What's the least expensive wine you've enjoyed?

Joseph, Thanks for the recommendations. I'll check my sources for these and report back how they were.

Regards, Jon

A $5 Nero d'Avola from Sicily, Petraio.

Thanks UC. I'll see if I can locate this to try it.

Jon

I've bought Nero d'Avola from Sicily In my notes both say: 'would buy again'

Corvo 2003 Nero d'Avola Sicily $7.99 and Ruggero di Tasso, Nero D'Avola $4.99 - Sicily

I also have in my files as "would buy again" two "Nero d'Avola" from Sicily:

Ruggero di Tasso Nero D'Avola $4.99

Corvo 2003 Nero d'Avola $7.99

Dee

Gasp... it was a "filler" from a batch of wines I bought via an internet "clearance house". I had picked a few wines to buy, and as it costs zero in extra freight to go from my 10 selected wines to a dozen, a few "curiosity" bottles were added.

I989 Chateau Leamon (Geelong, Victoria, Australia) Cabernet Sauvignon. From a region more renowned for Riesling and Pinot's, was pretty sure it would have seen better days, but as a "filler" at $5AUD, what could I lose? What exacerbated my doubt was when the foil was removed from the bottle, a wet cork greeted me. Oh well I thought, that kills that wine. Removed cork gradually, decantered, and sipped....wow. Full of soft elegant dark berry fruits, silky tanins and a rich mouthfeel that lingered for minutes. I can only assume the leakage was initiated from the shipping, thus had not been totally tainted as longer term leakage surely would have done to the wine. Huge surprise given the circumstances surrounding this wine.

A week later, "curiosity" bottle #2 was opened. 1998 Blass. That was it. Obviously a product of the famous Wolf Blass, but no description on the bottle, not even varietal info (rare for an aussie wine). I can only assume it was an export wine. I opened with a few friends "blind". It was a Shiraz- Cab blend iirc, and whlist it did not "sing" to us, it more than held it's own amongst better credentialled wines. I could not resist, asking others to "price" the wine. $15 -

35 was the range..... it cost me $3AUD !!

Chock full of confidence with my new found supply channel, I ordered a case of old chardonnay, Danbury Estate, 1999. It cost $24 for the case plus freight. 1st bottle was opened a week or so later. It looked like an aged chard, perhaps a tad too dark for my liking, typically aged chard nose, and first mouthful was...well, ok at best, maybe it would improve with some "air" time. Within minutes, and I mean 1 or 2 minutes, the wine had collapsed, and tasted feral. The nose turned into a rancid petroleum product and we sat about laughing at how bad it was. Brown is not a good colour for wine either...:>)

So, in the world of wine, I guess we can always expect the unexpected. That's why it is so much fun!!

hooroo....

I too have had excellent wine with leakage, the secret is, I believe, to drink those beasts young and not let any trouble get to them as they have probably been abused already.

On a similar note i have heard that the best way to quick age a wine is to drive around in the car with it, though in mid summer in FL this can cook it faster than age . . .

I hit a Cost Plus/World Market, just after a Renwood tasting. They had a case of the Jackrabbit Flats at US$8/btl. I bought it in a heartbeat. The Gran Pere and Gran Mere were US$12, and all of the bottles were autographed! Sometimes it pays to look in the bargain bins. Who knows what you'll find. Unfortunately for the next guy past, all were in my cart!

Hunt

Probably Ravenswood Lodi '02. Paid about 5 UKP for it and inserted it into a blind tasting alongside Seghesio Old Vines and Ridge Lytton Springs (both of which are about five times the price) and it held up very well.

Andrew.

Which Ravenswood Lodi 2002?

Thanks Dee

Andrew.

At a time when funds were low, I picked up a 1.5L bottle of Carlo Rossi Chablis Calif. Not too shabby for $10.99 !

Dan-O (King of bargain hunters)

Jon, that sound right. The one with the black background on label.

It seems I had a Malbec here in China that should have retailed around

6-8USD here that had some good character. Of course, after the mark- up, it was a little more than 10USD. I think it was a lower end Bodega Salentein wine; maybe their Finca el Portillo 02 or 03. Really plumy/jammy and good to eat with Chinese food, I thought.

Oh, one more thing that I forgot to add. In our "most expensive" thread, I did not see any of those wines around here, but I have seen a number of the ones here on our "least expensive" thread. Times are indeed dire. heh.

Mydnight, do you live in a large city?

20 questions. Dee

To Western standards, yes, this is a city of about 8 million people. To Chinese standards, this is a small, developing city. I have seen quite a bit of some of the wines mentioned here in Shanghai, but no where near the South where I am. More specifically, I live in the workshop of the world: Guangdong province, Dongguan City.

Many people ask me, why not go over to Hong Kong to look for wines. The answer is simple...it's more expensive than here in most cases.

"Zeppo" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net...

My wife brought home from Cyprus a couple of bottles of Othello. This was about 1982 and the vintages were 1976 and 1959... Price about 2USD for the -59 which I opened 1986. An amazingly good and youthful(!) wine :-) Anders

Jon, So far one of the better ones we have tried was a purchase at Trader Joe's - La Bocca Malbec from Argentina. A far cry from other Malbecs but definitely good for more casual drinking.

Tom AZ