Au bon climate's Santa Barbara Pinot noir blend runs about 20 bucks out here and is our daily drinker. I'd agree about avoiding the low cost French burgundys because they are pretty rough. At the higher end though it's definately an eye opening comparison of the differences between old world and new.Pinot is awesome, the problem is it doesn't usually show well under 25-30$. Try a Siduri Sonoma County at ~ 22-24$, that is the best value expression of what Pinot can be. You can also look for a Borgogne but that is going to be a crapshoot.
Start with a good wine then breakout the cheapshit stuff when you are too buzzed to tell the difference.
If you like whites, Id recommend trying some Chablis. It's very unique for Chardonnay (very minerally) and you can get a decent bottle in the 30-40 range.