Best $12 and Under California Wines

Our 10th annual tasting uncovers 27 can’t miss values.

QRW Staff

It took us two months of blind tasting, adding, and deleting, but we have finally arrived at our 10th Annual Best of Best $12 and Under. There are two problems associated with such a tasting. First is inflation: years ago, we used to title this column “Best of Best $5 and Under”; then “$10 and Under.” Now it’s $12. The first problem feeds the second: getting wines. There are less good California “value” wines being sold at $12 because producers want to go up-market. Most of what we used to taste is now $15 and more, like the wines of Don Sebastiani and Sons, whose vinos were a mainstay at past tastings. As to the wines below, we have kept vintages as current as possible, but with wines like these, consumers needn’t worry about the year on the bottle because these wines strive for and achieve a good level of consistency vintage after vintage. The wines are largely brand-based; they are sourced wines (i.e., the grapes have been sought and bought in and around the California wine region); and they are produced by well-known volume vintners. For the second year in a row, we didn’t recommend any Pinot Noir because, at this price point, it’s hard to find Pinot worthy of recommendation. As usual, for the wine selections below, we don’t offer tasting notes. What you need to know is this: they are solid, balanced, tasty bistro and everyday wines that marry well with food. They exhibit rounded fruit, with soft spice and some oak. In judging wine, we favor finish, and the wines below offer a smooth, fairly full and satisfying one. These wines offer easy flavors upfront and invite a second glass, perhaps the best recommendation we can offer. It’s what many consumers want, and it’s at the price they want to pay.

We blind tasted 97 wines from seven varietals. Please note: Prices below are retail purchased on the East Coast, and prices may vary from region to region.

Cabernet Sauvignon

• 2003 Coastal Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon, California, $7
• 2005 Fat Cat Cabernet Sauvignon, California, $10
• 2004 Forest Glen Cabernet Sauvignon, California, $11
• 2004 ForestVille Cabernet Sauvignon, California, $6
• 2003 Harlow Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon, Lodi, $10
• 2006 Napa Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, $12
• 2006 Red Truck Cabernet Sauvignon, Central Coast, $12.
• 2006 Redwood Creek Cabernet Sauvignon, California, $8
• 2005 Round Hill Cabernet Sauvignon, California, $9

Merlot

• 2005 Forest Glen Merlot, California, $11
• 2004 Napa Ridge Merlot, Napa Valley, $12
• 2006 Redwood Creek Merlot, California, $8
• 2005 Round Hill Merlot, California, $8

Zinfandel and Shiraz

• 2005 Bonny Doon Vineyard Syrah, Le Pousseur, Central Coast, $10
• 2005 ForestVille Zinfandel, California, $6
• 2005 Harlow Ridge Shiraz, Lodi, $10
• 2003 Napa Ridge Syrah, Napa Valley, $12

Red Blends

• 2006 Red Truck Petite Sirah, California, $10
• 2005 Grand Pacific Starliner Red, $12

Chardonnay / Sauvignon Blanc / Blends

• 2006 Fat Cat Chardonnay, California, $10
• 2005 Gallo of Sonoma Reserve Chardonnay, Sonoma, $12
• 2005 Grand Pacific Starliner White, $12
• 2005 Mont Pellier Chardonnay, California, $7
• 2005 Napa Ridge, Napa Valley, $12
• 2006 Round Hill Chardonnay, California, $9
• 2006 White Knight Sauvignon Blanc, Lodi, $12
• 2005 White Knight Viognier, Clarksburg, $12
  
  

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In the April 7, 2008 Newsweek, we read of Robin Goldstein’s Wine Trials, a new book based on a blind tasting of 540 wines priced from $1.50 to $150. The tasters included professional wine tasters and everyday drinkers, who recorded their impressions on a scale of “great, good, ok, and bad.” The results: 100 wines $15 and under outperformed their richer relatives. Among the big-time winners was Charles “Two Buck Chuck” Shaw. The author makes it clear that people shouldn’t have to “apologize for serving cheap wine.” There’s nothing like a blind tasting, as we’ve advocated for years, to make you humble and to make you appreciate wines. As a recent Caltech/Stanford study showed, people will judge the value of wine on price. The study — a non-blind tasting — told the tasters that there were four wines priced from $5, $10, $45, and $90. In fact, there were only two wines marked with different price tags. Price dictated pleasure as the tasters liked the $90 wine best and the $5 wine least. When, however, tasters were offered sips without price information, they selected the $5. Go figure ... Like people everywhere, Americans will judge a wine by price, not by quality.