was fun -- you picked a great place for diner, too. I believe it was a 1983 Margaux and a 1990 D'Yquem. Those would have to go in a thread called The Best Wines at Any Price. I'm sure we'll get to that eventually.

 

[rsbeck]

Update:

K & L is out of the Pesquie, but they do have the Martini and Avalon.

If you haven't already found it, here is the best web-site for finding wine on-line and if you click it, I have already set it to find the Pesquie

so here are some of the places around the world that are carrying this inexpensive but tasty red....

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/pesquie+cotes+ventoux+terrasses/2007

 

[rsbeck]

Just for the fun of it, I did a search for 1990 D'Yquem so Steve could see how much our dessert wine cost. This was part of a truly magical evening! If you think you don't like dessert wine, I understand. I used to feel the exact same way. But, you have not tasted D'Yquem.

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/yquem/1990

 

[rsbeck]

And, by the way, this is the answer to the question What's the Best Dessert Wine in The World?

Ask any serious wine collector, you'll get a unanimous answer.

Chateau D'Yquem!

 

[Steve Williams]

And, by the way, this is the answer to the question What's the Best Dessert Wine in The World?

Ask any serious wine collector, you'll get a unanimous answer.

Chateau D'Yquem!

Rob

I am a simple guy when it comes to wines but I can truly say that those 2 bottles of wine were the best I have ever had. I think I told you that when we drank the Margaux the restaurant we dined at had a 2005 D'YQuem at $45/oz. We had a few. The color was lighter than yours and the taste and bouquet although exceptional just couldn't come close o yors

 

[rsbeck]

The 2005 D'Yquem will be a beautiful and darker bottle of wine in time. Really fine wine is meant to age and it will get better and acquire flavors that can only be achieved with time in the bottle.

The 1990 D'Yquem was about 18 years old when we had that dinner.

The 2005 had just been released.

Give it another 13 years.

 

[rsbeck]

Update: Saw the 2007 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sonoma County today at Costco for $10.99.

 

[tyree91]

Speaking of Chateau DYquem, I used to rent an office from the Laemmle Family (Universal Founders) in one of their theaters. George Gibbs a B-17 pilot married into the family. He was one of the premier wine collectors in North America, and he kept his collection in a wine locker built into the theater. He walked into my office on one of my birthdays carrying a small cake, some fine cashews, and a split bottle of wine. Turns out the bottle was Chateau D'Yquem from the year of my birth, 1948. To say I have tasted the Necter of The Gods is an understatement. Regards, Norm

 

[rsbeck]

Great story -- I bet it was incredible.

 

[Steve Williams]

Speaking of Chateau DYquem, I used to rent an office from the Laemmle Family (Universal Founders) in one of their theaters. George Gibbs a B-17 pilot married into the family. He was one of the premier wine collectors in North America, and he kept his collection in a wine locker built into the theater. He walked into my office on one of my birthdays carrying a small cake, some fine cashews, and a split bottle of wine. Turns out the bottle was Chateau D'Yquem from the year of my birth, 1948. To say I have tasted the Necter of The Gods is an understatement. Regards, Norm

Thanks to rsbeck for having introduced me to this wine. Best wine I have ever had but long way from best wine under $15

 

[es347]

Update: Saw the 2007 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sonoma County today at Costco for $10.99.

I agree with you regarding this LMM cab. We had it at dinner recently and we thought it was very good for a young cabernet.

 

[rblnr]

I think the Avalon is a good value too. My favorite $15 bottle of wine at the moment is Ritual '08 Pinot Noir from Veramonte in Chile. Discovered it in Chile (left just before the earthquake actually) while touring some vineyards there, bought a case when we got back.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Bull's Blood from Hungary. Less than $10 a bottle.

John

 

[wineslob]

2006 Redwood Creek (Frei Bros) Cab. $2.99 at Grocery Outlet. I'd rate it about 82-84 points (100 pt scale). Considering it's price it's got some pretty good things going on. The color in the glass (dark red/black) is far darker and concentrated than I would expect at this price. The nose is decent, but not as strong as I'd hoped. It's rather closed, making me think this might actually improve with some age. There's a tad bit of astringency, but the over-all blackberry, raspberry and touch of cassis flavors make it enjoyable at this price. The alcohol is also hot, but not terribly so, but it stiil brought down the score, being 13.5%. I think the reason I like this wine is it is not one of those cherry/berry cabs that so many bulk wineries produce. It's actually got some balls.
It would be very interesting to lay down a few bottles just to see how it ages in a few years. I'm probably going to pick up a case this weekend.

 

[wineslob]

Found another, 2001 Raven Oaks Syrah, Sierra Foothills. Found at Big Lots for $4.00. Unbelieveably good wine.