I have two favorite bottles of wine, one white, one red that are my absolute favorites. They seem to be everyone else’s favorites as well because they are the most OVERPRICED bottles and glasses when you go out to dinner.
Case in Point
Seriously the most easy drinking white. Not too sweet, not too dry and goes so well with everything. You can usually buy it at Total Wine for $14 max. I have seen this same bottle go by the glass for typically $10-11. Say what??? So do yourself a favor and buy the bottle and enjoy at home.
This is one of my absolute favorite bottles of red. It is smooth and pairs so well with steak and full bodied meals. Can people just stop serving this???? The bottle at Total Wine max $18. We went to Flemings the other night and they had it listed for like $14 a glass. I mean I know there is a markup but shoot. I’ll just go and buy it for a bottle instead of having it for one glass.
I seriously have not figured out what to do with all my corks! I save ones from all our important life events. My favorite one to date is the champagne cork from the night we got engaged!
When bloggers meet up
Lastly……my public service announcement gripe. Sometimes we will have a glass of wine at home before we go to dinner. The minute our server realizes we are not ordering wine/liquor they are no where to be found. I mean we are still buying expensive steaks! I know all the money is in alcohol but seriously it drives me crazy.
So these are two of my favorite go to mid range bottles. Have you had these before? Tell me if you have noticed when you don’t order drinks out your server magically disappears. Has that happened to you before? What are your favorite bottles of wine that are outrageously marked up when you go out?
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Feel free to linkup and tell me all about your favorite wines!
My favorite mid-priced wine is Biltmore Chardonnay! My dad introduced me to it this weekend, and it was amazing! I usually don’t order wine with dinner because it’s so dang expensive, but when I do, I’m always that tacky girl that orders the house wine… Oops!
XX, SS || A Little Seersucker Sass
Am I the only broad on planet earth who doesn’t drink wine???
I love that Pinot Noir! I hate the mark up, but know that is how they make their money! A lot of nice place allow you to bring in your bottle for a cork fee so that might be a better way to go.
I haven’t tried any of the wines you listed, but I’m all for trying new wines! WINO IN DA HOUUUUUUSE!
I am with you on servers though, it seems like they give you a LOOK when you don’t order alcohol and it’s like, I JUST WANT WATER, CALM DOWN!
I have never heard of the Pinot Noir you mentioned but I’m going to have to find it now!! I literally have my one favorite wine and hardly ever get wine when we go out because it’s just so expensive!!! I’m more concerned with not being able to eat my favorite sushi when I’m pregnant rather than not being able to drink LOL!!
I’ve never tried either of the wines you have listed but I definitely need to! And of course when bloggers meet up you have to have wine! I even brought wine to our tailgate LOL! And yes to the whole restaurant thing. When you aren’t drinking your service sucks!
<3, Pamela
sequinsandseabreezes.blogspot.com
La Crema is my FAVE! All of their wines are delish and the bottle is so much more wallet-friendly then the $12 glass at a restaurant! But sometimes you just want someone to open and pour that for you ;)
I am a definite Trader Joe’s wine connoisseur. I mean really, the wine is cheaper than the organic juice there! You can get some really good wines at a great price, and their red’s are by far my favorite!
xo, Whitney and Blaire
Peaches In A Pod
I haven’t tried either of those but i will now! ;) Bloggers meetups of course need wine!
Love the white you posted, perfect balance of not too sweet and not too dry. I can always tell the look of disappointment too on a server’s face when we’re just getting waters… I understand as I was a server all through college, but come one. Sometimes people aren’t in the mood for drinks or just don’t want to shell out $15 a pop for one drink when they can drink for free at home :-P
Not a huge wine fan. I prefer craft beers, ciders or fun cocktails instead. Every now and then we might grab a bottle for home, so I will have to look for these next time we do. I like white better than red.
Major bonus points for adding the Home Alone reference. La Crema is SO good, but I’m with you on the restaurant markup! It’s crazy!
I’ve honestly never heard of or tasted either of these wines – it sounds like I need to head to the liquor store to change that! My absolute favorite wine is a sweeter dessert wine from a local winery where my sister lives in Illinois. My mom and I may or may not have drank a whole bottle at dinner once and got pretty out of hand …
hahaha Your someecards and gifs are always ones that make me laugh–you and me, we’re on the same wavelength girl! :)
La Crema is delicious. You can’t go wrong with their wines, ever. Cracking up over the gif’s and ecards. Thank you so much for co-hosting girlie xoxox
King Estate is also my fave!! We drank a bottle the night we engaged, so it has so many happy memories. Totally agree that it is overpriced in restaurants, though.
Yup, La Crema is fantastic. Most wines are ridic at restaurants, and especially by the glass! Which is why we order the bottle. Still marked up (like, 100% markup) but far better than a glass. Nothing is worse than paying $15/glass for a short pour, too.
gosh i hate when they mark up the bottles SO much. i’m not sure if houston’s still does it but in the past they have had no corking fee and i brought two of my own bottles in. now THAT was fun :) xo
cheshirekatblog.com
Love the wine gifs! I’ll have to try that Pinot. I don’t remember which kind I first tried but it wasn’t my favorite.
I never drink wine out, and I rarely drink at all at dinner, I’ve never liked alcohol with my food. Sometimes a cocktail if we are at a party dinner and are going to keep going after. Anyway. so I totally agree with the servers disappearing when they figure that out, so rude!
I’ve never had either of these! I’m the same, it’s hard for me to buy wine when we go out because the 2 I always order are like $8 a bottle and they want to charge me $6 for one glass, lame.
I never know what my favorite wine is, I just know I love Sauvignon Blanc!! I need to up my game
I love pretty much any kind of red wine but have never tried La Crema! You know what I’m buying this weekend!
I hear you about the not ordering drinks and then your waiter disappears! Seriously, whats up with that?! I’m going to have to check out the red that you like, I’m typically not a red drinker, but since trying to cut back on my sugar intake its recommend that if you are going to drink, to drink red wine. But anything with bubbles is typically my favorite :)
I am such a wine freak – I think I will join in next week with a wine post!
OH – your wine corks – I used mine to make Name Card holders for our wedding – All you need is corks, some hot glue, and an exacto knife/drill….
I want to like wine. And at one point, I did. Then there was an…incident. And now I can’t even go near it. I stick to beer.
I’m always too scared to try red wine and usually get a pinot gris or moscato with dinner. Is the red very dry? I don’t go over one glass with dinner, so that I can still walk to the car :).
Yes… it happens all the time especially when I take my kids out to dinner. To keep the meal a little more affordable (and soda is bad for ya) we all order water with lemon. I always sense the “ugh” from the wait staff. I always think…. do you want my 20% tip or not? Cause I can lower it for ya!!!
Oh my gosh I’m totally a wine gal too! Nothing better then pizza and wine!
xo ClassToCloset
I love a good red, but if I am drinking white it is always a Pinot Grigio so I can’t wait to look for that one!
I love La Crema! So funny you consider $14 for wine a lot, I do as well, heck $10 for a bottle is hitting it, but most people think a good bottle is $30+. My thoughts are, you drink it so fast why spend a lot of money on it. And if you drink it slow over a few days it goes bad!
Love that Nene gif!! Haha. I only do like 2 glasses of wine over the course of the weekend. My body can’t break it down like it used to and I cannot deal with hangovers. I’ll look for that Pinot Noir because I can’t remember if I’ve had it before. I only drink red because white doesn’t like me. Thanks for sharing your recommendations and I hope that you’re having a great day!! :-)
Blue-cheese stuffed olives?! That sounds amazing! I love me some red so I think I’ll have to try that Pinot Noir.
I haven’t tried either of those but I think I just might now. Thanks for sharing your picks! Always good to have a wine recommendation :)
I pretty much only buy two different kinds… creature of habit here!
http://www.amemoryofus.com
I am absolutely pitiful when it comes to choosing wine. I’m saving this post just so I can have a look at it before I buy a bottle next time!
V
Life+1
I don’t drink at all (Adam orders the occasional drink but I just don’t like the taste of alcohol!) so when I order my sweet tea or soda I’m sure the servers love me! ;)
I love the Nene gif because it’s so true. I also love La Crema! I have a heard time looking at the prices when I’m out as well because I can get a lot of great stuff at whoe sale. BUT when I’m with my mom it’s a total party because she that crazy that drinks a $90 bottle of wine and doesn’t blink an eye.
xoxo,
Meghan
Southern Belle Secrets
Loving this new linkup!! I’m definitely a wino so will need to join you ladies in the future. Cracking up at all those GIFs!!
I’m on the lookout for La Crema now – thank you! The worst is damn Barefoot being like $6 a glass out – it’s usually $5.99 a bottle haha. WTF, world!?
Lol I love this! Now I want pizza and wine! xo
I wrote all my paper’s during my bachelor’s with a glass of wine. Sometimes, if the paper was long, I would start getting tipsy and I would have a hard time concentrating so I would have to drink some water and hurry up to finish the damn paper!!
Wine is so great, and I’m happy that I love all types (red, white, rose, sparkling… haha) – greek salad, pizza, and wine sounds amazing right now!! Love this link up idea! I’m no “wine connoisseur” (sp?) but I love most kinds. Only kind that I’ve found I don’t generally like is Riesling. I’ll have to try the two you mentioned. :)
I was never really a wine person until recently, but I can never remember the names of anything I like when I go to buy it myself. My parents have raised me to only remember the ones with animals on the label. Literally we have “flying squirrel” and “wiener dog” wine all the time and I have no idea what they are actually called hahaha.
I’ve been trying to get into red wines, this post may be all the help I need! I’m so psyched to read everyone’s recommendations.
Never heard of either of these! Thanks for the suggestions!
My absolute favorite wine is Oyster Bay’s Sauv Blanc. So good!
I’ve never had either of these but they are now on my list! I love wine but I tend to buy the bottle that looks the prettiest-not the smartest way to go but at least I have something pretty to look at!
~Elise @ highheelsglitteringeyes.blogspot.com
Definitely saving these for future reference!!
I’m going to be on the lookout for that white- I’m always up for a suggestion because I’m not a huge wine drinker myself! Loved reading this post!