The Perfect Case: Total Wine Naples, FL

Tuesday, December 10, 2013


We're headed to Disney World in Florida soon for a four night stay. We're flying in, but my mother in law lives in Naples so she'll be driving in to meet us. She asked if I could make a shopping list of wines chosen from Total Wine so I thought to share my picks for your consideration and commentary.

But I wanted to frame the discussion a bit so you can see where my head is with these picks.

These wines are likely going to be consumed in a hotel room out of chunky wine glasses procured from room service - if we're lucky. Worst case we'll be drinking out of in-room water glasses we'll be hopeful were washed with something other than Windex. That being the case, I'm looking for luscious and bold wines. Obvious wines. Crowd pleasers.

I set a target budget for myself of $12.99 a bottle. I realized as I was sorting through their selection how much action there is at the $9.99 to $12.99 price point. You can get some terrible wines in the price range. But I think you can also get some surprisingly good ones.

If you buy 12 bottles of $12.99 wine that's a total price of $155.88.

So that's my budget. I remember reading a magazine article years ago where they tasked two fashion experts with putting together a man's wardrobe for $1,000. One designer bought a bunch of low to medium quality clothes (much of it from Target) to create a well rounded versatile wardrobe. The other bought one splurge item -- a pricey Calvin Klein sportcoat -- and skimped on the rest of the other items. The thought process was that it didn't make as much of a difference whether a belt (for example) cost $20 or $100. You just needed a really nice staple to anchor the wardrobe.

So I went with a similar model as I put together my perfect case. The $6.49 Borsao Red will drink as good as the $12.99 wines. And by buying more wines that cost $8 or less I can free up room for a splurge wine. Alto Moncayo of course!
  1. Borsao Red $6.49
  2. Columbia Crest Grand Estates Cabernet Sauvignon $7.97
  3. Monte Oton Garnacha $8.49
  4. Bogle Petite Sirah $9.97
  5. Lucky Star Pinot Noir $9.99
  6. Angeline Pinot Noir $11.99
  7. Carchelo C Jumilla Tinto $11.99
  8. Columbia Crest H3 Cabernet Sauvignon $12.99
  9. Votre Sante Pinot Noir $12.99
  10. Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel $12.99
  11. Juan Gil Jumilla $12.99
  12. Alto Moncayo $36.99
Total Cost: $155.84 plus tax ($0.04 less than 12 $12.99 wines)

Even if the splurge wine isn't included I hope this makes for a helpful shopping list if you happen to find yourself at Total Wine.

Question of the Day: What do you think? What are some of the better values at Total Wine right now?

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