La Vieille Ferme Côtes du Rhône

During my semester abroad in Paris I developed a great appreciation for Côtes du Rhône wine - mostly because it was dependably good and even more importantly, cheap! At any marché in Paris you could spend under 5 euros for a decent Côtes du Rhône. I still rely on it now for having people over or in this case for a mix of cooking and drinking. I made my red wine barbecue sauce this weekend and grabbed this pretty affordable ($11.49) bottle. After the sauce, I had about half left and poured myself a glass - it was great! Really smooth, no dry-mouth aftertaste. I poured a glass for my friend who exclaimed that it was, "lovely." I think that's a perfect description. It isn't too full bodied, but it's easy to drink and has a very nice taste. Highly recommend it for a dinner party where you don't want to spend too much! Pull off the price tag and no one will know you didn't. Plus I love the chickens on the label!

Charles Smith, please

First of all, excuse the hiatus! But we're back, and yes, with a new slightly more anonymous monicker.
Jamie and I recently signed up for this Zagat wine club and low and behold we were delivered a crate of various bottles of red wine. When I was asked to choose one, I obviously went for the prettiest bottle, and that was Charles Smith. A 2008 Cabernet. It was delicious! Very smooth and drinkable. I wish I'd taken better notes - it's been a week or two - but I would love to go out and buy a whole case and have it as my go-to red.
After thinking we liked this obscure wine, we found Charles Smith was rated Wine Maker of the Year, so he's not really an underdog. Nevertheless, I'm still as enamored as I was when I thought it was obscure.
(I didn't think to photograph the bottle at the time, so this I just snatched off google)