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By Steve Graham, October 28, 2009 5:23 pm

Early on here at The Daily Bottle, I think it’s important to get everyone familiar with what I consider some of my “staples” in terms of really high quality wines that won’t break the bank. Make no mistake about it though, any wine I put up here on the site is going to be a darn good wine — irrespective of price.

And to that end, one of my favorite sources of these kinds of values are the wines from Cameron Hughes. This guy does a fantastic job, and today I’m going to talk about his “Lot 111″, which is still available in some of the Sam’s Clubs (and probably other locations) around the country. Lot 111 is a 2005 Paso Robles Zinfandel.

If some of Cameron’s stuff shows up at my local Sam’s Club, I automatically buy at least 2 bottles, just due to his track record with wines. And like I mentioned — Lot 111 is long gone in a lot of the store locations, but there are a couple where I’ve seen a few bottles left.

I don’t remember exactly how much this one cost, but I’m pretty sure it was around 11 or 12 dollars a bottle, which is tremendous value for what you get. And what you get is a classic California Zinfandel, with a lot of dark fruit, smokiness, and really nice balance. Very solid. I like to have this with a thick steak or a fat burger off the grill.

Definitely pick up a bottle or two of this if you see any more laying around in your local Sam’s Club. Other California Zinfandel’s I’ve had of this quality typically sell in the $20 – $30 range, and here you’re paying around half that.

My rating: 88 points.

Lot 111

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By Steve Graham, October 26, 2009 1:13 pm

Ok, believe it or not, I’m going to put up a Merlot here as my first recommendation.  This is the Solombra 2008 Reserva from Argentina.  Great country to visit by the way if you’ve never been there.  Sorry for the slightly blurry photo — I’ll get better at this I promise.

Don’t believe everything you see in movies when it comes to wine (E.g., “Sideways”.  Those of you who’ve seen it probably knew immediately what I was talking about).  There is nothing wrong with Merlot.  This wine rocks for the price, which I’m finding in Sam’s Club here in the Sarasota area for six bucks a bottle.  Crazy good wine for the price.  Check it out.

My rating: 87 points.