weight, alcohol, fruit and tannins. With each day, your palate changes and can depend on simple things like a spice in a food you ate earlier in the day, coffee - things like that.
I'm not so sure I understand you value system.
as much as wine can change each day, so do you.
Liking Argentinian Malbec's tells me you prefer bigger wines with a lot of fruit to them almost "jammy". That you like Sangiovese's from Italy tells me you prefer some spice in your wines and that Californian wines tells me
you like bold wines the most. Price point doesn't usually tell the quality of a wine - You can drink a bad wine that costs $100 or it could be just not to your liking (meaning it's not a bad wine, just your palate doesn't accept it).
French wines are glorious but they can also be deceiving. With France, price often tells the story - like a Bordeaux, left bank. Pricey but worth every nickel, but your palate might not be able to discern its luxury therefore you'd
be better off with a Californian back shelf wine like a red Zin as something sapid. Bold, pushy even sluggish but you might find it perfect for your BBQ so why would you waste time with a subtle but luxurious Bordeaux. You might
be better off with a Croze Hermitage back shelf too, well made, a little more defined than a Californian and a fraction of the cost of a quality Bordeaux - a little more towards barnyardy. Also places like Bandol (Chateau Pibarnon)
Now the varietal choice is most curious. You don't mention Pinot Noir from either Cali or France. Two completely different wines. Your Italian experience hasn't branched out yet, though middle of Italy you haven't gone north
to Piemonte or East to places like Le Marche or South to Calabria or Campania or how about Basilicata or Puglia. Basilicata famous for Aglianico del Vulture. All these places with terrific wines, inexpensive and great for
exploration.
Get off the white bread recipe - experiment.