Can I find the $100 WINE among $25 Bottles???

So I have 11 different red wines here. One of them costs $100. The rest are in the 25 to 30 range, except I believe I have one $50 wine in here to try to throw me off. They're all made of the same grape variety and they're from the same country. Price and wine quality can be a sticky subject. It's confusing to a lot of people. In general, the cost of wine is determined by the quality of grapes, which also depends on the location you're in. Just like real estate, location, location, location matters. Cabernet Sauvignon costs more if it's from Napa versus any other parts of the state. If you think about Pinot Noir, often Burgundy is more expensive than other Pinot Noirs or Chardonnays. Also simple economics come into play, supply and demand. If there's a little bit of a wine that everybody likes, guess what? The price is gonna go up. I talk a lot in this channel about the price quality graph in the US, at least on the shelf. As you start to move up the price scale, you can get really nice wines in the $15 range if you fight hard, know what you're looking for. Once you start to move up above 25 and into the $50, $60 range, I believe you can drink some of the best wines in the world, especially if you know your own palate. Once you start to go over that threshold, you get diminishing returns. Of course, the wine sometimes can be better, but sometimes they can be about the same or maybe you won't prefer them as much. When you look at producers' portfolios, often the more expensive wines are wines that are meant to be a little bit more age-worthy. And sometimes they don't taste great right out of the gate, right upon release. You have to wait a while for them to show their best. The grape here I have today is my favorite red wine grape, Sangiovese. We have 11 different Sangioveses from all over Italy. Sangiovese is the most planted red wine grape in Italy. It's high in acidity and tannins. Pretty structured grape. In general, the best examples come from Chianti Classico, Vino Nobile de Montalcino, and Brunello de Montalcino. Out of the 11 wines here, though, none of them are from those three regions. And the cool thing is only one of the 11 have I tasted a previous vintage, so all these wines are brand new to me. I usually don't like doing videos anymore with this many wines for a few reasons. Number one, it's a big pain to prepare and prep. I did a video titled Can You Trust Me where I break down the whole process of making these videos. I think it's the most important video I've done. Unfortunately, it doesn't get a lot of views. Okay, it is what it is. That's how YouTube works. Number two, I notice that I tend to lose viewers when I'm doing the tasting portion so I don't want them to be too long, but you know what? I'm just gonna do it like this. I've been wanting to do this video for a while. I've been putting it off, but now it's time to do it. Let's get started. I love Sangiovese because it was the first European wine I really loved and my palate has just never swayed. If a wine can go sour cherry on me, I'm all in and Sangiovese does that. Also, some examples of Sangiovese, because of the high acidity, is one of those rare red wines that actually quenches your thirst. All right, tasting out of my Gabriel Glass Standard Edition. I love this universal glass. Let's get tasting. The way I'm gonna do this tasting is I'm just gonna taste through and score so I have a hierarchy. I'm not gonna try to find the $100 wine. Let's just see how it shows. Let's get started with wine number one. Wine number one here. Already typical Sangiovese. Got the sour cherry flavors. It's not super earthy. It's more clean fruit flavors. Actually, it's ripe enough that people might think it's kind of like a California Sonoma Pinot Noir. Round, silky, fruity. It's got the tannic bite to it. It's not earthy, but it is a good wine. Nice stuff. I'm not gonna overburden you with tasting notes in this video since I have a lot of wines to go through, maybe just some things that stand out in the wines. Number two definitely smells like it's higher altitude, like cooler climate fruit. Sour cherry, bright cherry. These are really clean Sangioveses. Cool climate, round. These are real clean. Don't expect those rustic flavors. I am tasting in the morning. This is the best time to taste. Wine number three. Three has got raspberry notes, which I really like. White pepper type flavors. Oh, it smells good. Number three is not the most complex wine in the world, but this is exactly the type of wine I wanna drink. A medium-bodied red wine with character. That's super, super good. Tasting in the morning, it's the best time to taste because your palate's clean. Let's move on to wine number four here. Four is the first one that has that rustic Italian-ness to it. Got some balsamic notes, red raspberry flavors. Oh, earth, pepper. This is super complex wine. Number four, I'm excited about because it's got that right amount of Italian rusticity without being too much. I'm really excited to see what four is. Let's move on to five here. Oh, five is super rustic. Got a lot of butta bottle development in it. It's almost like, I don't know if I have any older wines, but this wine definitely smells aged a bit. Number five tastes rustic. It tastes over the hill. It might be a bad bottle. It tastes oxidized. What happens when you have oxidized wines, the fruit goes from fresh fruit flavors to more bruised fruit, like an apple. If you ever take a bite of an apple, you like that crispiness, and then you leave it on the table for a few days, it turns brown a little bit, and you get those bruised-type flavors. I think that, I'm gonna give it the benefit of the doubt. I think that it's just, I think it might be a bad bottle. Let's move on to six, which sometimes happens. That's how the cookie crumbles. Let's go to six here. Six is pretty explosive. It's a little more floral, red fruit. All these have Sangiovese notes. Again, I'm expecting Sour Cherry Earth flavors when it comes to Sangiovese. I'm just kinda giving you subtle differences because there's so many wines, and I don't want you to click off. Floral a little bit, clean fruit. That's good. That's pretty serious wine, whatever six is. Kudos to six. Seven, also crystalline raspberry flavors. More than Sour Cherry. Again, clean wine. Sangiovese, especially Halovese, sometimes on the nose, I actually can feel like it resembles New World Pinot Noir. I have had some examples before that even kinda smell a little bit like Burgundy. Seven is clean, fruity, straightforward. Again, not the most complex wine in the world, but something I really enjoy drinking. Let's move on to eight. I just realized that I have 10 wines here, not 11, so take that for what it is. That's funny, I was counting through. I was like, man, I'm confused. I thought I had 11 wines here, only 10. Wine number eight here. Oh, eight is awesome. Oh, got the pretty Sangiovese fruit flavors. Sour Cherry, and it's just a little bit more concentrated. When you have fruit, you can have fruit that's not super fresh, and then stuff that's really fresh, that's what this is. It's crystalline, it's clear, that's good. These wines all taste of Sangiovese to me. None of them actually scream out Chianti, Classico, or Brunello. Vina Nobile sometimes can be a little bit harder for me to pick out, but man, I'm really enjoying the wines here so far. Let's move on to nine. Nine, man, also, that's what's beautiful about Italy. You get some wonderful Sangioveses. Hopefully these are affordable that aren't as expensive. Again, this just to me is pure, pure Sangiovese. Sour Cherry notes and earth, I love it. This one is tannic. You're gonna want some meat with number nine. Let's move on to the final one, number 10. 10 is a little vegetal, a little green. It doesn't have as much fruit as I would like. Hold on, you guys, shake it out. It appeared vegetal at first, then some kind of raspberry jam, compotes coming out here. Quite ripe on the palate. I have to say, this was, at first, I thought it wasn't fruity enough, but it is, the fruit comes along. It's pretty round. This is for people that want more of a bigger, rounder flavor. I know that oftentimes, Americans, when they go to Tuscany, they actually start to not like the Italian wines as much because the tannins are a bit sharp along with the acidity. I love it. You just have to have it with food. Let's go to the reveal. If you wanna hang out with me and other wine geeks, check out channel memberships in the second tier, the Grand Reserve tier. I've organized a monthly live hangout tasting where it can come up on screen. You can hang out, share your wines. We can just talk shop. I've also launched a live video podcast. Members of the Grand Reserve tier can come up on screen and ask a question, call in like a live radio show, and it helps support the work I do here, so thank you. Let's reveal these wines here. I was just on a trip with a master of wine, a friend that I've known, and I remember she was talking to me about my videos, and she's like, do you ever cheat on your wine tastings? Wink, wink. And I said, no, what's the point in it whatsoever? Especially if you can't trust me, then there's no value to these videos whatsoever. I don't have a horse in this race. I did not feel like I could really call out the wine that's $100 here. It just, I couldn't. There were some really, really lovely wines I liked a lot. I just couldn't find it. That's how it is. Besides one wine, all of these I would really like to drink, especially with Sangiovese Crushes with tomato-based dishes, pasta, spaghetti, pizza. Let's go number five. Number five was Rustic. It was over the hill. It was oxidized. It could just be a bad bottle. I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt. 80 points. I don't want to drink it, but again, I don't. Maybe it's just a bad bottle. Let's see here. 80 points. This is the La Bahia del Sole. This is La Coli di Luna from Liguria, Rosso Riserva. This is the land of Vermentino, Pigato. So under 2017, it is older blend of Sangiovese Merlot. This comes in at, this comes in around 30 bucks. I love this producer. I love their white wines. Their white wines are incredible. This is the first time I'm tasting their red, and unfortunately it just didn't show well. It could be a bad bottle. Let's move on here. That's too bad because I like that producer. Just how it is. Number one, the one I started out with, it was ripe. It was, I remember I said Sonoma Pinot Noir-like, round tannins. I went back and forth. I'm gonna give it a hard 89 points. I think it was very delicious. I wanted to go to 90, but I just wanted a little more wrinkles, a little more twinkle in the eye, so to speak. Still a heck of a wine, something I wanna drink. 89 points. Round, Pinot Noir-like. Let's give it a go. 89 points. This is, wow, I'm surprised. This is the Capesana Barco Reale di Carminiano, 2022. Comes in at $19.99. Carminiano is an appellation just to the northwest of Florence, if I understand. It's a rare appellation because it was the first in Italy. Not only have, but require Cabernet Sauvignon to be blended into the wines. I think you have to put 20% of Cabernet Sauvignon into the wines along with Sangiovese, which I believe that's what this is. This is their entry-level wine. And at $19.99, this showed a lot better than what I've had in the past. You know, I've had it in the past. I've thought it was kind of simple. I like their flagship Carminiano a lot more, but man, that showed really well for a wine that's $19.99. Bravo. Bravo, Capesana. Number two, I felt like, is Cool Climate. I felt like it was round. It was pretty round for a Sangiovese. I was surprised, because Sangiovese have those tannins. I gave it 90 points. I don't know, to me, it just felt like there was Cool Climate fruit in there. 90 points. Ah, ah, reach around here. Let's see what it is. Cool Climate fruit. Beautiful wine. This is the Ronchi de Castelluccio. Morelliana, the village is from. The Buco de Prete de Castelluccio. This is Sangiovese from Emilia-Romagna, which is just north of Tuscany. It's probably where Sangiovese originated from. This comes in at 23 euros. I think they're just starting to enter the U.S. market. I've been a big fan of Sangiovese-Romagna. That's where the hills start to go up. It starts to lead up into the Tuscan hills, Chianti Classico. I've tasted some brilliant Sangioveses. They used to be thin, watery, or overly oaky. This is not. Beautiful wine. I highly recommend. Very nice. Very clean, crispy Sangiovese. Okay, we have a couple of wines here that are bunched together that I really, really enjoyed. Let's go on to number seven. It was clean, fruity, straightforward. That's all I can say. That was number seven. I gave it 91 points. Thought it was beautiful wine. Clean, fruity. If you want a Sangiovese, that you just want those pure flavors. Really nice. Poggio Argentiera. This is the Bella Marsiglia. Morellino Descansano, 2022. This comes in at 22 bucks. Morellino is a clone of Sangiovese. Morellino Descansano is in Maremma. It's in the southwest corner of Tuscany. Used to be marshland. A lot of super Tuscans are made down there. The cool thing about Morellino Descansano, probably the most famous one you'll see out there, is Fataria Le Pupiles. You can get a lot of value for money. 91 points at 22 bucks. I think that is an outstanding wine. Okay, the two expensive wines are standing up a little bit. Number nine is what I expected about Sangiovese. It's Sour Cherry Earth, but there were a lot of tannins. I gave it 91 plus points. Liked it slightly better than the Morellino. Again, you gotta want the tannins, though, just so you know. But this really did taste, to me, like what I'd expect out of Sangiovese. 91 plus points. Let's take a look here. Shall we? Is it gonna be expensive? This is the most expensive wine in the bunch, and I expected it to be good, and it was. This is the Bibigraz Testamata 2020. This comes in at 99 bucks. Bibigraz has kind of made his name for himself in Italy. Beautiful labels, fantastic wines. I thought it was delicious. Again, expected Sangiovese flavors. Though, 91 plus points. It didn't win. It was a heck of a wine. With those kind of tannins, I expect the wine to age really well. Bibigraz is located outside of Florence, so the most expensive wine in the bunch didn't win for my palate here so far, because we still have several wines. Again, that's why blind tasting is also so powerful. I look at this label, the name, I might expect I'm gonna score this wine really, really high, but man, that's the power of blind tasting, man. My MW friend here didn't stage any of this. I've got two tied for 92 points. Number 10, Raspberry Jam at first. That's what I thought at first, and I thought it was a little bit vegetal at first, but then it became quite round and nice. I gave it 92 points. I thought it was very good. Very, very good. Let's take a look here. 92 points. This is the Il Conte Villa Prandone, Marche Sangiovese, the Danello. Marche, region south of Abruzzo in the south of Italy. This is 2021. This is a wine that comes in, I think, under 20 bucks in Italy. It's even less. It's a rounder, bigger Sangiovese. That's the power of blind tasting, man. I liked it. I liked it a lot. Marche, known a little bit more for multiple Ciano, just like Abruzzo, just to the north, but I have tasted some interesting blends and some interesting Sangioveses. 92 points. Not bad, not bad. I do have the $50 wine still, either 40 or $50. I mean, it's still standing, but let's see here. I have this next one tied for 92 points, number three. Raspberry flavors, white pepper. A little bit different for a Sangiovese, real clean. 92 points. Wine number three here. 92 points. Let's take a look. What is it? This is the $50 wine. This is the Ore Forte, Rocca di Orcia, Villaggio 2021. This comes in 50 bucks, 100% Sangiovese. This is from the Orcia DOC, which Orcia is not very well known, one of Italy's youngest DOCs. I think it was launched in 2000. This is very close to the village of Montalcino. I think it's in between Montalcino and Montecucco in the southern part of Tuscany, 50 bucks. This is Demeter certified, so it's biodynamic, if that's important to you, 50 bucks. I thought it was outstanding. 92 points, real clean. Raspberry flavors, a different take on Sangiovese. So look right here. We have the two most expensive wines are out of the way. Let's move on to number eight here. Number eight was crystalline, clear. It was just real focused Sangiovese flavors. I gave it 92 plus points. I thought it was delicious, and I'm really excited to see what we have left, because expensive wines are out of the way. 92 plus points, clear, focused. This is the Ricciso, Terra di Pisa Sangiovese, 2019. This comes in at 35 bucks. Terra di Pisa, the land of Pisa, you know Pisa, where the Leaning Tower of Pisa is in Tuscany. It's a fairly new appellation. I've enjoyed a lot of the Terra di Pisa Sangiovese. I think in Terra di Pisa you can have other grapes as well. This comes in at 35 bucks. Okay, so a little bit more pricey, but not quite the $100 or $50 wine. Clear, focused, I thought that was a gorgeous wine. The top two wines here, I don't even remember what we have left. The cool thing about doing a big tasting like this where I have so many wines, I kind of forget what I have. Number four had the rustic Italian-ness that I love. It had those balsamic notes. I don't know, maybe not everybody will love it. I was crazy about it. I gave it 93 points. I thought it was outstanding. Once again though, as I revealed these scores, scores are not an end-all be-all. They are a snapshot of a moment in time. Taste is a lot about neurology, so maybe these scores change a little bit as we taste. I don't think this would change, this oxidized one. So just let you know, you gotta taste, taste, taste, and start to trust your own palate, which I know is difficult. It took me many, many, many, many years to fully be confident in what I liked and not what other critics like. I used to always taste wines, score them, go look at critics and see if my scores matched up. I don't do that anymore because I'm more confident now in what I like. Just gotta get out there, taste, find what you like, and then be open to exploring. Okay, that's my little rant. Italian rustic-ness, 93 points. Let's take a look here. This is the Grignano. This is the Ricciardo del Cardinale Chianti Ruffina 2020. This comes in at 20 bucks. Chianti, so in Chianti, which you have in the center of Tuscany, known for a lot of more cheaper type wines, especially those ones in the straw basket, like in the past, there are seven sub-appellations of Chianti. Chianti Classico is separate altogether. That's the highest quality Chianti Classico. The next highest quality is probably Chianti Ruffina, which we have here. Higher elevation, this is the northeast of Florence. The most famous producer there is Selva Piana. But man, I thought this was delicious and at 20 bucks. Even as organic, I see the little eco sticker here on the back. 20 bucks. I think that's good. I'm impressed at 20 bucks. Number six, 94 points. Floral, clean, focused, fruity. I was really impressed. A whopping 94 points. 94 points. So I've never tasted this wine before or this appellation. This is the Castelledi Montespertoli. This is the Chianti Montespertoli, which is near Florence. I have never tasted any Chiantis out of this appellation. This comes in at 20 bucks, 2020. I am shocked. 29 bucks, delicious wine. Tell me, have you ever done tastings like this where you had more expensive wines? You notice that some of the less expensive wines beat them out or you enjoyed a little bit more? I'd love to hear your stories. Drop it in the comments below.