Recently I've been discovering excellent South African wines that offer great value. The Pecan Stream label from the Waterford Estate has a great Shiraz that is about $10 in the States. And Boekenhoutskloof's The Wolf Trap usually sells for under $10 is also superb.

I could go on, but I'd be interested to hear what everyone else's favorite reasonably priced wines are.

I look forward to your picks. Cheers!

Yes, "inexpensive" is a relative term. However, I would not consider a Camus wine to be "inexpensive" any more than I would consider most of the items, locations or services discussed on Extravigator.com to be "inexpensive." Over the years, I have never heard anybody use that term to describe Camus. It's usually considered to be an expensive wine but, on the other hand, it's one of America's finest and, if one is looking for a spectacular wine for a special occasion, at the end of the day, the price one pays for a wine for such an occasion isn't all that important.

J.L. - leaving the question of whether Camus wines are inexpensive or not aside, I am sure we can both agree that they are among the best coming out of Napa today. In fact, I am sure that, if the topic of this discussion was something like "Great Values in Wine," we would be in total agreement here.

— J.L."Inexpensive" is a relative term, and we are discussing this topic on Extravigator.com after all.... yes?

Uh, let's be serious here, J.L. I don't care if you are the Prince of Monaco. Caymus wines are expensive relative to the average price of a bottle of wine. End of story.

(BTW, I recommend reading Eric Asimov's recent article, Napa Valley cabernets: A bottle's price tag tends to outpace its quality for more information about how Napa wines are priced).

So, maybe I need to clarify.

What are your favorite wines under $25?

My question stems from the fact that even those who can easily afford a Caymus usually have a few inexpensive bottles of wine (under $25) that they like to fall back on when they are having a casual evening. Picking out a Caymus doesn't really take skill. You know what you are getting.

But, when you get a recommendation for an inexpensive bottle of wine from those who have actually had a Caymus, you know it's probably going to be very good. That was my reason for asking.

I have a friend who is a wine distributor, and we get a lot of nice bottles of Caymus as gifts. FREE. "Free" pretty much defines inexpensive for me. So, heck if I know how much Caymus costs, though I'm told they are quite expensive, should I actually have to buy it retail...

Notice... I did NOT, in any way, say that I was any sort of expert at wines. My rule on wine is simple. If it tastes good, I say I like it. Period. The year? I don't usually look, and honestly I can't comment on it even if I did.

By the way, it's spelled Caymus.

Respectfully to all,
J.L.

The name Vinho Verde means "Green Wine" but it actually has a yellowish hue and it is really a mix of Red, White with touch of Rosé and a little bit of sparkle.

Vinho Verdes tend to retail for under $5 and are refreshing, light and delicious. The alcohol content tends to be lower than an average wine. I recommend trying it as an apéritif or with a salad.

I'm going to take you up on your suggestion and try to find a Portuguese Vinoh Verdes the next time I'm looking for a wine. (For $5.00 or less, how can you go wrong?)

btw, you might be interested to know that Vinho Verdes are now the second most exported wines from Portugal, next to Port wines.

However, as romantic as it may sound when a sommelier tells you that the Portuguese essentially hoard their wine because it is so good, the truth is that a vineyard will only make an concerted effort to export its wine if it can produce enough to make it worthwhile. Most Portuguese vineyards are note equipped to do so. If you compare a country the size of Portugal to the size of the United States (let alone the rest of the world) it gives you an idea of how many more millions of bottles of wine would need to be produced from each vineyard that wanted to export its wine to various stores throughout a nation. Let's not even get into how many more hectares of land each vineyard would need if they wanted to grow their own grapes (though a common practice is to purchase grown grapes from elsewhere to satisfy customer demand under non-estate labels).

That doesn't mean that a crafty importer can't get a hold of a special bottle of Portuguese wine. It just means that the small vineyards aren't going to waste their time and money exporting and marketing their product when they only have the resources to satisfy the demand of a small country like Portugal.

Actually, I like your story better. But I think that realistically the economics and production resources probably has much more to do with it than anything else. On the other hand, you could say that small Portuguese vineyards value their own wine so highly that they wouldn't dare invest in ramping up production for fear of sacrificing quality. That statement I might believe! But, if the sommelier had told you about the economics of Portuguese wine, you might have fallen asleep at the table.

Incidentally, the Boston Globe recently ran an interesting articles on inexpensive Portuguese wine that you can buy in the United States — especially with the dollar so weak now. The title is fittingly titled, "Price is right in Portugal."

cheers!

I was searching the internet for reviews of Argentine wines, so you can see mine is not only a biased opinion, and this is what I found:

http://www.torontolife.com/blogs/wine/2008/jan/16/argentinas-value-reds/

http://starchefs.com/wine/starvintners/html/nieto_senetiner/nieto_senetiner.shtml

http://www.greatwinecapitals.com/mendoza/index.html

And I add this site so you can see the local prices:

http://www.argentinawineguide.com/index.htm

I'm sure you can find any of these wines in USA and other parts of the world.

With respect to the Wolf Trap that I mentioned above. I recently got a chance to try a 2005 and a 2006. In my opinion the 2006 is much better. The Wolf Trap is not one of the Boekenhoutskloof estate wines, so they just import different types of grapes each year for this particular wine, depending on what's good at the time, and they blend them. And, some years are much better than others. If you can grab a 2006 get it by the case! Hopefully the 2007 is just as good if not better.

The article mentions some of the results, including the infamous Two-Buck Chuck which surpasses a $55 Napa Cab, and a mysterious sparkling wine from Washington state which outshines Dom Pérignon in the blind taste tests.

I wonder which sparkling wine it is?

It's mentioned in the free download of the first chapter of The Wine Trials.

They've been making wine in Australia for over 160 years and in addition to the bottles you can pick up anywhere, they make some very good "expensive" wines as well, like the 1994 Penfolds Grange Shiraz.

Here are Eric Asimov’s French treasures under $20, listed alphabetically.

Domaine des Aubuisières/Bernard Fouquet Vouvray Cuvée de Silex 2007, $16.99
Rich and lively with minerals and a touch of honey. (Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, Pa.)

Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Granges 2006, $17.99
Pliant and fruity with a healthy dollop of earth. (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York)

Pierre Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Beaujolais 2007, $14.99
Pale, pure, absolutely dry and refreshing. Textbook Beaujolais. (Weygandt-Metzler)

Clos Roche Blanche Touraine Cuvée Gamay 2007, $15.99
Juicy and minerally; my Thanksgiving wine for crowds. (Louis/Dressner Selections)

Marc Kreydenweiss Costières de Nîmes Perrières 2005, $15.99
Felicitous combination of fruit, funk and earth. (Wilson Daniels, St. Helena, Calif.)

Marc Ollivier Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Sèvre et Maine 2007, $12.99
All texture and tanginess, not extravagant fruit. (Louis/Dressner Selections)

Château d’Orschwihr Alsace Riesling Bollenberg 2006, $18.99
A dry Alsace nod to earth and flowers. (T. Edward Wines, New York)

Thierry Puzelat Touraine KO In Côt We Trust 2006, $19.99
Loire malbec, gorgeous, pure and delicious. (Louis/Dressner Selections)

Domaine Rimbert St.-Chinian Les Travers de Marceau 2006, $13.99
Light, juicy, floral and tangy. (Jenny & François/U.S.A. Wine Imports, New York)

Domaine Sainte Barbe Mâcon L’Expression du Chardonnay 2006, $15.99
Lively and fresh, with minerals and citrus. (A Becky Wasserman Selection/Willette Wines, New York)

http://app.e2ma.net/campaign/16149.4dd0d778d0d6ce9eb88b55db5dfa753c

There are some very good, inexpensive wines on the list.