QOTD: Not under $10 (which makes it even worse), but I’m going to say the 2005 Layer Cake Shiraz…terrible!

I was scared you might of something good to say about that heinous Lindemanns garbage. I should have known you would come through. I’m actually rather pleased you had the same discription as I did ‘a hot, kick in the teeth,’ Thanks but no thanks.

I think Kahuna is still mad at because Gary is using the SF WLTV glass and as for his opinion of Cali Pinot Noir, fine, don’t buy any – there will be more Littorai, Londer, Papapietro Perry, Kosta Browne, Flowers, etc, etc, for us locals to drink. I had a bottle of Gevrey Chambertin the other day and side by side with a DuNah, the Cali won hands down. (in my opinion)

One good thing to come out of the Sideway’s Phenom, good Merlot can be had at a fraction of the price of Cali Cab. I enjoyed a bottle of Silverado Merlot, and I agree with Gry Vynrchk it did drink like a Cab. Nice QPR

Anyway Kahuna while you’re slamming California Pinot, why don’t you.. “blow me a kiss while you’re leaving…” (Bud E Love reference)

entertaining episode, but a little painful to watch. i knew where it was going the second i saw that bottle of lindeman’s.

qotd? don’t remember the name, but i had some $6 portugese stuff that was pretty brutal. i choked my way through a glass, left it overnight, tasted it again the next day and dumped it down the drain.

The Beringer founders estate is actually a fairly solid Pinot for under 10 dollars come to think of it. Their Private Reserve is decent too, but that’s a different story heh.

It always pays to know somebody that works in the industry 🙂

Yeeeech! Under 10$ Pinot is always disappointing. I remember when I was getting started with wine I bought almost all of them and couldn’t find one worth a second glass. Worst wine in a while, Inheritance 2004 Petite Sirah from Lone Dove Vineyards in Lodi, CA. If it weren’t for the porcelain staining possibility, I might have used it to clean my toilets. It was that bad. Seriously, I think some paint thinners might be more palatable.

Wow… that has to be the worst show ever.

QOTD: 2005 Ruffino Chianti – their entry level bottling – literally liquid Drano. Had it around Thanksgiving 2006 – so it was hard to believe that a red wine 2005 was already in bottle and through the distribution channel. This was just awful stuff.

Here is my thought at this price and this quality level: Start thinking of something other than wine. I’m a wine geek always looking for a reason to drink wine but after this episode I think about something like beer (maybe a belgian or a good domestic micro) or a mixed drink or a martini. These are all better sensory experiences than a really bad wine. Save your money for something better and while you wait perhaps drink a mojito.

Yikes! If you couldn’t even find a good bottle of Pinot under $10, what chance do we have?? QOTD – Fish Eye Shiraz – U – G – L – Y – it ain’t got no al – i – bi, it’s ugly, yeah, yeah, it’s ugly……

Really cheap pinot noir kind of scares me. The least expensive pinot I have had that was decent (somewhat above adequate) was a Bourgogne Rouge at around 17 bones.

QOTD: I have had a lot of pretty horrible under $10 wines. Two-buck chuck cabernet is pretty awful, though possibly not as bad as yellowtail shiraz. I also had a another california cabernet that was wretched, which I think might have been called “Cedar Creek,” but that’s a memory I tried to block out.

It should probably be noted that, with the exception of two buck chuck, all of these wines came from liquor stores that are built primarily out of bulletproof plexiglass…

QOTD: Brown Brothers 2006 Lexia (i don’t buy it but was subjected to it at a dinner party). Sugar syrup would be better to drink to this.

Ugh. Under $10 pinot? no chance.

QOTD: Little Penguin pinot and 2 Buck Chuck chard.

QOTD: I had the worst liquid sold as wine in the United States after the government put measures in place to assure food quality: a cabernet from India I purchased becuase I wanted to “expand my horizons” and it said M Rolland consulted. If I had consulted on this stuff, I would have said “no.”

QOTD: I’m in too good of a mood to think negatively, so I’ll turn it around and say the best under $10 wine I’ve had is probably the Las Rocas Garnacha I ordered off your recommendation.

Is it common for Israeli wines to be corked? I bought two this year for Passover and both of them were corked, and including those 2 I’ve only had 3 bottles of corked wine in my life (I think). The only time I’ve had uncorked Israeli wine is when I’ve actually drank it at a winery in Israel. Maybe they’re not so good with the shipping?

Hey, someone tell Kahuna there wasn’t a single California Pinot grape in the bunch! Pay attention big guy! 😉

So… too bad there was nothing there worth tasting. Always on the lookout for a cheap Pinot.

QOTD: Hmmmm…don’t buy a lot of sub $10 wines, and those I do are usually on a rec, so really can’t remember any bad ones. You know what they say?… “GaryV, drinking bad wine, so I don’t have to!”

Hey, someone tell Kahuna there wasn’t a single California Pinot grape in the bunch! Pay attention big guy! 😉

So… too bad there was nothing there worth tasting. Always on the lookout for a cheap Pinot.

QOTD: Hmmmm…don’t buy a lot of sub $10 wines, and those I do are usually on a rec, so really can’t remember any bad ones. You know what they say?… “GaryV, drinking bad wine, so I don’t have to!”

I do not know who is worse, the people that produce that plunk or the people that buy it.

Gary- Still ‘drinking bad wine, so I don’t have to’ !!!!!
Great stuff!! I have had the Cavit. It really is off balance!!
Too acid!!!
Thanks Gary!!!!
🙂

That would be too ACIDIC!!!!!!
🙂

With how bad these wines are, why do you even carry them in your store?

I see Pinot Noirs from places that historically never have had it planted. I avoid those. Like Italy. If I want to spend less than $10 on an Italian wine it’s made from an Italian grape.

QOTD Corbett Canyon Cabernet (it said on the label). My wife and I each took one sip, looked at each other and I said,”Thompson Seedless.” We poured the rest out and opened another bottle.

i also got sucked in by the title but was disappointed that you didn’t find a good pinot in this episode. i am a long time (way pre-sideways) fan of PN. i was pissed for a while when sideways caused alot of good pinot to go up in price. i began to avoid pricey pinot (all pinot?). but recently im beginning to think that all the buzz has brought more supply and since quality in wine production *generally* improves, maybe its been a good thing. at around 10-13 bones there seems to be more and more decent new pinots. the agustinos, bogle, castle rock are some examples. i hear the cycle gladiator pinot is not bad for ~9 bones but haven’t tried it yet. what ever happened to the bad fish and hammond pinots gary?

a few episodes back your qotd was about whether or not to change the format. i think the consensus was to generally keep it the same (taste & results live) but occasionally mix it up and throw in wines you tasted recently and liked. i think this is a perfect opportunity for gary to taste some more at/under $10 pinots behind the scenes and do an episode with just the winner(s).

I’ll be honest Gary….I don’t usually drink wine under $10 for the exact reason this show illustrated….most of it is CRAP!
Also, why not spend an extra $5-10 and get something that is so much better. I just really don’t see why these wines exist? Make stuff that is worth drinking damnit!
QOTD – Ontario Cabernet….God I have had some shitty Ontario Cab (there are good ones I know…)

Hey Gary,

It looked like you weren’t enjoying this episode, but I have to admit I was loving it. I don’t have a ton of disposable income right now, so it’s great to hear some actual criticism of cheap wine just for contrast. Pinot’s are just too popular to have any quality at this price point though…but I highly recommend other ‘cheap wine’ episodes (for the other end of the sideways spectrum, do a cheap merlot episode).

QOTD: Can’t recall the brand, but it was a Chilean Malbec, and it tasted like a bucket of chalk. Like drinking the water used to wash a chalkboard.

-Justin
(out of lurker status)

Everything from CA under $10 prety much blows.