Top 10 Best Wines for Under $30

Gary, the problem here is that the term "best" has as little meaning as it would do with music ("What is the best music CD for under $20?"): personal taste is such a large variable that at best we can talk about our favorite wines of a given type. Coincidentally (I hope) another recent thread there ("Best California wines") covers this same territory. You should check it out if you haven't already.

Most of the above comments apply here, too. *My* list of producers of perenially intersting wines would be (in no particular order):

Ridge Vineyards Edmunds St. John J.-P. Brun "Domaine de la Terre Dorees" Trimbach Joseph Drouhin

That list would probably not be duplicated by any other poster to this group, BTW. Those producers also make at least some wines that sell below the $30 mark.

All of those wineries produce well made wine. I haven't tried any of Mondavi's since their sale to Constellation, but I expect that the winemaking hasn't changed much. Since you like those wines, why not serve them? You can then in all honesty explain why you find them appealing. And perhaps try exploring other wines from their range if you haven't already done so. For instance, perhaps try a bottle of Penfolds's Bin 28 "Kalimna" Shiraz, which sells for ca. $18 and is a very nice Aussie Shiraz to my tastes. Also, once you go above the $30 level, all of these producers make some very high quality wines that garner critical acclaim. In my experience, however, even a wine-savvy date is likely to appreciate the gesture of you serving a wine that you like, even if they don't precisely share your tastes.

Enjoy! Mark Lipton

I think you have found at least 6 of the largest 10 wine producing company. they also have the largest promotion budgets in the wine world. only gallo and the lindemans groups comes to mind to be added to your selection

maybe marlboro, coke, and bmw should also be added to make the 10

While all of those produce decent wines the only one that would make my list would be Penfolds. They just do not produce any bad wines.

Kendall Jackson at one time was one of my favorites for low priced Chardonnay. When Jed Steele left to start his own ventures I felt the quality went downhill and prices went up. My current low priced favorite Chardonnay is Columbia Crest Estate at about $8 from Costco.

Mondavi is over priced and over rated. While some of their high end wines are excellent they are simply priced too far above so many other great wines.

In the sub-$30 area my favorites aren't as widely distributed as your list but some are available.

Opolo Selby Sehgasio Karly Babcock Seqouia Grove Story

Thank you for the list. I'll have to try Ridge Vineyards. I know they have made some critically acclaimed wines which have made "top

I am curious, how would you rate Costco as a place to shop for wine? As I say I don't know much about wine but on the face of it they look like they stock a lot of "high end" brands. I shop there for a lot of other things.

A couple I like in that price range would be

Chateau Batailley - Grande Cru Classe from Pauliac Lemelson Vineyards - Cuvee X Pino Sadler-Wells - Pino good with pork

If you want to step it up a bit to to the $50-80, you might try

Franciscan Vineyard - Maginicat Joseph Phelps - cab Stag's Leap artemis (note that is stag's leap and not stags' leap) Poggio Antico- brunello

Of course you have to double these prices in a restaurant.

You might want to get a copy of Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia. I found it to be most informative about wine in general and some of there specific recommendations. However, as others have mentioned, taste is an opinion, not a fact. Even still, many wines are just plain bad to everyone.

Mike

this group and a novice when it comes to wine. I'm

At Costco today I saw some Franciscan wines and also Stag's Leap. I can't remember which ones, however. Franciscan seems to be a pretty popular vineyard. I'll have to try it also.

Also, they had Kim Crawford 2006 Chardonnay which has gotten some good reviews. I almost got it but changed my mind in favor of the Kendall- Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay instead. I probably should have gotten the Kim Crawford, it received higher reviews than the K-J.

this group and a novice when it comes to wine. I'm

I wonder what the difference in price is of a $20 bottle of wine bought at Costco vs. a wine store. I can't find much I like at Costco -- too bad for me -- but I did try all of their Kirkland wines that I could find. Some not tasted yet. Three I would not buy seconds.

Let me know if you buy Stag's Leap and when you taste Sterling, if you have not tasted them before; interested to know. Dee Dee

Costco selection varies widely depending on location. In upscale parts of town the selection will be far greater. In the areas I've shopped their prices are far below most any other wine store. A typical $25 bottle in a grocery store will be about $15 at Costco.

The Costco's around me have large selections of wines from low end jug wines all the way up to very high end wines (over $100). The have two sections. First is the low end wines usually stacked up in cardboard boxes. Second is 1-4 rows of displayed wines on wood racks. These are moderate to high end wines.

Quit confusing newbies!! Why do you have such trouble comprehending that people such as myself fully enjoy sipping on a big red during the evening before or after dinner? Good thing your way isn't traditional or the wine bars would go out of business!

If Costco has something for $20 it would be $30+ at a typical wine store at least in my area.

What wines do you enjoy the most? The Costco's in my area have some excellent wines. A little of everything. They dont have my favorites but then neither do most wine stores.

to this group and a novice when it comes to wine. I'm

I'm wondering if a wine store shouldn't have better wine storage facilities than Costco. As I've seen the topic of storage brought up in the forum maybe that is a difference?

I'll let you know about the Sterling. I plan on taking it to friends' for Easter Dinner next Sunday. :-)

I noticed the price difference today at the store versus purchasing the same wines over the Internet. I pulled up Wine.com on my Pocket PC while I was in Costco and noticed a considerable savings. I think I also saw a bottle of the same Sterling Chardonnay which I bought the day before at a gourmet store for almost half the price. Now I know better. :-(

Most wine sold at stores is for immediate consumption so the "provenance" is not so important. Store wines are at least usually kept near 70 or so degrees and don't get ig swings of temp which can really rack a wine.

I take it then that coolers are for long term storage and not so much for a wine that is going to be consumed within a week or two? How long will a wine typically keep on the counter before it's a good idea to store it in a cooler?

Costco's storage is fine. All of the better wines are on their side pointed down slightly. Their lower priced wines are just stacked in boxes. However, Costco turns over its inventory very quickly, many times that of a typical wine store. They don't need any other storage methods.

That depends on where you live. Here in the southwest deserts wine can go bad if left out on a counter within a couple months. If you live in more stable regions such as coastal California wine can be kept out for many many months without trouble. Large temperature swings in a room are what kill wine.