Want to get in touch with your inner wine geek but don't want to burn a hole in your pocket while doing so? Relax, good wine doesn't have to mean expensive wine, and their are plenty of wine bars throughout the city that offer excellent wine selections at budget-friendly prices. From Merlot to Zinfandel, Rioja to Burgundy, click through for some of our favorite wine havens that will keep your curiosity satisfied and your wallet happy.Home > New York City What to do in New York City La Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels brings its Paris style to Soho. (Courtesy La Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels) Fizz Fix: The Best Places for Champagne in NYC The Where® Travel Guide to New York City More travel ideas for you:What goes better together than cheese and wine? Here are our top picks for bars with great happy hour deals, delicious cheese plates, and lots of bubbly. By Carly Petrone/Selena Ricks-Good 22 W. 8th St. New York, NY 10011 More: Best Wine Stores In NYC

Amelie Wine Bar is definitely the place to go on your next date. This cute and rustic wine bar is serving up quite an impressive wine list and an assortment of cheese plates. Guests can customize their own cheese and charcuterie plate that includes tasty cheese options like rich and buttery Camembert, creamy Humbolt Fog, and tangy Manchego. Meat eaters can nosh on decadent items like smoked duck breast, Pate de Campagne, and Chorizo Iberico. Stop in for happy hour or cheers to the weekend with a glass of bubbly from their extensive Champagne and sparkling wine menu. Brunch is also available on the weekends. New York, NY 10001 More: Best Places With Wine On Tap In NYC Stop into Vin Sur Vingt for a wine flight and cheese pairing. This French hot spot offers your choice of three wines for $18, five wines for $29, or three cheeses with three wines for $33. You can also opt for the assorted selection of French cheeses from the Les Fromages section, with prices varying by order.

With more than 50 selections of wine available by the glass, you’ll certainly find one to pair perfectly with your food choice. If you’re looking for a rich Bordeaux or Burgundy, this is the place to go. Make sure to check out their other three locations in the West Village, Upper West Side, and inside the Plaza Hotel Food Hall.buy wine online free shipping india New York, NY 10002best wine east coast More: Best Wine And Cheese Classes In NYCsecond best wine youtube The Ten Bells is the answer to your happy hour prayers. From opening until 7 p.m., guests can enjoy $15 carafes of wine (red, wine, and rose) as well as $1 oysters. During regular hours, diners can indulge in a variety of cheeses, ranging from pasteurized Bonne Bouche and Weston Wheel, to raw Cayuga Blue and Kunik.

Take advantage of some cheap wines by the glass, like their white chardonnay, rose, and Cotes Du Rhone for just $8 each. Of course, a glass of bubbly will also do at a reasonable $12-$13 range. The rustic atmosphere and wrap-around bar is also extremely inviting. Black Mountain Wine House More: Best Mac & Cheese In NYC It doesn’t get much cozier than Black Mountain Wine House in Gowanus. This adorable cabin-like wine bar offers more than 30 wines by the glass or bottle, along with a curated half bottle list. Stock up on a cheese plate that includes Two Sisters, Black River Blue, and Spanish Idiazabal. Even more cheesy options include the Black Mountain Mac n’ Cheese with wild mushrooms, gruyere, and truffle oil, or the Goat Cheese Tart with roasted beets, potato, and balsamico. Earl’s Beer and Cheese New York, NY 10029 More: Best Beer Gardens In NYC If you’re more of a beer drinker, then head uptown to Earl’s Beer and Cheese. Pair a glass of craft beer with a unique menu of cheese-inspired dishes, like mac & cheese, gorgonzola grilled cheese, and beer cheese!

Sip on an ever-changing beer menu that’s filled with nitro porters, dark brews and distinct IPAs. Grab a seat at one of the communal tables and get to know your neighbors over a cold brew and some hot cheese. Casellula Cheese & Wine Cafe 401 W. 52nd St. Exploring Hell’s Kitchen: Eat, See And Play More of a cheese bar with wine than a wine bar with cheese, this casual Hell’s Kitchen restaurant offers dozens of types of cheese, ranging from mild to mega-stinky, to pair with their eclectic wine list. 345 E. 12th St. Best known for serving gourmet cured meat, jamón ibérico, this tiny Spanish tapas restaurant also offers a selection of imported cheeses such as manchego and la serena. The friendly staff can help guide you through the menu of Spanish wines and sherries as you escape the East Village bustle in this intimate, brick space. This Brooklyn restaurant and cocktail bar is also known for wine and cheese, thanks to its shared ownership with nearby Smith & Vine wine store and Stinky Brooklyn cheese shop.

Choose from more than 30 cheeses a la carte to pair with more than 25 wines by the glass, or for a truly stinky Brooklyn experience, opt for the fondue for two made with cheddar and cave-aged Swiss. Carly Petrone is the founder of Petrone on the Rocks, a lifestyle site about food, drinks, beauty, travel, and more. She lives in New York City. Selena Ricks-Good writes about drinks and produces events as The Dizzy Fizz. In theory, I should love wine bars -- I drink a lot of wine, and I often trade evenings in my dinky, NYC apartment for nights out. But I often cringe when I hear the term, since every restaurant proprietor takes poetic license to call their beverages a "wine list" and their establishment a "wine bar." Peddling pedestrian, supermarket wines, often in uninspired spaces, and charging the equivalent of the bottle price for a single glass? The best wine bars, in my opinion, don't have the same list as everyone else. They offer a few unique wines, whether from a smaller producer or a lesser known region or varietal, and always carry a few affordable options by the glass.

They also store the wine properly (no wine kept above the pizza oven, please!) and serve it in decent stemware (no thick lips!).In the West Village, here are five spots that really get things right:Grab your significant other for an evening at Anfora.Anfora Dark, date-worthy atmosphere, also popular with groups arriving early to score the comfy leather banquettes. Skip the couch for a seat at the bar, giving you direct access to the helpful, wine-savvy staff. Anfora offers a range of unique wines from around the world, including a Georgian anfora aged wine, a Lebanese Cabernet blend, and a white Pošip from Croatia. Prices are spot on with lots of options between $10 and $12 plus more serious glasses like a Rioja Reserva for $24. Food is not an afterthought, either -- try the lauded lamb-ragu sliders. Anfora hits all the marks. 34 Eighth Avenue, 212-518-2722Can't make it across the pond? Check out Vin Sur Vingt for a taste of France in New York.Vin Sur Vingt Adorably petite, French bistro-style wine bar offering bar stools plus rows of teeny tables packed as tightly as they come in Paris (and the West Village);

arrive early or really late. The all-French wine list is regularly rotated through 50 options by the glass, starts at $9, and includes plenty of Bordeaux and Burgundy for those who need it, as well as Jura and Corsica for the more adventurous. Staff is French and helpful and lets you taste before you buy. Gallic nibbles like escargot and pate are offered on the tightly edited menu. 201 West 11th Street, 212-924-4442The Upholstery Store's wine selection is better than its decor.The Upholstery Store Kurt Gutenbrunner, Austrian chef/owner of next door's Wallsé, opened this sliver of space as an ode to Austrian wines. The short, rotating list dips into other unsung regions, but mostly highlights his homeland's unique varietals: Grüner Veltliner, Sylvaner, Blaufränkisch, and St. Laurent, plus hard to find Furmint. Bottle prices are high starting at $50, but glasses are within reach beginning at $10. Bartenders generously offer tastes of wines both on and off the menu -- just ask, and you shall receive.

The spare, candlelit decor and limited charcuterie/cheese menu could both use a jolt of energy, but huge points are earned for dedication to these seldom seen varietals. 713 Washington Street, 212-352-2300Get to Blue Ribbon early to find a seat, their rotating selections are worth it.Blue Ribbon Downing Street Bar Another teensy, weensy West Village spot with limited bar and table seats. Cut out of work by 4 p.m., or else wait your turn. Their thoughtful list of bottles and half-bottles crosses many oceans and spans all price points, with numerous under $45 selections like a French Minervois and Mallorcan white. Wine by the glass is more limited, but rotating flights like "Greek Whites" and "Crozes-Hermitage" keep it interesting, with tasting pours of princely size. Small plates are a mixed bag ranging from Southern barbecue to French charcuterie. 34 Downing Street, 212-691-0404You might need to search a bit to find Zampa.Zampa This hardish-to-find Italian bar, where meatpacking and a bare stretch of West 13th Street intersect, has a modern Italian vibe that is ever so slightly softened for its West Village locale.