Dec 14 2008
The Wine.com 100: 70+ Recession Value Wines (under $20)
Thanks to this post on Cellarette, I found out about another top 100 wine list. This one’s from Wine.com. The 2008 edition of the Wine.com 100 marks the second year the online wine retailer has compiled a top 100 list based entirely on customer preferences. The ranking reflects the top 1% of wines sold nationally on Wine.com during 2008. While many publications rank wines based on the opinions of wine critics, customers are the judge here by voting with their dollars.The Wine.com 100 list shows customers are choosing both quality and price, with 94 of the wines rated 90 points or higher from leading wine publications and over 70 wines priced under $20. This list is a great resource for discovering some high-quality, recession-proof value wines. What I also like about this list is that most of the bottles are widely available at wine shops across the country. The ones that you should look for after the jump…
Most of the great values here are from Chile, Argentina, Australia, Spain and New Zealand. Here are our Top 10 Values from the Wine.com Top 100:
#1 out of 100 Veramonte Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 2006 (Chile) - Cabernet Sauvignon — $10
#4 out of 100 Cristalino Brut Cava Non-Vintage (Spain) – $8
#7 out of 100 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough, New Zealand) – $15
#11 out of 100 Don Rodolfo Malbec 2005 Malbec (Argentina) – $10
#18 out of 100 A to Z Pinot Noir 2006 Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley, Oregon) – $19
#33 out of 100 Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough, New Zealand) – most wines across the country carry this bang-for-your-buck New Zealand white and we’ve seen it for as little as $8 a bottle.
#35 out of 100 Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz-Cabernet 2006 (Australia) – like the Nobilo above, most wine stores across the country carry this great value wine. Our friend Jordan loves it. It’s one of the few Australian reds you can get for under $10.
#36 out of 100 Avalon Napa Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley) – we’ve had this wine a lot over the past year and it’s a great value at $14.
#46 out of 100 Santa Rita Carmenere Reserva 2006 Carmenere (Chile) – one of the first wines we fell in love with was a carmenere — click here to check it out. Haven’t tried this one, but at $11 we’ll be giving it a go soon.
#69 out of 100 Bitch Grenache 2006 Grenache (Barossa Valley, Australia) – don’t be fooled by the ‘trying to hard to be cutesy’ name, Bitch makes some great wines. You should be able to find this Bitch for about $11.
