Oh man, how'd I not get in on this thread earlier!
Got 2 cases of 2 Buck Chuck (1 Cab, 1 Merlot) in the basement right now. Constantly hitting TJs to refresh it. Agreed, it's about an $8-10 bottle (easily competitive with Gallo Sonoma or most of your typical grocery store labels), but I feel a helluva lot better about cracking a $2 bottle 5 days a week instead of a $10 bottle nearly that often...
Now, in some sorta remote order, here's something of a top ten from me from recent years. Some more obscure than others...
* '97 BV George LaTour Cab (pricey, but amazing)
* '94 Opus (how can you go wrong?)
* Green and Red Chiles Mill Zin (I think I had the 95, but it's pretty consistently great)
* Just about any Ravenswood Zin you wanna try
* '98 Justin Isoceles (again, pricey, but worth it)
* '95 Guenoc Langtry (meritage - wow)
* Grgich Hills Chard (best mainstream chard I've found)
* '98 St. Supery Sauvi Blanc (cheapish and great, but be careful - had a couple bottles that smelled of cat piss)
* '97 Qupe Syrah (Santa Barbara - worth hunting for)
* Niebaum-Coppola Rubicon (intense, but great payoff)
Jim - Gotta follow up on your idea of getting a tasting party going out here in LA. Gotta assume there are way too many wannabe wine snobs around here to have some fun...