I’m more of a wino than an oenophile. I enjoy wine immensely, but am pretty inarticulate when it comes to describing what I like or what I taste, and I know little about selecting a vintage or vineyard. On top of that, I rarely have the time or inclination to go to an actual wine shop and hash out a rational wine-buying decision with an expert. I buy most of my wine in the grocery store, where I always see a pretty consistent range of winemakers represented. (E.g., Jacob’s Creek; Rosemount; various animal-themed wines; G. Duboeuf; Kendall-Jackson; Bogle; Coppola …) But no one there is going to help me pick a wine.
I would like to put this question to the wine afficionados: Can you recommend any consistently good wines or winemakers that I am likely to find at my local Safeway? I like virtually all red wines, especially smooth, non-tannic ones, and many dry whites. Not a fan of overt sweetness.
I find Coppola’s Classico Rosso to be a steal, usually priced $9-$11. I buy it by the case and everyone who has it remarks on how much they like it. I would try that if you can get it.
Ravenswood Zinfindel is always a good buy.
Can’t say I love Yellow Tail wines, but their reserve wine is usually priced $2-3 above the regular and is pretty decent (Shiraz or Pinot).
Give the Black Opal Shiraz a try. it seems to be readily available and I like it much better then the Yellow Tail. Around here it’s priced at about $9.00
Phungi and Longhair75: Funny, a trip to the grocery store yesterday (before I posted this thread) resulted in a bottle of Ravenswood Zinfandel. We had it last night and enjoyed it.
Peter Vella’s box of Delicious Red is shockingly good for a box of wine under 10 bucks. A friend brought a box to our housewarming party and bullied us into trying it.
We are never without.
I was actually about to recommend Franzia as a joke, but you say Peter Vella’s Delicious Red is actually good. I will hunt it down and try it. As much as I like wine I am on a bit of a budget, so box wines are not below me.
<Off topic> As a native of Pennsylvania, I never quite adjusted to the sight of alcoholic beverages in grocery stores and convenience stores, despite having lived in New York for four years. </Off topic>
One of my favorite grocery store wines is Gallo Hearty Burgundy. A great wine with pizza or hamburgers. Lots of flavor with no pretentions of greatness. This is wine for those days you feel like working for it.
Risha, as a native Californian, it weirds me out whenever I visit a state that says I can’t buy booze at the local grocery store. How dare they!
Never bought wine at a grocery store, or anywhere else. (Don’t like wine. So why I’m fascinated by wine threads, I’m not sure).
Anyway, I was at the grocery store recently, and they had a REALLY good price on some sparkling fruit juice. Since I love that sort of stuff, I bought 6 bottles. Obviously, they look kinda like wine bottles.
Cashier says “I’ll need to see your driver’s license”.
I looked at him kind of funny, and reached for my wallet.
Cashier “It’s a joke, I’m kidding”
I roll my eyes, and keep reaching for the wallet.
Cashier assures me again that he’s joking, as I dig for a card in my wallet.
I explain, patiently, that I’m not looking for my driver’s license, I’m looking for my store loyalty card–and my plastic of choice to pay for the groceries.
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I enjoy wine immensely, but am pretty inarticulate when it comes to describing what I like or what I taste, and I know little about selecting a vintage or vineyard.
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Describes me fairly well. I love to try different wines, have developed a sense of what I like and what I don’t like, read a lot about them, but can’t seem to describe what it is that appeals to me. I’ve been lurking in the Wine Club thread, but I really don’t have much to offer, and everything to learn. So, given that, this may be like the blind leading the blind…
[QUOTE=Spiral Stairs]
…where I always see a pretty consistent range of winemakers represented. (E.g., Jacob’s Creek; Rosemount; various animal-themed wines; G. Duboeuf; Kendall-Jackson; Bogle; Coppola …) But no one there is going to help me pick a wine.
… I like virtually all red wines, especially smooth, non-tannic ones, and many dry whites. Not a fan of overt sweetness.
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Jacob’s Creek Reserve Shiraz made Wine Spectator’s 2006 Top 100 list of exciting wines, FWIW. I’m not a real fan of their ordinary shiraz, but the Reserve is supposed to be quite a bit better, and somewhat hard to find after making the list.
Peter Lehmann makes a very respectable Barossa Shiraz, don’t know if it is readily available. Okay, I’m a shameless shiraz fan. And I was very pleasantly surprised at the Ravenswood Vintner’s Reserve Shiraz; I considered it to be a great bargain and very smooth.
I am a big fan of the Bogle Petit Syrah (also a great bargain), although I don’t think it qualifies as non-tannic. It has a lot of character, though. Oddly enough, in a lot of wine stores it seems to be the only Petit Syrah they have. Not that that’s a bad thing…
And from the list linked by psycat90 above: The La Crema Pinot Noir is very good and seems to be readily available in almost all of the stores I visit.