# You "best" and "worse" under $8 wine...



## blueflint (Mar 29, 2014)

Ok, look in the kitchen (or where ever) and currently (or within the past 90 days), what is the best wine you have purchased for under $8? Lets limit this to the past 3 months. 

Now what is the worse under $8 wine you have tried in the past 90 days?

For my best under $8, I would say:

Beaulieu Vineyard "BV" Signet Collection Cabernet, California, 2009, $5.99
Santa Rita Medalla Real Carmenere, Chile, 2008, $6.99
Concannon Petite Sirah, California, 2011, $7.99

For my worse in the last 90 days...:

Cantine Galasso, Porta Sole, Sangiovese, 2012, Italy, $5.99
Bouchard Aine & Fils, Beaujolais, 2012, France, $7.99

Both of the "worse" tasted like paint thinner...both real dumpers  and disappointments. 

I buy most of my wine on the east side of Cincinnati at Wine Depot and they get quite a bit of wholesale clearances and closeouts so there is always some good buys. And for an everyday "cheap" easy drinker, specially for those that don't drink a lot of wine (friends that stop by), I find Redwood Creek Pinot noir a good choice, $5.99, fruit forward, smooth, real everyday "cheap" wine.

Oh, why $8? I find that overall, the quality changes at around the $7 or $8 price range and the $7-$15 a bottle are "usually" very good quality and most under $7 or $8 can either be quite questionable or soda sweet with no character....just my opinion. I find that trying various wines, it helps me look at various stages of wine making, to see what I can work to improve on (most areas actually).

Lets hear it, whatcha got under $8...good or bad?

Tony


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## sour_grapes (Mar 29, 2014)

Best: Concho y Toro Frontera Carmenere ($5)

Worst: Cupcake Merlot (on a super-duper sale to $8)
Ravenswood Merlot (on sale to $8) (I have had many decent Ravenswood wines in the past, but this was not one of them. I am not sure of the vintage, but I believe it was 2012.)


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## LeChat (Mar 29, 2014)

There is not a lot of choice for wine under 8$ where I live. In fact, I just did a search on the website of the government mandated liquor commission and only one bottle of wine was under 8$ (7.10$ actually).

That being said, I think Tocado, Campo de Borja from Bodegas Borsao SA is a pretty good value choice (@9$).

Worse I would say that it is a greek wine that I purchased a few years ago (none recently) called Kourtaki or something like that. I believe it is the only bottle ever that I poured down the drain.


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## ibglowin (Mar 29, 2014)

LOL I can't play…..


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## ckvchestnut (Mar 29, 2014)

I don't think we can buy wine for under $8 lol. Are you referring to cupcake red velvet wine? If so I actually like that wine! See how tastes can differ? But I don't get it for $8 it's $15.45 up here. But it doesn't say it's a merlot anywhere on the bottle? It's a blend of some sort. I'd have to check their website to be sure.


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## ckvchestnut (Mar 29, 2014)

Must not be the same wine. We don't even get the merlot. Red velvet is a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, Cab Sauv and Petite Syrah


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## sour_grapes (Mar 29, 2014)

ckvchestnut said:


> Must not be the same wine. We don't even get the merlot. Red velvet is a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, Cab Sauv and Petite Syrah



Jeez, I just looked at their website. In reds, they sell: Zin, Shiraz, your Red Velvet, Pinot Noir, Petite Sirah, Merlot, Malbec, Chianti, and Cab. Sauv. They have a similarly diverse offering in whites. I am always a bit suspicious about a vintner that offers what appears to be too many wines.


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## ckvchestnut (Mar 29, 2014)

Hmmm ya that is a lot. My lcbo only offers cab sauv, Chardonnay and my red velvet from them. Which I'm not sure if I have a cheap or uneducated palate - but I do like that wine quite a bit.


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## calvin (Mar 29, 2014)

One of my favorite wines is a Woodbridge by Robert Mondovi Malbec. It's $5.50 a bottle. I've seen the 1.5L for $8.00

There is a new liquor store that opened up on the other side of the cities from me called wine and more. There selection is rediculous. Over 7000 wines. They sell wine there for $7 that would be $12 or $13 in the small town I live in. It kinda makes the $8 mark a crapshoot. A friend of mine got some red wine 40# chicken or something like that for $3 a bottle. It's $7.50 where I live. Not very good but I wouldn't pour it down the drain


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


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## dralarms (Mar 29, 2014)

I can't play either, I've bought no wine in the last year much less the last 90 days.


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## Dale1978 (Mar 29, 2014)

Best
Red Moscato - Barefoot wines - $5.99
White Moscato - Barefoot Wines - $5.99

Worst
Sweet Muscadine - Duplin - $7.99 taste like paint thinner


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## ckvchestnut (Mar 29, 2014)

Had the barefoot moscato - red - it's good! I can't believe u get this for $5.99!


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## Dale1978 (Mar 29, 2014)

$5.99 at Wal-Mart


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## ckvchestnut (Mar 29, 2014)

Haha! Ya I'm sure lol I'm in Ontario Canada governed by the liquor police! Walmart doesn't sell liquor here. Wish they did! They've been lobbying to get the sale of liquor privatized for so long. Only the liquor control board sells wine and spirits here.


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## Dale1978 (Mar 29, 2014)

it use to be the same way here - I dont know if it is a good thing or a bad thing for Wal- Mart to sell wine - yes you can get wine cheap - but it has closed most of the wine shops up - because they cannot compet - so it is hard to find a really good wine around here anymore - unless you order from online

Dale


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## ckvchestnut (Mar 29, 2014)

Oh that's no good! But we are at the other end of the extreme... No wine stores either just one large gov't run chain same for the beer store. No competition no choice.


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## Dale1978 (Mar 30, 2014)

that is the way the hard liquor stores are here - run by the state - controlled by the state - most of the liquor stores do not sell wine anymore - there are still a couple - but they sell the cheap stuff - that you cannot drink - might as well be drinking paint thinner if you buy that wine - so have to resort to Wal-Mart and making it yourself


Dale


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## olusteebus (Mar 30, 2014)

I prefer Winking Owl (Aldi's brand, $2.97) cab, merlot, shiraz and chard over most value brands (woodbridge, yellow tail, etc.)


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## Boatboy24 (Mar 30, 2014)

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Trader Joe's yet.


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## dralarms (Mar 30, 2014)

Boatboy24 said:


> I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Trader Joe's yet.




I got a friend that buys 5 to 6 cases at a time, and saves me all the bottles.


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## PHISHBONE (Mar 30, 2014)

Best:

Folie A duex: Menage $6.47 a bottle...Killer stuff
14 Hands: $7.50 a bottle...This is $30 a bottle at our steak houses in TX

Worst: YELLOW TAIL!!


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## Boatboy24 (Mar 30, 2014)

PHISHBONE said:


> Best:
> 
> Folie A duex: Menage $6.47 a bottle...Killer stuff
> 14 Hands: $7.50 a bottle...This is $30 a bottle at our steak houses in TX
> ...



Wow. I think the Ménage goes for 9 or 10 bucks here.


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## terroirdejeroir (Apr 3, 2014)

I would second Yellow Tail as being the worst - the only wine I have actually poured down the drain. 

A number of good choices in my market for $7.99:

Newman's Own Napa Cabernet Sauvignon
Gnarly Head OVZ
Rosemount Estate Shiraz
Tilia Cabernet Sauvignon


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## chris400 (Apr 6, 2014)

Bama is so state controlled on there spirits it's hard to find anything cheap that's good unless you make it yourself. ...I will say our publix grocery here has a good selection


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## tmmii (Apr 7, 2014)

terroirdejeroir said:


> I would second Yellow Tail as being the worst - the only wine I have actually poured down the drain.
> 
> A number of good choices in my market for $7.99:
> 
> ...




Which yellow tail? I drink a lot of their cab-Shiraz, I think it's delicious. 


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## Elmer (Apr 7, 2014)

Crane Lake Pinot Noir
$4.99

It is light, drinkable and the bottle is a keeper.
I mostly use as a topper and drink the rest

Otherwise Jacobs Creek shiraz which around here sells about $7.99 a bottle.

Both are drinkable.

I dont buy bad any wine for under $8,
But I used to drink Yellow Tail, alot and never had a huge issue with it.
I guess now that I have been drinking alot more wine, Yellow tail falls on the lower end of the spectrum.


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## kevinlfifer (Apr 7, 2014)

The Andresons General Store Columbus and Toledo

La Lapin - Multiplicity , Lower end label of Rabbit Ridge, its a GSM for 7.99.

Really quite good.


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## cgallamo (Mar 5, 2017)

My top 3:
Bodegas Juan Gil Jumilla Wrongo Dongo - 2015
Les Jamelles Viognier 2014
Rive Droite, Rive Gauche Cotes du Rhone 2015

Worst:
Locations F-4 - ok I cheated a little because this cost me $14, but it is just too awful not to mention - maybe I got a bad bottle


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## JohnT (Mar 7, 2017)

My favorite "under 8$" wine is my own. At $3.75, you just can't beat it.


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