Good cab, pinot, merlots for newb?

[Danimal]

I've acquired the taste for red wine namely those of the title over the past
year but I want to develop the taste more. What wines would be good to start off in the $10 - $15 range? Thanks guys

[par]

now that you are at the brink of buying wine directly from the winery via the internet (a supreme court ruling was recently issued on thos) i'd say that you have loads of choices coming up.

I generally tend to hoover in the 20-30 range but in the 10-15 range i'd suggest some of Coppolas wines. Coppola's Rossi at $8 is a steal and works great with tomatoe based past dishes.

For pinots i've found a favourite in bergstrom (which i remember i picked up at $15) but this is hardly the wine that is easy to find. If you do find it, it's excellent.

For cheap but excellent cabs i'd suggest Ahlgren wines. he is a small grower in the santa cruz mountains and he makes an excellent cab in my opinion. Can only buy from the winery, i know of almost no shops who carries his wines (Wolfgang Puck serves his wine at his restaurant in silicon valley). http://www.ahlgrenvineyard.com/index.html

For those of you who love the california Zin's, this is just about as good as it gets. Tons of chocolate and spicy flavours creates this wonderful wine.

The merlot from ahlgren is so-so imho.

Dexter who runs this small family winery is retiring in december so in a few months there won't be any more of his great wines.

anyway, i have no affiliation with this winery other than i enjoy dexters wine making. And there are few of these family run wineries left in the world that makes really good wine.

[(909)]

I just picked up a couple bottles of Pinot Noir that was excellent. It is the Cambria Pinot made up of grapes from Julias Vineyard in Santa Maria. It cost me $13.99 a bottle. If you want to spent a couple bucks more, pick up a Morgan Pinot Noir Twelve Clones. These are both fantastic!!

[glovepuppy]

Go to wine.com and look on the left side for a link to the best wines under $20.00
That should give a good start.

pjg

[Danimal]

thanks guys.

[Svengali]

I like Liberty School Cabernet.....Reasonably priced....Great Cab

[yourchoice]

I am far from a wine connoisseur, but I've enjoyed the Castle Rock Merlot. Good luck and let us know if you find something good!

BTW, I hope this thread gets some recommendations, I'm always looking for a good wine to try!

[screwbag]

I'm a big fan if anything from Ironstone vineyards....

http://www.ironstonevineyards.com/

the older the better!!

[newcigarz]

Try the STERLING VINTNER'S COLLECTION® CABERNET SAUVIGNON. This is IMHO one of the best values for a High quality California Cab. @ $12.99