20 Good Red Wines for $20 or Less.
I wrote a hub earlier about good cheap California wine. Since writing that article, friends and family have bombarded me with their favorite inexpensive wines. Since I am a red wine drinker and rarely venture into white wines I decided to write about the reds. I am going to venture out of the state of California; but not completely to give you a list worthy of your time spent reading this.
I read an article on some website where this guy wrote that he found nothing worth drinking in the $10 to $15 range. I thought this guy must have really bad luck in choosing a good inexpensive wine. I know there is some out there that is pretty good. I know a bad wine when I taste it because of the fact I've had a number of years of practice. Frankly I do not drink much of anything else when I do drink. I have to admit I may have the occasional Margarita with my Mexican food.
So let's delve into the world; list of good red wine for $15 or less.
The List of Cheap But Good Red Wine.
I am not going to get all fancy and tell you about the wine. I am not very good at it and can really only tell you if it was aged in oak, with a hint of cherries. Some people are very good at it and get really into it. Lets be real, we just want to know of some good inexpensive wine.
I am shooting for a list of 20 and will try not to repeat some wines that I wrote about earlier. Here it goes.
- Fat Bastard, Shiraz - French.
- Big House Red - California, Central Coast.
- Hardy's, Oomoo Shiraz - Australia.
- Bonny Doon, Cardinal Zin - California, Central Coast.
- Taurino Salice, Salentino - Italy.
- Primarius, Pinot Noir - Oregon.
- Castle Rock - Sonoma County Syrah - Calfornia.
- Ravenswood, Lodi Zinfandel - California. Lodi has the oldest Zinfandel vines in California.
- Oak Mountain, For Pete's Sake - Temecula California. This wine is over $15 unless you are a club member.
- Terrazas de los Andes Reserva, Malbec - Argentina.
- SonOfABitch, Pinot Noir - Canada.
- Panilonco, Merlor/Malbec - Chile.
- Red Truck, Red - California
- Ducks Pond, Cabernet or their Pinot Noir - Oregon.
- Lindeman Bin 50, Shiraz - Australia.
- Bulls Blood, any of their reds - Hungary.
- Seven Oaks, Cabernet - California.
- Coyote Ridge, Pinot Noir - Oregon.
- Spellbound, Petite Syrah - Lodi, California.
- Dry Creek, Zinfandel Heritage - Sonoma, California.
Vampire Vineyards
Vampire Vineyards wines are hand crafted in the "old world" style of wine-making. They use top quality grapes from California from Napa Valley and Paso Robles.
And of course this would be great for Halloween.
Last Thoughts
When you are out shopping for wine and you are not sure what to get, stop at a wine specialty shop. I have had great recommendations when I shop at a wine specialty store. Many have staff that are very knowledgeable about wine and wine pairings. I also recommend keeping a wine journal of the ones you have tried, so you can keep track of what you liked and didn't like. This helps you out when buying for yourself or buying a bottle of wine as a gift.