Top 5 great value red wines that are not from Trader Joe’s

Let’s pour a delicious red!

Enough about Trader Joe’s great wines! Finally!

Let’s branch out for those who aren’t near Trader Joe’s.

Let’s Talk about it!

When someone asked me what great red wines I enjoyed that were a great value, I could barely choose. Then I realized that so many of my favorites are from Trader Joe’s. Just to clarify, none of these are two-buck chuck (which is no longer just two bucks, by the way.) Actually, I’ve never even tried it. Just in case you are near a Trader Joe’s Wine, check out my post on why you should be in love with these wines.

For those of us who are not convenient to a Trader Joe’s that sells wine, we have to be more creative. It turns out that I actually do have other favorites that I can absolutely recommend.

Let’s take a step back. What do I mean about value? Value is subjective, obviously. I have seen people spend an exorbitant amount for a bottle and claim it was a great value. That is not me. For me a good value wine is about $15 and under ( these prices depend on where you buy them.) They all must punch way above their price point.

Many people say the sweet spot is $15 - $20 or $25. As soon as you spend more, you should expect more. I do not feel I necessarily get better value at that price point. As I said, value is subjective.

Fun idea: Buy a number of bottles of wine at different price points of under $15 and up to $25. Invite over a bunch a people. Cover the bottles and see if people can put them in price order. Spoiler alert: They won’t be able to.

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My higher end wines (over $30) are direct from Vineyard purchases from a Winery’s Wine Club. But that is a different post for sometime in the future.

Given all of these thoughts, here are my top five in no particular order (I am not being compensated in any way for my choices):

Bogle Essential Red Wine

This is the one!

Don’t worry about the year specifically. But if it is quite old, skip it.

I have mentioned Bogle in other posts. Essential Red is a blend from Bogle Family Vineyards. It contains Petite Sirah, Syrah, Teroldego (syrah relative), and Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a big wine. These grapes produce big fruit forward flavors.

Bogle also has Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petite Sirah varietal wines. Just to remind you, that means they have to have at least 75% of that varietal to call it that. If you can find the Petite Sirah, grab it. Since I can’t regularly find it, I didn’t want to make that my first choice of Bogle wines.

The Essential Red is usually the least expensive of the Bogle red wines, and I think the best. Every time I drink it, after not having had it for awhile, I am blown away by how delicious it is. When I was in Paso Robles tasting much more expensive wines than any of the Bogle reds, a fellow wine fan and I both remarked how our favorite value wine was Bogle Essential Red. With over 14% alcohol, it is not a wimpy wine at all. At under $10 grab it.

Amicone

Amicone is the way to go with Italian food.

Of course, you can have it with anything else as well.

Amicone is now called Amicale. As you can see, the bottles are almost identical.

Still just as delicious!

Amicone, and now Amicale, is a blend of Italian grapes from the Veneto region. They overripen and dry some of the grapes similar to an Amarone wine. Amarone wines are way more expensive, by the way.

I have seen this wine sold at Italian restaurants where they charge over $60. You should be able to buy it retail for less than $15. It definitely punches way above it’s price point. The alcohol is 14% in both Amicone and Amicale, so it is another powerful wine.

Some reviewers say the wine is full bodied, others say medium plus. This is why I do not like reading reviews. However, if you are reading reviews, remember when talking about the body of wine think skim milk versus milk versus heavy cream.

Cabalié

Cabalié is a delicious wine.

The Roman Numerals show the year of the wine. Just in case you forgot what all those numerals stood for.

Cabalié is a little harder to find than some of the other wines, but totally worth finding. It is a blend of mostly Grenache, with some Syrah and Carignan. They use old vines, which in this case makes for a deliciously concentrated wine. When a bottle says Old Vines, it is generally a good thing. However, it is a marketing term and sometimes it means little in the final product.

Cabalié is from the Pays D’Oc area located in Southern France. In general, you can get some great value wines from this area.

This, too, is not a wimpy wine. It is over 13% Alcohol.

Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon

This is Josh!

It’s a great wine when you want a delicious California Cabernet without the high price tag that often comes with it.

Josh Cellars does not have a long history under this name. It was founded by Joseph Carr (he also has wines under the Carr brand) and named after his father Josh. It was started in 2007 and sold out of the back of a car. I probably bought it for the first time not long after that.

Here’s the wine stained label we still have from the 2009 vintage.

The alcohol content was higher then, but delicious always. I have many more wine stained Josh labels through the years. No need for me to show more.

Josh Cellars has grown exponentially since its early days. It has also moved from Sonoma to Central Coast.

The Cabernet Sauvignons are my favorites, and the original one is the only one that can fit in our group here price wise. This wine is delicious. If you wanted to go above the price point buy the Bourbon Barrel aged Reserve Cabernet and the Hearth Cabernet and compare all of them.

Josh Cellars has from the beginning been generous with donations to many worthy causes, particularly those involving firefighters and their families. With Josh, you can drink well and do well.

Alcohol content is 13.5%.

Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages

Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages

Look for the wine in the French Burgundy section of your wine store. Yep, Beaujolais is in Burgundy.

Now let’s move on to a lighter wine. By lighter I mean in body and alcohol content. The wines above are all over 13% alcohol, but this wine is under that amount. All wines from Beaujolais are made from the Gamay grape. While Beaujolais is in Burgundy, it is not a Pinot Noir. I wrote exclusively about Beaujolais in an earlier post. If you want to know more, check it out.

While there are many Beaujolais-villages wines, I find this one hits all the right notes at the right price point. Drink it slightly chilled. It is festive and fruity and fun. I look at it as a change of season wine, but it really is an all year winner.

I could have come up with many more examples, but start with these. Discover your own favorites. Have fun with it!

Exactly! Wine should be fun and add to your life.