What country/region do you feel offers....

[megawill]

the biggest bang for your buck right now?

depends on which wine I'm drinking at the time...heard a lot about Chile for value but haven't found anything out of the ordinary the price ranges that I've tried.

I think in the 15-18 dollar range you just can't beat some of the Aussie Shiraz (Jester, Yangarra Park) and Spanish Rioja (97 Montecillo Reserva)?

what have you found??

---
megawill

[Botafogo]

Italy in General and Puglia, Sicilia, Sardegna and le Marche in particular. You can get seriously good reds at HALF that 15-18 range....

Roberto

[Innkeeper]

Agree with Roberto generally, but the wine glut in the U.S., Australia, and elsewhere has produced some fantastic spot values. You may think that North Liberty, IA is not the best place to take advantage of these, but you are wrong. I take advantage of these all the time from my tiny town in Maine.

The best place to start is your own reliable retailer. He/she will, having any savy at all, should be able to grab bargains proffered by distributors and pass them on to you. Next you should be on the mailing/e-mailing list of some of the major retailers, such as Wine Expo, Pops Wines, and Southern Hemisphere Wine Center. These, and many others will alert you to the bargains out there. Magazines and newletter writers such a Wine Spectator and Dan Berger will also advise you of the "bargain of the week."

We are seeing the development of small, independent importers and distributors in this area. Sort of reminds me of the rise of craft beers after the big guys consolodated down to two or three companies. You would think that the small operators would only be handling expensive stuff, but that is not the case here. We are finding wonderful values, particularly in Spanish wines right now, right here in our own back yard.

[zenda2]

Best available local bargains in reds: a year ago I'd have said Aregentine Malbecs, this year I'd have to say Spanish Grenache in my market, day in-day out pricing. When my local stores run sales I'm buying inexpensive Bordeaux to put away for a few years, the 2000 vintage is hitting the local shelves and reminds that 'a rising tide raises all boats'. California Zin field blends on sale...not really 'incredible bargains' at regular retail but hard to beat locally when the prices are good. VdP Syrah.

Whites: White blends from all over. German riesling and 'green apple' Chardonnay from Washington State.

Rose': Spanish (grenache) rosado

[Thomas]

I agree with Roberto, in principle, but I must say, it is too easy to make blanket statements about wine.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of wine on the market, from all over the world. Within every sector there are bargains and there are rip-offs, and within every sector there are those that offer the best value and those that offer the least.

Although he doesn't list a particular store to which I am close, I agree with IK. You have to keep searching, keep tasting, and keep notes.

[dananne]

I'm having a difficult time getting past the wonderful values I've had over the past two years with Spanish reds -- predominantly old vine garnacha (grenache) and monstrell (mourvedre), but also with tempranillo -- from "lesser known" regions like Yecla, Jumilla, La Mancha, and Toro. I feel like every region has some QPR gems that one can sniff out, but it just seems like Spain has offered me more, of late.

[Bucko]

For my palate, the Rhone and SUD is hard to beat.

[winoweenie]

Definately the Rhone until the latest bump in the Euro and the tiny bottom-feeder state of botowineexposis. WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

[wondersofwine]

It is hard to generalize but I feel like you do that many Australian shiraz and cabernet wines are bargains for their quality. I haven't explored Spanish wines that much to date. Also, one country that hasn't been mentioned, perhaps because we are thinking red wines, is Germany. I've found lovely, serious Riesling and Scheurebe wines for $10-$15.

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 09-10-2003).]

[Thomas]

As I suspected, you try to answer such a question and you come up with a variety of answers by a variety of people that leads you to a variety of possibilites. It is like counting angels on pinheads--or at least like trying to do so.

The best wine value is the one in your hand that did not cost your home mortgage to acquire and that pleases you to the end of time, or at least for the time that you spend drinking it, and then when you move on to the next great wine value--that is the next great wine value for now!

Not to mention that the word "value" has different meanings to different pocketbooks and temperaments.



[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 09-10-2003).]

[hotwine]

I'm with Foodie. Best values this week for me are from Italy; last week, it was France, the week before it was Spain, and before that, Germany. Just like an ol' hooker, I'll dance every step.

[joeyz6]

I'm with Bucko and WW on this one ... it's gotta be the Rhone, OR, if you care to venture just a bit further South and West, the Languedoc-Roussillon region. 15-18 bucks gets you a superb bottle of Coteux de Languedoc, or Collioure, or even a high-level Pic St. Loup. Of course, you pay for the importing and exchange rate, but you could always just travel over there and get the darn wines yourself. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

[This message has been edited by joeyz6 (edited 09-11-2003).]

[winoweenie]

Hi Joeyz. Sorry to have missed meeting you Sat in Wineexpoland. As this was my CBs' fall vacation I knew she wouldn't be too happy waiting for an hour & 1/2 whilst I boozed it up with the wild-man. How did the wedding go? Give us the 2-bit commentary. WW