does jonny walker count as a favorite red?

and his brother blackie....

Does anyone have a favorite house red they tend to drink?
e.g. That particular brand and grape they would buy 6 bottles of to keep for company and every other weekend which is not overly pricey but an all around good buy?

So far the only one that comes to my head that has been a constant for us to bring out is the Robert Mondavi Woodbridge Cabernet Savs. Its price is around $12 Cdn and seems to have the character of a worthwhile wine for a wide array of occasions. Not too pricey but refined enough for its price.
Our 'house' white has been the Lindemans Bin65 Chardonnay (at about $10 a bottle) but in comparison to some other recent whites just $2 more, i'm not sure we are going to stay with this one. It is nice, light but can be a bit young depending on the year that you can find. The bottles at least one year old are fine but anything from the previous year is a bit too bubbly.
We have yet to find a Cdn chardonnay that we like. I've tried the Beringer Stone Cellar chardonnay but compared to the more refined Founders Estate Series, it just isn't worth the price.

Another topic:

Does anyone here own a wine cooler of particular brand name? Danby, Eurocave, Vinotheque?
I would like to hear your thoughts.

Wine....cooler.

wine.....cool..er.


wi...

oh yeah, that's what I used to drink when I didn't know any better.

I find the BV Century Cellars cabernet pretty decent yet amazingly cheap. Using $1 off coupons and buying when it's discounted, it comes to about $6-7. Keep in mind that my taste in wine may be different than yours. I prefer clean, dry and woody reds to the ripe, jammy ones.

My latest “keep around the house for dinner” red is the Marietta, Old Vine Red. http://www.mariettacellars.com/wines/wine_redlot.html

I buy a case of 12, and pay around $8 per bottle that way. It’s a very nice, medium bodied red that goes with everything from spaghetti to creamy chicken dishes. And at that price, it’s hard to beat. Definitely the best red I’ve found under $15. I like all of the Marietta wines actually. The Cuvee is one that I listed above as one of my all time favorites. I’ve also bought a few cases of Hamilton Estate through GeerWade.com. Geer Wade finds small wineries and sells there wines through the internet. I’ve found some real bargains there. Some not so good, and many very good wines.

I have two wine coolers right now. I’m building a cellar, but until it’s done, the wine that I want to keep goes in the coolers. I’ve got a 32 bottle Avanti and a 54 bottle Stainless cooler I stumbled across at Costco for $400. It’s a Vinotemp cooler. The Avanti is a better cooler. I don’t ever hear it, and it maintains temp better. The Vinotemp is a bit noisy and cycles between 55 and 59 deg.

Yes Ken, i guess i should have been a bit more exact in my statement of 'cooler'.
Perhaps wine fridge would have been a better term?
Think big unit.

Thanks BW.
Coupons for wine?
We can get extra AirMiles here, but no coupons.

I also have a preference for more woody reds, not so jammy and young. My wife likes her reds to be dry, me not so much but it does add a certain something to dinners. I'll take a look for BV Century Cellars and see if i can get it locally.

OK, that makes a hell of a lot more sense.

Oooh, pretty...

Thanks mdrew. I'll take a look for the Marietta locally.
I'm not sure that buying wines via the internet works that well in Canada yet. Different liquor laws. Last i checked, i can't even buy via the internet between provinces and unfortunately, Manitoba is not a huge winery province.

That info on the coolers is much appreciated. A friend of mine was looking at Vinotemps just 2 weeks ago. I've taken more time to look around at other options. So far i'm pretty sold on this Eurocave model until our wine cellar can be put together. Their website states you can get a nice wood addition for the unit which would make it alot nicer IMO.