Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty picky about my wine, but I love Charles Shaw's Shiraz. It's better than 90% of wines under $15. I don't drink white wine, but I buy their white wine for cooking too.

+1. I really like Charles Shaw's Sav Blanc, but I would never take it as a gift. I usually go to Calvert Woodley if I want to find a great wine as gift.

Under $20 red wine: I like LAN Rioja and Marques de Caceres, also a Rioja. Good with red meat, especially.

Excellent calls! Also, Muja (might be a couple $ more).

Anonymous wrote:How much to spend? I think $20 is nice, anything other than the $10 and under generic. One way to look at it is if you were going out to dinner, you would pay a lot more so be generous. There is also the opposite problem from what this thread discusses -- I have occasionally brought a very nice bottle hoping it would be opened but alas I never got to taste it.

Same here, DH and I used to bring from our personal stash but not anymore. Tired of staring longingly at the bottle of Silver Oak we brought while being served Yellowtail. If we visit friends that we know enjoy wine and will know the difference we bring something from our personal stash. Otherwise, we give something that is familiar to almost everyone and halfway decent like Kendall Jackson reserve or Chateau St. Michelle.