The Wine Knows

I agree! Vicky is a very nice dance, although I haven't seen a magnum for that price. Where did you see magnums at? 750ml bottles tend to be in the $9 to $12 range around here. Kiona does a great job with their more affordable wines. (I really like their cab-merlot for the dough, which is very similar to Townshend's Table Red.) Actually, the Kiona Estate Reserve 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon is very, very good, if you want something a little nicer. We bought some at the winery and more at Costco, where it was only $22.99. Tons of dark fruit, a black olive component, nice oak undertones, and a well aged, quality, Red Mountain wine for the money. If you see it, check it out! It is worth the price of admission.

Cheers,
Tim

The 2003 was excellent, the 2004 not so much. We have tried the 2005 and have a case on order.

It can be hard to get in Oregon because the OR distributor is not what one would call "customer centric". If they have the 2004 in stock but you want the 2005, tough.

Very good call, 03 was my fave but 05 is very good.

EXACTLY!!! The 2003 was very good (we bought a case), the 2002 and 2004 weren't nearly as good, and I just saw the 2005 at the store. You all think it is pretty good? Then I will have to buy some!! As a side note, Townshend Cellars just released their 2005 lemberger. It is pretty interesting. As usual, Townshend oaked the crap out of it! My opinion is that the fruit isn't quite big enough to handle the oak. A little more extraction would have been a good thing for this wine. But, it isn't bad. If you are an oak lover, you might like it. Another wonderful lemberger is from Oakwood Cellars at Red Mountain. Very tasty, all of their wines, really, and a fun place to visit. They also make a lemberger blanc, a very nice rose that is a killer summer sipper.

Adios!
Tim

Hey WineO!

Thanks for the WildZ info. I have never seen it here for that price, but I will keep looking. Glad to hear you liked the Chandler Reach Corella. That is very tasty. I LOVE the Monte Regalo, but that is at a higher price point. I haven't tried the Bistro Rouge from Pend O'Reille. I remember reading about it, and the description didn't excite me, but if I see it on sale, I will pick up a bottle and check it out. I don't think I have seen any Kana wines around here, but I will certainly be on the lookout. About your Dark Star offer, thanks! We will be in Walla Walla on the 2nd through the 4th of May for Spring Release weekend, but we probably won't hit the Tri Cities this time around, unless it is to stop in at Chandler Reach to pick up another mixed case. We get 4 Corellas, 4 merlots, and 4 Monte Regalos at a time, and they are nice enough to give us the case discount when we do. Their 36 Red is also great, especially for the $$. So, we will try to take you up on your offer another time.

For anyone else reading this, another smaller, more unnoticed winery that does a nice job for cheap is Oakwood Cellars. They are a lemberger pioneer, and their lemberger blanc is really tasty. It is about $10, if memory serves me correctly. They also do a great lemberger, cab, merlot, etc, and I think all of them are less than $20, and most are in the $10 to $15 range. The owner (Eppie?? don't remember) is a really nice lady, very humble, and always glad to see you! Nice wines, too, especially for the price, and a fun, quite "rustic" tasting room. I always love supporting the "little guys", and when they offer a good product at a reasonable price, I love it all that much more.

Thanks for the invite for the 03 Dark Star! We will be down again later this summer, so I may just take you up on that. Maybe I will bring down something from our travels..... probably not from Washington, but still killer stuff!!

Cheers!
Tim

Hey again wineO,

I have never had any of the Kanas (sp??) wines. It sounds like they are pretty good! What is their house style? Very fruit forward? A little oak? What varietals do they specialize in?

Thanks for the tip!
Tim

A few of my favorite daily drinkers are made by Chandler Reach. If you have never tried any of their wines, check them out! Granted, the price at the tasting room for both the Merlot and the Corella is $16, but I have found them for $14.99 at both Yokes and Huckleberries here in Spokane. They produce a mutt blend called "36 Red" that is also great for $12-14. It is a very big wine for the price. The merlot is wonderful, a fairly full bodied wine, packed with raspberry, blackberry, and a bit of cherry, nicely oaked, and made with all estate fruit. It is one of the best merlots you will find in that price range. The Corella is their version of a Super Tuscan, with estate sangiovese, a bit of cab, and a bit of syrah in the mix. It is a bit spicy, has some oak, and is simply a tasty wine. The new releases are still very young and should be decanted. These wines are excellent values. I buy mixed cases from them, and with the discount, the price is closer to $12 a bottle. (They also produce a wine called "Monte Regalo", which is an absolutely fantastic blend of cab, merlot, and sometimes syrah. It is priced at $22, so it doesn't meet our criteria, but it blows away most wines in that price range.) If you see any Chandler Reach wines and haven't tried them, BUY them!!! They are located just across the Yakima River from Red Mountain on I82.

As a side note, I agree that some of the wines you mentioned are usually well made (Pavin and Riley, Red Diamond, Pine and Post, etc), but to me, they seem a bit one-dimensional. Very drinkable, good party wines, but not much going on. I am really looking for tips to share on wines that have that "little something extra" in this price range. Those are hard to find in the under-$10 range, so when I find them, I tend to get excited!

OK.... time for more readers to add their two cents worth. And, how come nobody has mentioned any whites? There are tons of great whites in this price range!

Tim

Hey WineO!

Thanks for a few good ideas. That is why I started this topic! Isn't it amazing what kind of great values you can find when looking at blends? You can often get remnants of "the good stuff" for half the price of a producers other bottles. One question - where have you seen Zerba's Wild Z for $15?? Yokes here in Spokanehas thebest wine prices, and I have never seen it, even on sale, for less than $19.99.

I have tried many of the wines you listed, but I didn't want to list EVERY decent, affordable Washington daily drinker. That's what the other "WineO's" are for!! I will add two more nice bottles for the dough.... Barnard Griffin's Rose Of Sangiovese absolutely ROCKS!! That is our favorite summertime sipper - killer with grilled shrimp. Also, Hedges CMS Red is consistently a nice bottle.

Cheers!

This is on my list too. Goes great with just about everything, from sipping to food pairing. Can't beat the price.

David

Hey David,

Amen to that! That juice is absolutely killer for $10. I don't know where you live, but if you are within striking distance of Spokane, watch Robert Karl Cellars website for the next release of their Rose of Cabernet Franc. You probably won't see it in stores. It, too, is a completely rockin' wine, totally dry, and beyond totally delicious. I think it was in the $12-$13 range last year. I bought several bottles, and almost cried when I opened the last bottle in October with our almost-world-famous grilled lemon-garlic chicken (tons of fresh garlic, red wine, lemon juice, oregano, allspice, fresh ground black pepper in the marinade..... freakin' yummmmm.... recipe available upon request!) and Caesar salad (with an intense, homemade Caesar dressing... not for the faint of heart, but good FOR the heart!). Hmmmmmm..... this is making me think of a new topic on the blog here.....

Anyway, glad to hear that you love the BG! They do a phenominal job making quality wines at a very reasonable price.

Tim

I've seen this ~80:20 merlot:cab for ~ $7 at the state liquor store. Check it out if you like that price point but are put off by the oakiness of many of the wines at that price. This is a negociant wine.