296557 Tue Mar 23 12:53:10 -0800 2004 11 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1633876 I'm calling on my fellow hounds to help out with making a wine purchase suggestion... The background: We have a business lunch later this week where we'll thank a team for 'job well done.' In addition to a couple other items, we'll give each team member a bottle of wine, which will double as a seating card. Given that there are 20 of us, we need to focus on bottles in the $15 range. And, since some folks will like red and others white, I'll go with 10 bottles of each. So, with that, I'd apprecaite any suggestions. I'm open to varietal, but want to make sure that we pick wines that the majority of the team would theoretically enjoy (e.g., not a sharp Zinfandel or an overly oaked Chardonnay...). Thanks for the suggestions. Tue Mar 23 12:53:10 -0800 2004 0 HungryHoward 1 1633885 H.H., I heartly recommend Crosspoint's Pinot Noir. This wine has about an $11.00 price point and is remarkable for that price. Terrific buy. Tue Mar 23 13:05:16 -0800 2004 1633876 0 Leper 1 1633886 Current discussion on LA board asks this very question. Some irrelevant info about local retail outlets (unless, of course, you live in LA), but some great wine picks. Hope this helps... Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/59195#311241 Tue Mar 23 13:05:24 -0800 2004 1633876 0 Eric Archer 1 1633896 If you like Sauv. Blanc, a Villa Maria Sauv. from New Zealand is an excellent bottle, $12 or so in New York stores. Don't let the screw top full you - the wine is very classy. Tue Mar 23 13:28:04 -0800 2004 1633876 0 GIS 1 1633899 Hands down the best value/quality wine you'll get for $15 or less comes from Germany... also very friendly wine that everyone likes. Go for Rieslings, 2001's or 2002's, Kabinetts and Spatleses from Mosel region. Look for the phrase "qualitswein mit pradikat" on the bottle, though above $10 most of them will be QMP anyway. You can also get very good California sauvignon blancs in this price range, but they might not be as immediately impressive to a non-winenut as the rieslings. Best values in quality cabernet are probably still Chilean though they've gone way up in the past 20 years. You used to be able to steal super world class cabs from Chile in the 80's but they learned how to market, unfortunately. 1997, 1999, and 2001 are best recent vintages in Chile's Maipo valley. There's very food-friendly cabernet from California at lower price points, too. For example, recently had the non-reserve bottling of 1999 Meridian (a $10 wine) which was only fair straight but was luscious with prime rib, much better with the meat than an older and much more expensive rioja. 1999 and 2001 are best recent cab vintages in California. The key to getting very good wine at low prices is to focus on the VINTAGE... in a great year (like those listed), even your secondary vineyards will be quite nice whereas in off-years even the best estates will be only mediocre. Here's a link for a good "summary vintage chart" Link: http://www.fullhousetrader.com/wine_vintage_charts_fine_wine_reviews_wine_tastings_beer.htm Tue Mar 23 13:37:03 -0800 2004 1633876 0 Chicago Mike 2 1633905 Don't forget young Beaujolais which are very approachable and can hit your price point as well. Tue Mar 23 13:51:39 -0800 2004 1633899 0 Chicago Mike 3 1633922 thanks for the ideas. Tue Mar 23 14:59:50 -0800 2004 1633905 0 HungryHoward 1 1633910 I'd suggest looking at some New Zealand and Australian wines, especially NZ sauvignon blancs. The riesling idea is also good, but I find a lot of people don't like the resdiual sweetness in most German wines. Tue Mar 23 13:58:37 -0800 2004 1633876 0 rjka 1 1633917 For a white, I would recommend Cote de Tariquet. It's 50% Chardonnary, 50% Sauvignon Blanc. Very approachable, very friendly, easy-to-like wine. Soft, little oak, nice fruit, decent acidity. We've served it to a variety of palattes before and have had success. It's at Sam's for I think around 11 a bottle (we were there this past Sunday). We've seen it at Sam's for cheaper in the past, and at other places for different prices (sometimes more, sometimes less), so it might be worth searching. I agree with Chicago Mike about German Rieslings offering some of the best values, but unfortuntely they are still a somewhat stigmatized wine (actually, this is rather fortunate for fans of it because it helps keep demand, and prices, lower). I would would worry there might be some (unfounded) resistance. That's been our experience in the past anyway. But if you do want to go with a German Riesling, Sam's has a very delicious Darting Kabinett 2002 for I think just under 15 bucks. It's a pretty racy wine -- bright acid, bright peach and apricot fruit. One of the better <15 bottles we've come across from the 2002 vintage. Tue Mar 23 14:30:25 -0800 2004 1633876 0 Deflator_Mouse 2 1633920 Great insight on the whites. Any recommendation for red in this price range? Tue Mar 23 14:55:00 -0800 2004 1633917 0 HungryHoward 3 1633926 A couple ideas for reds: Benuara (an Italian IGT wine from Sicily): a blend of Nero d'Avola and Syrah. Available at Sam's (2001 vintage I think), for around 13. Almost certainly available at the many other wine stores in Chicago. It's an ejoyable wine, not much tannin, some good darker fruit, pretty soft, also good with food. One of favorite "everday" Italian reds. Also, we've always enjoyed Susana Balbo's "Crios" wines out of Argentina (there's a Crios Cabernet Sauvignon, a Crios Malbec, some Crios blends, etc). At least some of them are less than 15 and we've always enjoyed them across vintages, etc. None of them has ever struck me as a hard to like wine -- all very approachable, etc. Tue Mar 23 15:18:24 -0800 2004 1633920 0 Deflator_Mouse 4 1633932 Perfect. Thanks for the approachable recommendations. Tue Mar 23 16:02:07 -0800 2004 1633926 0 HungryHoward