The Under $20 A Bottle Wine Thread:

[TheRiddick]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFlake

Could you explain in more detail what is meant by "Bin ends"? For some reason it's not clicking with me.

Usually a bottle or two here and there, when a shop is down to almost no wine (out of a case or more they had), they clear up shelf space to place another wine there and what's left of the wine that used to be there is placed in a "end bin" area, usually with a marked down price to make it move. "End bin" is named for an "end" of a particular wine on the shelf.

I would only make sure that storage was not an issue, I've seen some shops place poorly stored wine in end bins.

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFlake

Could you explain in more detail what is meant by "Bin ends"? For some reason it's not clicking with me.

Thanks

Wines like Riddick mentioned. It's best to go to a good wine store as they have better wine to start off with more likely better storage. Wines with stained labels, end of cases, close out's... There's several reasons wine can end up on the clearence rack.

The stores I frequent, the bin is the first place I look.

I return "bad" bottles all the time.

[JohnnyFlake]

Thanks guys, I understand about the "end bin" now. The only real liquor stores to go to in my area, are the Lee's Liquor Outlets, there are 10 of them in the Las Vegas Valley. Two of the biggest ones are in my area. They have all their close outs spread out over several tables in an area near the check out registers. I've look through them several times and I have picked up a few interesting wines at very reasonable prices a few times.

[TheRiddick]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

The stores I frequent, the bin is the first place I look.

Martignetti's? Marty's and Blanchard's were also the places I looked, in fact I found a whole bunch of older Baumards (QdC) at crazy low prices on one occasion at Marty's.

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by TheRiddick

Martignetti's? Marty's and Blanchard's were also the places I looked, in fact I found a whole bunch of older Baumards (QdC) at crazy low prices on one occasion at Marty's.

The Holy Trinity... Go to all three regularly. Brookline Liquor Mart as well.

[TheRiddick]

BLM went downhill I thought? Their storage conditions were sub-par, but they did bring in a lot of great wine.

Very few shops on this coast have end bins, sadly.

I was in a store that had a huge wine selection and instead of end bins they tagged the end lots with 50% off tags. The clerk explained it to me the same as TheRiddick's end bin explanation above. It was in SoCal and I can't even remember the store but I remember to look for these deals. Mostly I do my buying at wineries after tasting. I look for below 25$ and if below $20 I may buy a case. I experiment with wines at Costco too. Sometimes they get some good deals on good wine and sometimes they are selling undrinkable crap. They have a "Kirkland" brand wine I haven't tried and while I was in Napa I saw a Kirkland vineyard. Soon everything will be Kirkland! Bwahahahaha!

[TheRiddick]

Costco Kirkland and (Napa) Kirkland are two separate companies and have nothing in common. Costco simply has a trade name and then contracts other wineries to make products for them, I see Kirkland Vodka now as well, IIRC its made in France.

In SoCal, you must have been to one of the big boys, either Hi Time, Wine House or some such, they do have great selections. Next time make a stop at 20/20 Wines, near here 405 and 10 cross, best wine shop I have ever seen, its a wine museum.

Originally Posted by TheRiddick

Costco Kirkland and (Napa) Kirkland are two separate companies and have nothing in common.

I thought that might be the case but I hadn't researched it.

[TheRiddick]

Kirkland in Napa has been in insolvency for some time now and even a recent auction did not bring any buyers. Make them an offer, they may listen :-))

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by TheRiddick

BLM went downhill I thought? Their storage conditions were sub-par, but they did bring in a lot of great wine.

Very few shops on this coast have end bins, sadly.

I can't say that is the case in my recent memory. The sell storage, and I know their higher end stuff is in walk-in's. They were the importer for Guigal for a while. BLM's regular prices are just... regular. The do offer 20% off on most stuff. Lower Falls Wine in on the Newton Wellesley has a good boutique offering of wine. Hard to find a bad wine in the store, but the selection of standards is not as huge.

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by BC-Axeman

I experiment with wines at Costco too. Sometimes they get some good deals on good wine and sometimes they are selling undrinkable crap. They have a "Kirkland" brand wine I haven't tried and while.

I buy a lot of wine at Costco, and they actually have a well thought out selection of wines. Personally, I would prefer more French wines in the line up, but that is me... I have bought plenty of cases from them. The have an Italian Super Tuscan called Giordano (I think) that comes in OWC for like $12 a bottle that is fantastic.

Kirkland's Champagne, CdP are both great offerings. Missed out on their Margaux

[TheRiddick]

Costco is opening a Wine and Liquor only store in Yonkers, NY.

[WildBlueSooner]

I find World Market to have a good and changing selection of affordable wines. I love that store.

I have gotten a Chilean wine from Costco that tasted like it had dirt in it and an Argentinean wine that tasted like watered down old wine and a French wine that reminded me of what wine would taste like if it went flat, like beer. These were all real cheap, like $8-$14, so I just drank them up and never bought them again. But I don't know why Costco put these on the rack. Maybe these are tastes that appeal to some.

[TheRiddick]

Lance,

Problem with Costco is that most of the wines they carry are selected and pushed onto the stores by the corporate buyers, local wine managers have little room to sneak in what they like (although some do). Costco is one of the largest, if not the largest, buyers of wine in USA and do a good job with some high end wine (price wise), but I also rarely buy anything in their low end selections save for white wine to cook with. I'd rather buy their white selections on the low end than reds, most reds lack in body and flavor. Just my opinion, YMMV.

Chilean wines were a decent deal 15-18 years ago when they slowly trickled into USA. As volumes increased, same thing as with Australian "animal" labels happened, quality went down to keep the prices low and inferior fruit was used to make the juice. Some Chile wines are now almost $100 per bottle, have no idea who pays that much for a generic wine, at this price you can have pretty much anything from CA and Europe with few exceptions, and from proven vineyards to boot. I am wiling to bet that in a blindsetup a bottle of 2BC will easily taste better than most Chilean wines up to $10-12 per bottle.

If anything, I'd go for a Argentina wines these days, it is difficult to screw up Malbec. Plus, to me it is a bit more adventurous than a generic Cab at the same price, more complexity, body and spice. And most likely less oak.

[JohnnyFlake]

Here is another awareness post, however, this one comes to me with a recommendation from a friend back in Illinois.

2004 Spruce Goose "Willamette" Pinot Noir

"A scintillating, almost translucent red to the eye. Ripe and rich on the nose, with urgent notes of wild red cherries and cinnamon--all framed by a bouquet of red roses. Is this really a New World Pinot? My Lord, possess the texture that I find only in a 1er cru Burgundy!

92 points, Jason Palma
Wine Consultant, Sam's Wines and Spirits

$19.99 per 750ml bottle!

My wife is a Pinot Noir fan. She told me "the Little Penguin" Pinot Noir 2008 was awesome. It was under 20 closer to 10 but she loved it.

[Fumes]

Originally Posted by SeanGAR

Back on track, a Spanish that I have enjoyed many times in the past that should run $12-14 is



Castell del Remei Gotim Bru.

My wife and I shared a bottle this weekend. Very nice. Thanks for the tip!

[JohnnyFlake]

This one is amazing, right now! I bought a couple of bottles of Layer Cake 2008 Shiraz from Barossa Valley, Australia at Trader Joe's for $14.95 this past Saturday. Last night my wife and I drank a bottle. I have had this in the past several times, 2006 and I believe 2005. It was always very good to excellent. I decanted the bottle and let it rest for about 45 minutes. All I can say is that this is an amazing wine right now. The flavor is full bodied with lot's of up front fruit dark berry nuances, with an underlying spiciness that is just wonderful. The finish is fairly long with hints of dark chocolate & spice.

I highly recommend this wine. I plan to pick up at least a half dozen bottles of this. I'm no expert but I believe that this wine will hold up very well and may even improve over the next 3 to 5 years.