The Best Cheap Red Wine I've Ever Had

RJM62

RJM62

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Geek on the Hill
Vicolo Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2012.

I recently picked up a bottle of Vicolo Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2012, mainly because it was cheap and I'd never heard of it before. At $6.99 a bottle locally, I figured it was worth a shot; so I bought a bottle.

As it turns out, I wound up opening it when I was with my dad this weekend. We often try new wines together. As soon as we tasted it, we looked at each other in disbelief. Neither of us had ever tried a wine in that price range that was as good as this one.

I'm not going to pretend that I'm a sommelier, but I'd say the word that best sums up this wine is "refreshing." It's dry, but lively, with fruity overtones.

I picked up a case today to split with my dad. We enjoyed it that much.

-Rich
 

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Charles Shaw. Aka "two buck chuck" from Trader Joe's. I hear Whole Foods now has their edition of a $2 bottle now as well.

Never had either of them but some people swear by them.
 
In our house, "Yellow Tail" is the go to wine if we don't see something we really want to try. Not a home run, but more than good enough ...

... Say, when did I go from "red neck" to "stuffy wine drinker"? ...
 
nice!

for "cheap wine" I recommend Ravenswood Vintners blend Zinfandel, pretty tasty for the money (around $7ish). normally I'm a cab drinker but this was perdy gud.
 
I used to get a Marcus James Cab Sauv for $6 for a 2 liter bottle. It's an Argentinian wine that when I'd put in a decanter and serve up, guests were really pleased with. For a red I even liked it.
 
RJM62 said:
Vicolo Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2012.

I recently picked up a bottle of Vicolo Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2012, mainly because it was cheap and I'd never heard of it before. At $6.99 a bottle locally, I figured it was worth a shot; so I bought a bottle.

As it turns out, I wound up opening it when I was with my dad this weekend. We often try new wines together. As soon as we tasted it, we looked at each other in disbelief. Neither of us had ever tried a wine in that price range that was as good as this one.

I'm not going to pretend that I'm a sommelier, but I'd say the word that best sums up this wine is "refreshing." It's dry, but lively, with fruity overtones.

I picked up a case today to split with my dad. We enjoyed it that much.

-Rich
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Agree.
 
For cheap, I am a fan of Blackstone. The Merlot is one of my favorite wines.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
For cheap, I am a fan of Blackstone. The Merlot is one of my favorite wines.
Click to expand...

Lodi puts out some reasonably decent wines, despite the fact they grow primarily table grapes. You might check out Bogle, from the same basic region but better, particularly their Zinfandels.

I'm a bit of a Napa/Sonoma valley snob myself though.
 
ssonixx said:
Charles Shaw. Aka "two buck chuck" from Trader Joe's. I hear Whole Foods now has their edition of a $2 bottle now as well.

Never had either of them but some people swear by them.
Click to expand...

We buy it by the case (although it's Three Buck Chuck in the Midwest!) have for years.
 
Ok, get ready to run from the room, gagging all the way...

Franzia chillable red. I like it because it is like 10 bucks for 5 liters, and it is in the bladder box so no oxygen gets to it after it is opened.

Nothing like a twist cap box wine..!! Oh yeah, I add a little Crystal Lite cherry pomegranate to add a little sweetness to it.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Please turn in your PPL at the nearest FSDO :)
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That's not a FAR violation, that's a total mancard violation....

leave yer testicles with the nearest wench and never miss the loss...
 
Sac Arrow said:
Lodi puts out some reasonably decent wines, despite the fact they grow primarily table grapes. You might check out Bogle, from the same basic region but better, particularly their Zinfandels.

I'm a bit of a Napa/Sonoma valley snob myself though.
Click to expand...

Oh, we like Bogle too. :yes:
 
Vicolo Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2012

Looking forward to trying it, thanks for the tip! Odd from a hillbilly....:wink2:
 
brian];1519012 said:
In our house, "Yellow Tail" is the go to wine if we don't see something we really want to try. Not a home run, but more than good enough ...

... Say, when did I go from "red neck" to "stuffy wine drinker"? ...
Click to expand...

Oh, I missed that. The only bottle of wine I've ever poured out in my life was a bottle of Yellow Tail. I think it was a cab or something. I don't know if the bottle turned, or it was just bad wine, but I couldn't drink it. And I'm not above drinking Mad Dog or Alize.
 
I thought Pilots only drank bourbon.
Maybe that's just commercial pilots.

I have received my fair share of mms messages from commercial pilots showing their bottle of bourbon on the hotel nightstand always with some caption about how it only cost them 6 bucks because they are in Katmandu or wherever.
 
RJM62 said:
Vicolo Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2012.

I recently picked up a bottle of Vicolo Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2012, mainly because it was cheap and I'd never heard of it before. At $6.99 a bottle locally, I figured it was worth a shot; so I bought a bottle.

As it turns out, I wound up opening it when I was with my dad this weekend. We often try new wines together. As soon as we tasted it, we looked at each other in disbelief. Neither of us had ever tried a wine in that price range that was as good as this one.

I'm not going to pretend that I'm a sommelier, but I'd say the word that best sums up this wine is "refreshing." It's dry, but lively, with fruity overtones.

I picked up a case today to split with my dad. We enjoyed it that much.

-Rich
Click to expand...

I lived in Abruzzo for a semester in Italy. I got hooked on the Montipulciano while I was there, but my preferred brand is only sold by a couple of distributors in the States. I'll have to see if I can find any Vicolo locally and give it a shot.
 
ssonixx said:
Charles Shaw. Aka "two buck chuck" from Trader Joe's. I hear Whole Foods now has their edition of a $2 bottle now as well.

Never had either of them but some people swear by them.
Click to expand...

I second that ! 2 buck Chuck has also been shown to cause more than a few unexpected pregnancies as well !
 
During Oshkosh camping this year we opted for a box wine from Pepperwood Grove. It was "The Big Green Box" Pinot Noir ( Chilean grape I think) for $16/3Liter and was pleasantly surprised. That puts the cost around $4 per bottle if purchased individually.

On a side note I have friend that owns a winery and swears by the boxed version of his wines claiming its more stable due to cleaner bottling process, no UV light degradation on the shelf, shipping cost is 1/3 the cost and it keeps a long time after opening since its vacuum sealed AND its the same wine that is sold in bottles for 3x the cost (he does contract bottling ).

Its been a real eye opener finding out that some wines bottled on contract sell for $28/ bottle as do the same wine different label selling for $8. Now if I can just get a list of what ones those are:confused:
 
RJM62 said:
Vicolo Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2012.

I recently picked up a bottle of Vicolo Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2012, mainly because it was cheap and I'd never heard of it before. At $6.99 a bottle locally, I figured it was worth a shot; so I bought a bottle.

As it turns out, I wound up opening it when I was with my dad this weekend. We often try new wines together. As soon as we tasted it, we looked at each other in disbelief. Neither of us had ever tried a wine in that price range that was as good as this one.

I'm not going to pretend that I'm a sommelier, but I'd say the word that best sums up this wine is "refreshing." It's dry, but lively, with fruity overtones.

I picked up a case today to split with my dad. We enjoyed it that much.

-Rich
Click to expand...
Does it have national distribution or just regional?
 
The wife and I just spend 5 days in Montepulciano specifically for the wine. Amazing stuff. Brought back some 18 bottles and customs didn't blink.

Stateside, we are big fans of most wines from Sonoma, Russian River Valley and Dry Creek.

We'll have to look for the one the OP mentioned. It doesn't ring a bell from our trip.
 
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