Last chance: Top 20 insanely delicious wines from the wine gallery
Come on in and hear about some fantastic wines!
Top 20! Wow!
Last chance?!? I better run. Not really.
Let’s talk .
In all honesty, there were only 19 in the gallery. Well, there were 20 but I noticed a duplicate. I guess one of them was so good, it needed to be repeated.
I’m closing the wine gallery because I kept forgetting to add my favorite wines. There are so many fantastic wines I want to share. Also, each one was getting lost with the others. If you were looking at it on your phone, it just kept going and going.
To make up for the duplicate, I am adding the Ridge Zinfandel wines that we just drank. I, totally, would have put them in the gallery. That would have made it more than 20.
All of these wines are truly the best of the best for me. Each one deserves their own special mention. The gallery didn’t allow for me to write as much as I wanted. I have noticed that all 20ish of these wines are red. In the future, I will mention more of a mix of red, white, rosé, and sparkling.
All future all-star wines will be mentioned separately in a post. Some wines I want to mention have limited quantities. So I will give a shout out to my email fans only. So you’re definitely going to want to get in on that.
All of these wines are under $50. Probably under $40 depending on where you buy them. Many are under $10.
You can have insanely delicious wines for much less than some people will tell you. Go and read my post on Top 4 things you need to know about the cost of wine. I’ll wait.
I’m going to start with the Ridge Zinfandel wines. Look at them as a bonus. These 3 never made it into the gallery. We just drank some of them recently. I have other Ridge wines I will mention. as well.
Ridge Vineyards is in Sonoma. They make single-vineyard wines. This is a perfect example of how different vineyards can turn out very different wines. All of them were good. Some were outstanding.
I was a member of the Ridge Z-list wine club for years. Z stands for Zinfandel. A favorite grape variety of mine. They do have other wine clubs.
I only left the club because we made the mistake of joining too many wine clubs when we were in Sonoma. We became overwhelmed. The pros and cons of joining wine clubs will be a blog post soon.
The two wines from Paso Robles are 100% zinfandel. Although they don’t list it front and center, they were from the Benito Dusi Ranch. There is a whole long story there. Google it if you are interested. Paso is not in Sonoma, by the way. That’s a totally different area. Yep, I’ve been there. I have two posts on it.
We tasted these 2 wines together at a family dinner. While some felt the 2014 was getting old, there were those that preferred it to the 2015. Both wines said on the label that they would be best within 5 to 6 years. Many wines makers will not give you this advice. I should have paid more attention to it. They were both delicious, but may have been even better had I had them earlier.
Zinfandel wines are not wimpy wines, and these were definitely not. They were fruit forward and high in alcohol. Both were over 14% ABV (alchohol by volume) Since I and my wine drinking buddies (in this case, my family) all like this style, we really enjoyed them. If this isn’t your style, skip down until you find one that fits your taste.
The Pagani Ranch 2013 is not 100% Zinfandel. It is 83% zin, 16% Alicante Bouschet, and 1% Petite Sirah. Ridge really takes their blending wines seriously. Actually, most serious winemakers do. Just wait until you see some of the other Ridge wines.
This wine was given a 10-15 year development range. See, what I said about different wines and different vineyards. Also, there is no way I would have known this had they not said.
Spoiler alert: If the Zinfandel is below 75%, they can’t list the wine as a Zinfandel. Because Ridge is proud of each vineyard they will proudly list just the vineyard.
Here is an example:
This is a 2014 zinfandel from Lytton Springs. It is only 69% zinfandel, with the remainder being petite syrah, carignan, and mourvedre. Because it is below the 75% threshold, it cannot put Zinfandel on the label. Some lower end wines would just list it as a red blend.
This is an insanely delicious wine. At over 14% Alcohol (ABV) it is again not a wimpy wine. This vineyard is owned by Ridge. Not all of the vineyards they source grapes from are owned by them.
And then we have this one:
This is a 2014 Zinfandel from Hooker Creek. It is 96% Zinfandel and 15% ABV. It is a fantastic wine. Many Ridge wines are available all over, but this one is from their Zlist (only zinfandels) wine club. It’s good enough to make me join the Z club again.
There are enough delicious Ridge wines, however. Try some of their others.
HINT HINT HINT
Pay attention to names of vineyards when you find a wine you love. You don’t need do a deep dive. BUT, if a vineyard is worthy of a mention, many times you will have other producers who use grapes from that same vineyard. It is no guarantee of quality, but it isn’t a bad way to choose a wine either.
Speaking of Vineyards, let’s move on to the incredible wines from Seghesio. Seghesio Family Vineyards is also in Sonoma.
I recommended all of these wines individually in the Gallery. Notice how each label notes where the vineyard is. Listing Sonoma Valley is more general than Dry Creek Valley, Russian River Valley, or Alexander Valley. The only one listing a specific vineyard is Home Ranch. That one will be more expensive. Because I also belonged to their wine club, I paid less for these bottles than you would now. I don’t want anyone looking up the prices for these and saying: “WHAT? SHE LIED TO ME!”
Again, I will get to the pros and cons of wine clubs in a future post.
Let’s mix it up and leave Sonoma for a minute and go to Europe.
Amicone Wine from Italy. It is made of mostly Corvina grapes. These are the grapes that are also used in Amarone, a much more expensive wine. Amicone definitely punches above its price point. You can probably buy it for under $15. We have seen it on wine lists in expensive restaurants at a huge markup.
This is a fantastic wine!
On to France
Cabalié is a delicious wine from Pays d' Oc. This area is in the southern coast of France. HINT: Keep this area in mind. A number of wonderful reasonably priced wines can be found here. This wine is made primarily from Grenache.
Just so you know, the grape variety is know as Garnacha in Spain. In Italy, it is known as Cannonau. Wherever it is grown, this another favorite grape variety of mine. These wines are generally fruit forward, especially when made in warmer climates.
This wine is often available through many online wine clubs. However, you should still be able to find it in wine stores.
If you remember your Roman numerals, you will notice that they are the same year as the vintage. Wow! Delicious wine and a math lesson.
Now onto Spain.
Okay, finally I am showing a Trader Joe’s wine. If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know my love for many of theirwines.
If you want, check out some of them here:
For Why you should be in love with Trader Joe’s wines, click here.
For Two Insanely good Trader Joe’s wines and who recommended them, click here.
For Three more insanely good Trader Joe’s wines Red Blend edition, click here.
And for my newest post: Join the incredible hunt to find Trader Joe’s wine shops in each state click here.
La Granja has a number of different wine varieties at Trader Joe’s. This one is a red blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha. (Remember when I said above, that in Spain Grenache is called Garnacha in Spain. Well, now you know it is true.) They also have a rosé Garnacha version that is quite good. Wow, I’m just recommending more and more wines. No wonder I have to close the Wine gallery.
This is an incredibly delicious wine, and can often be found for around $5. You cannot find anything this great for double the price. Well, unless it is another wine from Trader Joe’s. Trust me. I’ve tried.
If you find this, buy it! There is no down side.
Of course, another Trader Joe’s wine is on this list!
Talk about punching above its price point! This is an incredibly delicious Petite Sirah/Petit Verdot blend. I buy this whenever I see it.
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Continuing in the low price range is my good buddy Bogle Wines.
This is Bogle Essential Red wine. While it is one of the least expensive of Bogle wines, it is one of the most delicious. It goes with everything.
Bogle Family Vineyards have a wide range of really delicious red wines. Essential Red is one of our favorites. We like a number of the varietals too. If you can find the Petit Sirah, buy it!
The price for this wine usually costs under $10. However, this totally depends on where you buy it. If you see it around, buy it. You should not be disappointed.
Back to Spain for a minute. Sorry to keep jumping around. There is just so much to share.
This wine is 100% Tempranillo and is from the Rioja region. It is also over 14% ABV. Be careful. There is a more expensive version of this wine, but we all seem to prefer this one.
I love this wine. It is absolutely delicious. What was a surprise to me is that it is also Kosher. You may often find this wine in the Spanish section of your wine store, and not in the kosher section. Maybe both. If you know nothing about kosher wine and want to know what I’m talking about click here to read my post. It’s called: Best guide to buying kosher wine when you really know nothing about it.
Brief stop in Italy before we go back to California.
La Ladra Barbera d’Asti wine.
This wine totally punches above it’s price point. I will not go into a whole lesson in Italian grape varieties. There are hundreds. However, Barbera is the grape variety and it is from Asti. However, just because I really enjoy this Barbera d’Asti, does not mean you will enjoy one from another producer. If you can find this one, you will definitely have found a winner.
HINT: Another way you can find wines you like is looking for the producer.
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Back to Sonoma, where we actually stay for the rest of the list.
Let’s continue with the idea of following the producer. Just like Ridge and Seghesio wines are almost always delicious, you can do the same with others. Bruliam is a newer winery, but every wine they make is a standout. They are limited production so you will have to make sure you are on their email list.
Bruliam Pinot Noir from Sangiacomo Vineyards is sensational.
Sangiacomo Vineyards is a very well respected vineyard that a number of wineries source their grapes from. As I mentioned above with my hint, hint, you may like other wines from that same vineyard.
Bruliam Zinfandel from Rocky Ridge Vineyards in Rockpile is incredible.
Again, follow the Vineyard. This time also make note of the Rockpile region. The wines from their is usually spectacular.
This was an incredibly delicious Merlot from De La Montanya Vineyard and Winery in Sonoma.
De La Montanya has a really, really wide range of fantastic wines. Again, look to the producer.
The first wine club we ever joined was MacPhail Family Vineyards. I went to their tasting room twice before I joined. I wanted to make sure the wines were as insanely delicious as I first thought. They were!! Their Pinot Noir wines were some of the best I have ever had.
I did not put all of the wines shown here in the gallery, but I wanted to show them here. Sort of a RIP MacPhail Vineyards. They had to close because of the floods and fires in Sonoma. Incredibly sad.
If you can find any of their wines still around, grab them! If not, remember to seek out the vineyards mentioned in the labels above.
OR
You can follow the winemaker!
I DID JUST THAT! Read all about it in Three of the Absolute Best Hidden Gem Wineries in Sonoma Wine Country!! Click HERE! or the title.
Hopefully the wines from my wine gallery will lead you to find fantastic wines that you can savor and enjoy!
CHEERS!
