Two of my favorite budget wines

I find it tacky to include tasting notes etc but in my years of wine tasting I found these two to be the best value wines.

Number one is my BF's lovely find from religiously reading wine literature. It is a Calera Chardonnay. So thank you so much for introducing me to the best chardonnay ever. It is not oaky and very balanced. And only $12









Second is during a visit to Silverlake wine (my favorite wine store in Silverlake, LA, with kick ass wine tastings on Sunday). I still can't stand the ugliness of the dog on the label but the wine is awesome - especially at $10/bottle.

Here's what it looks like



It is called a Yard Dog because it is mainly made of Petite verdot that is usually only 5% of a blended wine - so it is the yard dog of the bunch: 60% Petite Verdot, 30% Cabernet and 10% Malbec (I wonder what kind of a dog a cab would be, it if were - I never thought of this and I guess I really don't need to)
I think it needs to air at least 30 mins for it to open up. It is a very smooth and full bodied wine with dark berries and all that...

Try them... I think both are very easy to find and widely distributed on the left and right coast of the country.