Greg enjoying an outstanding wine tasting at Stags Leap Wine Cellars in Napa.
“I love everything that is old; old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines.”
A friend of mine in Texas recently asked me to send him my “Best Wines for under $30” list. I asked him if he wanted red, white, or both. He said “both” and then…. I got stuck. OK, we were pretty busy recuperating from a wedding at the time, but I had this task on my mind for a while before Greg and I actually sat down to put it together. It was a more overwhelming task than I anticipated because there are SO MANY wines that we enjoy at that price point!
We decided to go back through our purchases from wine.com. We have been members of the Stewardship Program where you pay $50 a year and then get free shipping on all orders. Needless to say, we have purchased quite a bit of wine over the years, especially as we have become more knowledgeable. And the more we have learned about wine, the more we have enjoyed it!
We had such a great time looking through our purchases over the past 6 years or so! We saw what we bought for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, parties and Last Bottle Wine Club gatherings. You can sort the list by red, white, region, grape, price, etc. We’ve bought quite a variety of wines – and each bottle tells a story. That’s one of the things I love so much about wine! You can remember people, places, moments and even music just by looking at a bottle!
So, the following list is what we came up with. It’s not perfect, but it’s a pretty decent list! It covers a nice variety of regions, grapes, styles and even price – while all are under $30 US (except 1 that we really thought was worth including). Every producer and every wine on the list is a solid choice at a good value. We purchased them through wine.com but they are widely available at liquor stores including Spec’s, Total Wine, Binny’s and others. We have enjoyed each one of them thoroughly. Check it out:
Reds
Calera Central Coast Pinot Noir $29.99
Vietti Barbera D’Alba or Asti Tre Vigne 18.99
Daou Cabernet Sauvignon 26.99
Two Hands Sexy Beast Cabernet Sauvignon 31.99
Bila Haut 15.99
Mitolo The Jester Shiraz 18.99
Muga Reserva Rioja 27.99
Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo 26.99
Tikal Patriota 22.99
Felsina Berardenga Chianti Classico 23.99
Whites
Kung Fu Girl Riesling $10.99
Frog’s Leap Sauvignon Blanc 22.99
Roederer Estate Brut (sparkling) 21.99
Dr. Loosen Blue Slate Estate Kabinett 19.99
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars KARIA Chardonnay 29.99
Pierre Sparr Gewurztraminir 22.99
Saget la Perriere Vouvray Marie de Beauregard 24.99
Vietti Cascinetta Moscato d’Asti 14.99
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 16.99
Louis Jadot Pouilly-Fuisse 22.99
Burgans Albarino 11.99
We remember so many of these bottles! We love Muga and have been able to buy it at the little store in Lac Ste. Marie near our cottage. We have visited Vietti in Italy and have a poster with a picture some of their unique and beautiful artwork that is on each bottle. We gave Greg’s sister a bottle of The Jester Shiraz for Christmas one year and she loved it. The Tikal was on the Wine Spectator Top 100 list one year and we were able to snag a bottle. We learned to love Riesling from Dr. Loosen and we enjoyed the Stag’s Leap KARIA Chardonnay with our very dear friends on our last trip to Napa. Each bottle is a memory. Won’t you try a bottle and share your stories with us? Enjoy!
Are you planning a trip somewhere in Europe? We can help with that! Remember that we are always available to you and your friends and family for custom trip planning to Italy, France, Ireland, England and all of Europe. We also still have spots available on our small group trip to Tuscany and our small group trip to Piedmont! We'd love for you to join us! Feel free to reach out via email — I'm always available to talk about travel!!
Betsy and Greg with Luca Vietti of Vietti Wines at Jimmy's Food Store in Dallas. Vietti is one of our favorite Barolo producers in Piedmont.