I am not a big fan of Banrock but do love what they do for the environment and their winery is set near a reserve and they have restored it to keep the wildlife etc. Their whites seem to be better than their reds.

My favourite aussie wine which i am not sure if you can get up there but may be a bit more exxy is Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cab Sav or Shiraz, its melts in your mouth, very chocolatey coffee flavour esp the Cab Sav.

mmmmm wine!

Is there a Trader Joes near you? They often have pretty decent, really cheap wines. I usually buy all my wines wholesale through the restaurant where I work, so I'm not sure what's out there & what the "real" prices are. I could ask one of the wine reps what they recommendd in that price range.

yeah, banrock's shiraz is ok, but i dont love it.

for the big name - well distributed aussie wines under $10, rosemont makes a good cab / shiraz blend.

ill second the trader joes reccomendation.. im prone to buying their under $10 wines just to try em. mostly i go for italian, french, and spanish, sometimes they will have a good price on aussies or californians. mixed experience with reccomendations there, usually theres a few people who have actually tried the wines and know their stuff - and they are glad to tell you the finer points of the $5.99 chiantis and grenaches - and a few people who will say 'yeah, i see a lot of people buy that one' but dont really know much about it. but often ill just buy one on a whim b/c i like the label or whatever. for $5-10, a few misses i think are worth it, and its a good education. and i get more hits than misses that way.

last time i was at the one nearest me (santa fe) they were stocking an aussie blend (shiraz / cab / monastrell) from a winery called 'mad dogs and englishmen' - despite the strange name, it was excellent. about $7. ive also been liking an italian riserva chianti, from il valore, also about $7. ive done pretty well lately with their cheaper italian wines too.

concha y toro is generally a great cheap brand. theres another chilean brand im thinking of.. ummm.. ill post later if i remember.

and, believe me, i know budget issues from what for, but i will say that the difference between a $5 wine and a $15 one is often (not always) huge.. way more so than, say, the difference between $20 and $50. finding a good cheap store and buying a (mixed) case at a time can save you a little. some places will even give a 10% case discount on a six bottle purchase.

anyhow, i still hold a major allegiance to good bottles in the $5-10 range. but i do enjoy being able to splurge a little from time to time. if its helpful, think of what you and a friend would spend on a few drinks in a bar. you hit $30 (or more) pretty quickly. and spending $20 bucks on a great bottle of wine and staying in can be pretty fun.

I didn't think there was a Trader Joe's very close but I just did a Google Maps search and there it is! I don't know why I haven't seen it before. It must be hidden somehow. I'll have to hunt it down.

I've never come across Rosemont for under $10... maybe at Costco. But I like it a lot.

I've heard about the 10% case discount. That might work, if I can scrounge the pennies to buy six at once. Damn, this broke wino needs a job.

Thanks all! I'll have to print out all these tips and ideas and use them in the future.
You guys are great.

i bought a BS reisling yesterday, im looking forward to trying it. i like what they do for the environment that is the biggest seller for me their shiraz is good for what it cost.