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I tried scrolling manually through the price list, and Sebastiani is not there.

<3 Cabs

JaTo, I generally like a merlot with a meal or a nicely balanced pinot noir by itself, but you have me intrigued. Picking one up tonight if it can be found.

I've come across many low dollar wines that have been absolutely delightful and a much better choice than the far more expensive labels - in every respect except aging. Most will not age as well as the pricier wines - not a problem if you don't keep a stocked cellar. Disadvantage is you have to consume them in short order & can't keep them for more than a few years. They also tend to disappear quickly, so get 'em while they're hot.

On a separate note, wines from Chile are coming along nicely & will be a great place to look for bargains in the coming years. More recent examples very much remind me of the California varietals of the late 70's & early 80's. Specifically, the merlot.

Black Opal 2003 Merlot - I drink it by the case.

2004 Yellow Tail Shiraz is a great cheap wine

Yellow Tail. That swill wouldn't and COULDN'T be sold in Australia, hence why they export it here and sell it for $5 a bottle. Do yourself a favor and drink some GOOD Aussie wine. If you want to try some good inexpensive Aussie wines try Rosemount, Penfolds, Leeuwin Estates, Wolf Blass, Black Opal, Greg Norman.....

It's only $5 a bottle. I said it was cheap. If I wanted a decent Shiraz I'd buy a S. African.

Concho Y Toro is producing some excellent cabs and decent merlots; Casillero del Diablo is a cheapo label that's good-drinking (both cab and merlot). I opt for the Don Melchor cab; that's my golden standard for Chilean wine right now. It's somewhat pricey ($30-40 a bottle), but the '02 and '03 years are unbelievable...

I've got a temp and humidity-controlled cellar, so storage isn't a problem for me. To be honest, I haven't run into any problems keeping pretty much any label for extended periods of time, though I must admit that I rarely keep anything sitting over 5 years.

If you've got some other Chilean labels that are good, let me know; Concho Y Toro is really the only group that I've run into that has had consistently good wines across most price ranges.

Franzia - White Zin. $12 a box, and the enclosed bladder makes a great pillow at the end of the night.

Glad to hear from you Stazi, now I can pick your brain.

Back when I was selling wine, Aussie port was coming of age & I tried a most wonderful young vintage port - Lindemans IIRC... Seppelt is legendary, but pricey, so if you have some knowlege of a nice smooth & stout Aussie port, I would be eternally grateful.