That's a Steal: Every Day Drinkers

When I say "every day drinker", I'm not talking about your alcoholic cousin Eddie.

No offense intended any of our readers actually have an alcoholic cousin Eddie.  Alcoholism is a serious disease and we support treatment for those in need.

What I am talking about is the bottle of wine you have absolutely no concerns about opening on a night like tonight, pouring yourself a glass, and writing a blog post.  I've been horrible about following my own advice and have none of those bottles on my rack right now so alas, I abstain.

I often get asked for suggestions for every day drinking wines that are in our "That's a Steal" price category; typically $15 or less.  So I'm going to let you in on a little secret.  Just for you, our fair readers, I share my top Pacific Northwest every day drinking selections:

• H3 Cabernet Sauvignon, usually on sale for about $12. All Horse Heaven Hills fruit. You’d think it cost double what it does.
• Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet Sauvignon, usually on sale for $8.99 at your local grocer. Best “cheap” wine out there.
• Desert Wind Ruah, often around $15 at the large grocers. A pretty nice red blend from the Wahluke Slope area.
• Tamarack Firehouse Red, around $16. An even nicer red blend from Walla Walla.
• Barnard Griffin Syrah, $15 in the stores. The Barnard Griffin “tulip label” wines are all very solid, reasonably priced, and broadly available.
• StoneCap: All three of their reds are nice, less than $10. This is all estate fruit from Goose Ridge that didn’t fit the profile for whatever they are putting out under the Goose Ridge label.
• Terra Blanca Arch Terrace: While listed at $25, you can often find most of these reds in the $17 range. It’s all Red Mountain estate fruit and is one of the best Red Mountain deals out there.

Personally I’d go with the H3, Desert Wind, and Barnard Griffin as every day drinkers…the Tamarack is a great "with dinner wine"…and the Terra Blanca for guests or to take to a party, etc.

StoneCap and the Grand Estates are nice, but I can tell the difference between those and the rest of the list.  I'm also a bit of a snob.

Enjoy!