The Franzia Challenge ( cheap wines vs. good wines )

[mason55]

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I can't believe you know what Wegman's I speak about and you and I never partied and got down when you lived on the right coast.

(I hear you kiss men which is a bonus of course)

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i think we realized that we lived ~5 minutes apart after i moved. i lived down the street from that wegmans, across the street from the safeway/shopping mall.

90% of the time i was too lazy to go to the wegmans [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[kipin]

ya i lived about 2 mins from the wegmans and I only shopped there [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Now I live about 10 minutes away and rarely go there.

Such a huge beat I moved so far away [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[z28dreams]

Brag: It's a 2 minute drive from my work. 14" sub sandwich FTW.

[OrigamiSensei]

Z, are you looking for wines in the price range that will "prove your point" or are you looking for "representative" wines at each price range? Here I've tried to list some interesting series of wines to taste. Prices may or may not fit exactly into a preconceived range but they will move "up the ladder" in price, and possibly in quality. Availability should be across Costco, Sam's Club, CostPlus World Market, Trader Joe's, BevMo, grocery stores and the like. In other words you may have to do some shopping but these are intended to be mass market choices and easy to find. Feel free to modify according to what is available in your area.

Sparkling wine:
Level 1: something cheap and nasty like Tott's or Cook's
Level 2: Korbel Brut and Korbel Natural (hint, the Brut is the "proper" placement, the Natural is actually a step up)
Level 3: Roederer Estate NV Brut or a similarly priced Domaine Chandon bottling or one of the $15-20 Champagnes found at Trader Joe's.
Level 4: If you want to prove your point of not needing to pay more, Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label is the ticket here and can be purchased anywhere. I doubt you'll find it to be any better than the Level 3 bottle. If you actually want a better bottle just about any real French Champagne between $30 and $50 will do other than Yellow Label. There's a ton of them if you take the time to look.

Zinfandel:
Level 1: Ravenswood Vintner's Blend
Level 2: Rancho Zabaco Dancing Bull or something in that price range
Level 3: The next step up to a $12-17 Zinfandel, Rancho Zabaco often has something in this line or you'll see other ones in one of the Costco bins
Level 4: Ridge Geyserville, Lytton Springs or similar (you may have to look a little for this one but BevMos should have it)

Merlot:
Level 1: 2 Buck Chuck
Level 2/3: Barefoot, Christian Moueix, Yellow Tail, etc. depending on pricing
Level 4: Honestly not sure here since I don't drink the stuff.

Syrah/Shiraz:
Level 1: 2 Buck Chuck
Level 2: Yellow Tail/Greg Norman
Level 3/4: You may have to search a little for various wines in the right price range. For Aussies Penfolds, d'Arenberg, Rosemount, Marquis Phillips and others are solid choices and you'll need to do a bit of research since these producers all have graduated pricing in their lines.

Chardonnay:
Level 1: 2 Buck Chuck
Level 2: Barefoot, Kendall-Jackson Vintner's reserve
Level 3: Kendall Jackson Grand Reserve
Level 4: Grgich or some other wine in the right range.

Hopefully these ideas will help.

[mason55]

OrigamiSensei -

You left out the White Zinfandel category

[Dids]

I'm a very novice wine drinker, but based on my limited experience, I'm pretty damn sure I could tell the difference. Wine seems to be one of those things where the quality/price is pretty obvious from jump.

[z28dreams]

Origami:

No, I'm not looking to "prove my point". I'm sure there are plenty of crappy expensive wines out there, but great ones also. I'd like to avoid the former and find the latter.

It's mostly a fun project for wine amateurs like myself to try different wines in different price categories, and decide which suits us best.

Thanks for the recommendations.

[z28dreams]

Also FWIW, I've tried Barefoot's Chardonnay and Cab. The cab was ok, I thought the chardonnay was pretty bad.

[mason55]

once you hit ~$15/bottle or so you i would imagine you probably won't be able to pick out which one costs more unless you have experience in wine tasting

[pokerbobo]

Origami has some good suggestions.....I think Yellowtail is one of the better wines for the $$$$$