631630 Thu Jun 25 11:07:12 -0700 2009 7 34 Wine 0 4805638 hello! i'm looking to make a big batch of sangria on a tight budget and need some help. ideally, i would be using a dry, no oak tempranillo but my restrictions are leading me to stray... i was even considering two buck chuck (but i don't know which would be best...)! any recommendations? thank you! Thu Jun 25 11:07:12 -0700 2009 1088495 emiliejolie 1 4805707 a good boxed wine is economical. of course, the crucial word is "good". For sangria, which can be manipulated with the simple syrup and the citrus you're adding, you're pretty safe as long as your base wine is not a complete dog. A good wine shop should be able to direct you to the better varietal & blended boxed wines. Franzia's OK, for supermarket boxes. (I served Franzia as the last wines of an hors d'oeuvre party and nobody said a negative word. Someone called the red "juicy" and "yummy". It probably doesn't really help as it sounds like you're looking for a fuller red, but there it is anyway.) Hope this helps & you have fun. Let us know what solution you find. GL. Thu Jun 25 11:32:14 -0700 2009 4805638 287097 meowzebub 2 4808279 Not that I'm an advocate of boxed wine in general, but man, that Franzia stuff gave me a filthy headache when I had two glasses of it at a party once. Also, I bet it's pretty much the same juice as 2BC. I'd be surprised if Fred Franzia/Bronco divied up the super low-end juice. It's all just the cheapest stuff, Fri Jun 26 08:51:51 -0700 2009 4805707 92744 invinotheresverde 3 4808719 Not at all defending the Franzia stuff, but ironically the Franzia family *doesn't* own the Franzia label any more. It was sold off to Coca Cola and then The Wine Group before Fred took over the biz -- so it may be bad, but it's not 2BC. Fri Jun 26 10:49:14 -0700 2009 4808279 16011 oolah 4 4809186 Ahh. Man, it's so hard to keep track of who owns what anymore! :) Fri Jun 26 13:07:45 -0700 2009 4808719 92744 invinotheresverde 5 4810893 Yep, the guy owns every plonk factory out there *except* the one with his name on it :) Sat Jun 27 10:30:02 -0700 2009 4809186 16011 oolah 1 4805861 Borsao.Primizia. Have seen it in the States for $6-7 a bottle. www.bodegasborsao.com/pages/primii.htm Thu Jun 25 12:10:04 -0700 2009 4805638 10520 carswell 2 4815596 Borsao would be great. I've had good luck with Rene' Barbier red or Falling Star Malbec/Merlot as well. Mon Jun 29 12:42:28 -0700 2009 4805861 59865 texascarl