Good Affordable Wine Recommendation

Do they live in AZ? Or do they live in CA? If they live in CA it might be a nice touch to take them a local AZ wine - there are some wonderful AZ wines that they might not be able to get easily in CA. Go to a local wine shop and ask for their recommendation for a good local red wine as a gift; I would stick with red because most serious wine drinkers will drink red over white.

Silver Oak Cabernet!!

If you have a wine store, go there to buy your wine, not necessarily because the wine is better but because they will likely have trained salesclerks who can help.

I've had to do this once before so I walked into the wine store, found a clerk and literally said "I need to get a bottle of wine as a gift but have no experience with selection. Can you help me pick something that would look like I know what I'm doing when it comes to choosing wine but isn't a budget buster?" And they pulled out 3-4 selections, all of various prices, and then told me why they were good and why they liked them.

It was so easy and never once did they make me feel stupid. They were very accommodating and willing to help.

Pinot noir (a red) is delicious :) I buy the jacob's creek reserve, but i don't think that is fancy enough for a gift like this.

If you have a winery near you, you can go for a tasting. They are usually very knowledgeable and friendly. You may even find yourself one that you like :)

If red, I would suggest Blackstone Merlot... It is about $10 a bottle, and very tasty!
If white, I would go with a pino gricio (spelt wrong!), but I don't have a brand for you!
What a nice gesture of him, and you!
Have fun~

Since you don't know what they drink, how 'bout a giftcard to a liquor store like Binny's in a nice basket with some wine glasses, fancy cheese and crackers.....they can add the wine themselves =) I only drink white myself, mostly Riesling and I couldn't tell you the number of bottles of reds sitting around we receive as gifts. I always feel guilty we don't use them!

Go to AJ's. They have a wine somelier that works there just to help you pick out wine.

Depends how much you want to spend. I also don't know what is in your grocery store there. But here are some thoughts:
Fairly cheap Chard - La Crema ($16)
Expensive - Nickel and Nickel (anything from them is wonderful!)
Far Niente (again, anything is wonderful)
Champagne - Vueve Cliquot (about $35)

And if they don't drink wine, they can send their bottles to me! :)

I don't know your budget so bear with me.... I typically spend about $25 on a bottle for a hostess gift, etc. A gift for someone who sent my child to Disney, I'd spend more.

I don't mean to come across wrong but...Since they are hotel owners and drink wine, tread carefully here. They know about wine so you don't want to come across like you are giving them a fantastic rare bottle of wine and it be a standard house wine.

I would go to a wine store and speak with a pro on some good choices in your price range.

That said....here are some of our favorites:

Sterling Vineyards is good and they have a couple of different price levels. We regularly buy a Sterling Merlot for everyday about $15 a bottle. The $40 bottle is really good, we have that one on occasion. I think they have a couple pricier ones as well. Sterling has good Chardonney as well.

Caymus is unbelievable but we pay $130 per bottle at the wine store.
Limestone Hill Chardonney not sure of $
Chalk Hill Chardoney $40 range
Rodney Strong
Beringer

Kendall Jackson has some good red and white.wines and different price levels. $15 and up.

That is all I can think of off the top of my head right now.

We prefer dry Chardonney's and Merlots so my ideas are based on those 2 red and whites.

Good luck.

Being a wine drinker, you safest bet it to ask what kind of wine they like. Everyone likes different thing (some like the 'earthy' red, some like 'fruity' whites) and while the recommendations below are fine, I would ask.

I know you have a lot of posts, but I will give you an example of the range: Pinot Noir has an entire range of flavor. Old style Pinot Noir (or a French Bordeaux) have a very earthy heavy flavor. While a new style Pinot Noir (which is found on the US market more easily) is very light and fruity. I have also had a New style that tasted like strawberry pie (strawberry taste with a crisp/crusty/buttery aftertaste.)

yes, a local winery called AZ Stronghold or Page Springs Cellars! Enjoy!

Pine Ridge is a nicer, more expensive bottle $27-$30. Clos Du Bois. Coppola wines are reasonable and good. Stags Leap. If you want a more expensive one Jordan is a really nice wine but upwards of $65! Also, there are websites where you can have a custom wine label made to say thank you and personalize it.

If you live in Arizona and they live in California, I agree with the previous poster who suggested that you buy them a local wine. Callaghan's is one of my favorites. They are located in the Sonoita area south of Tucson. But their crops were hit hard by storms this year, so I don't know how easy it will be to find their wines. They used to be available at Total Wine among other places. I really liked their Back Lot wine which is a red blend. Another great vineyard in the Sonoita area is Rancho Rossa. They are the only vineyard in the area who produces all estate wines. They do not buy their grapes from anywhere else. (Or at least they didn't before this recent round of storms...) Their red wine that I liked the best was called CSM. Bottles of wine from each of those vineyards will run you about $25-$30.

I like the idea of the gift card with the gift basket (they probably have plenty of wine glasses though!). I am a big wine person too so the diff of 30-50 a bottle I don't think I would know. The most special wines to me are the ones I bought myself at a winery. Total Wine is a GREAT wine distributor, as is bev mo. But if they live in CA like it sounds, make sure there is one nearby.

Do you know if they like white or red wine?