Recommendation on good, cheap red wine

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Yes, I know them mostly from their Zins, but, as we like Barbera, I did not hesitate to pick up a few bottles of this and the '96 the next year. I have not seen the Fife Barbera at my local wine shop lately, and the price that I quoted was from my database, at the time of acquistion. The '96 was only US$20.75 more and this shop is not known for its good prices. They are, however, very close, have an interesting stock, and I shop there to make sure that they are still in business for the time that I need just "one more bottle of love" for a dinner, and only want to drive over the mountain. Besides, they are neat folk, so a slight premium for my convenience is not something that I worry about.

When I popped this wine, I could not help but think of the original post, and the request - it seemed a natural fit. Nowadays, the recent release, if available to the OP, this wine is probably in the US$16-20 range, but still well worth the $ as a really nice drinker. Too bad that I managed to drink the rest of the 1-2 case without TN's, but then it's really a fun, food-drinking wine.

I just checked and I do not have any of their Zins around - must remedy THAT!