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Best wine for under $40

Along the lines of decent cheap wine, we'd tried a few of the wine subscription things all with pretty poor experiences. We tried Firstleaf though and have stuck with it. I like the options and how customizable the wine types are, and it's proven to be a good monthly baseline of everyday wines. Definitely a step up from routinely grabbing a few $20 bottles from Whole Foods, then we can just use the local wine shops for nicer options. One less thing to worry about or shop for.
 
Wine clubs are defs the way to go. We have been with Benzinger since 2014 for the really good stuff and Cameron Hughes for a couple of years for decent cheap wine and beyond.
 
Yeah wine clubs or direct shipment from specific wineries is the way to go if you don't have a good local shop (and time to go mill around/get to know the staff for recommendations).

Went to a Chateau Musar tasting last week where one of the sons from the winery attended. Had the 2016, 2012, 2001, 2000, and 1998 reds and the 2012, 2006, 2000, 1992, and 1986 whites. The reds are Bordeaux blends with a lower percentage of Cab than most right bank options (like 1/3 Cab). The whites were unlike any wine I've ever had (two local grapes from the Lebanon area) with savory mushroom, honey, and a ton of general earth notes. Definitely an eye-opening experience overall.
 
We just do wine.com because it's pretty easy to get solid discounts there. But lately, we have just been drinking Meiomi Pinot because it's good as hell -- they put some sort of addictive chemical that makes you crave it (fort)nightly.
 
We joined Costco in the last year...they seem to have a lot of decent wines in the 10-30 dollar range. Their Kirkland wines seem mostly to be decent and a good value. Disclaimer: I think I've bought only a total of 2 cases from them.
 
Yeah Meiomi is pretty popular, it's definitely got more sugar in it than your normal wines. Biggest issue I have with Meiomi from a snobby perspective is it's not a good example of what Pinot normally tastes like (I'd be surprised if it was any more than 75% Pinot, right at the cut off for still listing it as a Pinot on the bottle).

Wine.com discounts are great. I buy a decent amount of wine through Last Bottle, especially when they're running their quarterly marathons with free shipping.
 
Shooshmoo said:
We just do wine.com because it's pretty easy to get solid discounts there. But lately, we have just been drinking Meiomi Pinot because it's good as hell -- they put some sort of addictive chemical that makes you crave it (fort)nightly.
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Wakeforest22890 said:
Yeah wine clubs or direct shipment from specific wineries is the way to go if you don't have a good local shop (and time to go mill around/get to know the staff for recommendations).

Went to a Chateau Musar tasting last week where one of the sons from the winery attended. Had the 2016, 2012, 2001, 2000, and 1998 reds and the 2012, 2006, 2000, 1992, and 1986 whites. The reds are Bordeaux blends with a lower percentage of Cab than most right bank options (like 1/3 Cab). The whites were unlike any wine I've ever had (two local grapes from the Lebanon area) with savory mushroom, honey, and a ton of general earth notes. Definitely an eye-opening experience overall.
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good wine clubs are good. lots of the crap you get mail about feels like wholesalers just clearing shelves
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
Yeah Meiomi is pretty popular, it's definitely got more sugar in it than your normal wines. Biggest issue I have with Meiomi from a snobby perspective is it's not a good example of what Pinot normally tastes like (I'd be surprised if it was any more than 75% Pinot, right at the cut off for still listing it as a Pinot on the bottle).

Wine.com discounts are great. I buy a decent amount of wine through Last Bottle, especially when they're running their quarterly marathons with free shipping.
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I completely agree that it doesn't taste like normal Pinot at all. But I love it.
 
meiomi sold out for distribution. wine is not nearly as good as i had at their vineyard, although that's true of lots of wine on the east coast
 
I think I've only had it once and it was within the last 18 months. Definitely a ripe fruit, softly sweet, easy drinker.
 
Meiomi was owned by Belle Glos and used to be really good. They sold off a couple of years ago - I talked with the Belle Glos people at an event the other night asking why Meiomi sucks now.

You can sometimes find a Belle Glos pinot at/under $40 and its a cool bottle.
 
Did they have an answer other than “doesn’t matter got paid?”
 
That's the answer for all those mainstream California wineries owned by conglomerates. Formulaic wine making, no difference from vintage to vintage, no terroir expression. I think Meiomi may have even dropped putting a vintage on there.
 
Yeah Chuck Wagner makes some good wines. Joe Wagner makes a lot of wines and a lot of $$$$
 
If there was a local wine shop that did a monthly wine club where you got like 3 bottles a month set aside or delivered for a flat fee would y’all sign up? If so would you want to have the option of tiers each month or just have someone pick out three seasonal/fun releases for you to have?
 
i really like my local wine/beer shop and would be all in on a monthly wine club thing

i asked them about it and the guy just said "it's harder than you think"

uh okay
 
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