they think of it as "better" or even "the best." Proclaiming something to be 100 percent this or that is a tactic used by brands to convey quality. We are conditioned to assume as much because we have been taught from a young age to be suspicious of fillers and imitations. (If a drink contains "10 percent real fruit juice," what makes up the other 90 percent?)But blends — say, 20 percent one grape, 80 percent another — are everywhere in the wine world. Some regions are defined by their blends — and often they are better than the bottles that boast "100 percent" of a grape variety. Some of the best wines in the world are made from blends. Horse people know that hot-blooded thoroughbreds can be … spirited, to put it kindly, or skittish, to say it another way. Purebred dogs can also be a little high-strung. Doesn't everybody who loves dogs love a good ol' friendly mutt? Wait, can you even say "mutt" anymore, or is it offensive to dogs? Just to be safe — scratch that. Let's call them dogs of mixed breeds.

It is that wonderful melange that gives those dogs their appeal. Perhaps one breed mellows out the tendencies of another. Maybe one breed injects a little energy, or loyalty, or gives added focus to a dog that might have been a little distracted if he were a purebred. The same ideas apply to wine blending. The introduction of one grape variety to another can make a certain characteristic more pronounced, or correct a shortcoming. It all comes down to that word that gets lobbed around so often in wine circles: balance. Is everything working together? Is the wine better than the parts of it would have been on their own? If so, that's a good blend. That's a good wine, period.Last week my column was all about pricey, proprietary red Bordeaux blends from California, and mostly Napa Valley. This week, as promised, it's all about more affordable red blends. This doesn't mean you have to stop drinking your beloved 100 percenters. It just means that you don't have to be suspicious of blends.

At least not wine blends. In the fruit juice realm, you're on your own.Here's a list of my 10 favorites from a recent tasting, in ascending order by price. They are from various parts of California.2013 Hey Mambo Sultry Red ($12) With fruit from Clarksburg and Paso Robles, this wine is made of tempranillo, syrah, merlot, zinfandel, petite sirah and barbera, offering dark, jammy fruit, vanilla and nutmeg. what type of wine is best with turkeyAt this price, it's worth every dollar.best economy white wine 2013 Steelhead Vineyards Red ($15) From the North Coast, which covers a lot of ground. the best wine in spainBright blueberry, cocoa, blackberry and earth emerge from this blend of 43 percent zinfandel, 22 percent syrah, 13 percent carignan, and the rest merlot, cabernet sauvignon and petite sirah.2013 Kendall-Jackson Avant ($17) "California" is this bottle's origin, with grapes from five counties — half merlot, 22 percent syrah, and smaller amounts of cabernet sauvignon, malbec, petite sirah, carignan and "other."

I promise you, those are grapes. This wine has plum, raspberry, licorice and a hint of spice.2012 Manteo ($18) From Sonoma County, eight grape varieties went into this one: 28 percent syrah plus petit verdot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petite sirah, merlot, malbec and zinfandel. This is a nice wine with cola, vanilla, baking spices and cherry, and a silky mouthfeel.2012 Cirque du Vin ($19) Paso Robles winery Peachy Canyon made this beautiful bottle. It's 60 percent syrah and 28 percent petite sirah, with small amounts of zinfandel, merlot and tannat. The wine's silky and jammy blackberry, blueberry, caramel and vanilla made me want to chew it. Drinking this wine was as fun as the label looks.2013 Francis Ford Coppola Vendetta ($25) With a 66/34 split between Mendocino and Monterey counties, and a 66/34 split between cabernet sauvignon and malbec, this wine also wears a black paper bag as a label. Tricks aside, it's tasty and full of raspberry, black pepper, anise and cherry.2014 Tenshen ($25) This Santa Barbara County wine brings some Rhone varieties into a blend that includes syrah, grenache, mourvedre, petite sirah and merlot.

Full of black cherry and blackberry, it's also spicy and floral. I would happily pay more than the asking price for it.2012 Tom Gore Field Blend ($40) From Sonoma's Alexander Valley, this rustic blend is 35 percent petit verdot, 33 percent malbec and 21 percent merlot with small amounts of cabernet sauvignon and tempranillo. Concentrated plum, blackberry and leather reveal themselves in slow layers.2012 Paraduxx Proprietary Red Wine ($48) Just one from Napa Valley. Cocoa and anise lead to bright raspberry and blueberry, and spice on the long finish. This elegant blend is 60 percent cabernet sauvignon, 37 percent zinfandel and 3 percent petit verdot.2010 Cenyth Sonoma County Red Wine ($60) Well, the name tells you where it's from. This wine combines 54 percent merlot with 34 percent cabernet franc and the rest cabernet sauvignon for an intriguing swirl of raspberry, pepper, baking spices and a touch of earth.Best Affordable Wine Clubs The best wine of the month clubs delivered for under $20 / bottle

and Best Wine Club Deals for Mom Not everyone who loves wine can afford premium prices, so if you want wine for a dime, this list of best affordable wine clubs is a great place to start. Our wine club reviews examine quality-to-price ratio (QPR in the wine biz), price per bottle, shipping costs—and of course, the wine selection. The definition of affordable is subjective—as is the definition of good wine for that matter—but these selections are geared toward value-shoppers. We focus this list on wines delivered for less than $20 and you'll notice there are rarely 2-bottle wine clubs on it—to get the most value from a wine club order bigger shipments and have them delivered less often if you don't drink that much every month. “Affordable” not the main factor in your wine club decision? WINC Wine Club by WINC Limited Time Offer WineClubReviews.net Exclusive - Best Winc Deal!Get $25 in credits toward your first shipment when you use our links to join Winc for yourself!

While Winc (formerly known as Club W) appears on many of our Best Wine Clubs lists, it's place at the top of the Best Affordable Wine Clubs list is well-deserved. With wines priced starting $13, and free shipping on orders with four bottles or more, you'd be hard-pressed to find another value-oriented wine club with wines this good. Since Winc runs on credits (1 credit = 1 dollar), they let you pre-buy credits and save money. It's a the-more-you-buy-the-more-you-save kinda deal, but you can save up to 20% on their already-low prices this way! Want to push your value further? Pick white wines when ordering from Winc. You'll think you're shopping at the fancy wine store down the street. Did we mention you can let them pick your wine based on how you answer questions in their Palate Profile Quiz (and subsequent ratings of their wine) or you can pick every wine you receive from their ever-growing collection of wines? WSJwine Wine Club by Wall Street Journal Wine Limited Time Offer Introductory offer: $69.99 for 12 bottles of wine!

Also choose between free bonus gifts: 3 bottles of wine or a deluxe, lever-action corkscrew. The Wall Street Journal Wine Club (formally called WSJWine) continues to be a great value in the wine club market. It's a quarterly case club (12 bottles delivered every three months) so you save money by shipping more wine less often. The wines are priced to be affordable and most of them come from Europe where the parent company buys out huge productions of wine to distribute through this massive wine club. In the beginning of our wine club reviewing days (in 2009!) we thought these wines were great. Then we started drinking more expensive wine, and in particular became big fans of California wines and we were less impressed. But as we came to know old-world wines (France, Italy, Spain, and Germany), we learned that there's more to wine than a high-alcohol fruit-bomb and came to appreciate the value in what WSJ wine is offering—and that's why it's back on this list! One word of caution: Shipping and cancellation issues are common.

If you're detail-oriented and keep track of shipments you'll be receiving, you'll be fine. If not, this may not be the best wine club for you. Premier Wine Club by The California Wine Club Limited Time Offer Bonus Month! Give a 3-month wine gift and they'll get a 4th month free (a $53.95 value)! Until July 1Save 15% on Gift Subscriptions Use promo code GIFT15. Until May 1Bonus Gifts for You Free in your first shipment: 2 Bonus Wines and a $25 Wine Credit to use on any future order. Use promo code 2EXTRA or click this link. The California Wine Club Premier Series offers affordable wines to be sure. Since their focus with this wine club series is terrific $25-30 bottles, they've never made this list of Best Affordable Wine Clubs. But now they can because they're offering an outstanding deal on their Premier Series wines... For a limited time (and probably available in the future if it's as popular as it ought to be), you can get a 12-bottle case club for just $170 per shipment (including the cost of shipping).

That's competitive with other companies on this list, but you cannot match the quality of these wines at these prices at any of the others. Choose monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly shipments and save. We say it a lot, but we LOVE case clubs if you're looking for good value. If you only drink 1 bottle a week, you'll save loads on shipping costs by ordering quarterly cases and in this case, you get a tremendous discount on their normal prices, too.At The California Wine Club you get a 100% Love It Guarantee and a personal wine concierge to go with your membership! Laithwaites Wine Club by Laithwaites Wine Limited Time Offer Introductory offer: $69.99 for 15 bottles of wine! Laithwaites Wine Club is a great value in wine clubs. Case clubs always offer the best prices because they're rewarding volume pricing. Quarterly case clubs are perfect for wine drinkers who drink about a bottle per week, or those who want another bottle per week on hand. It is VERY similar to WSJwine, #2 on this list of value-oriented wine clubs, but it's $10 cheaper per month.

The quality of these wines has improved since we first started reviewing Laithwaites back in 2009. A larger club has improved their purchasing power and their prices haven't changed, so their members are getting better quality wines at the same prices. by Tasting Room by Lot18 Limited Time Offer Get a $40 tasting kit for just $6.95 when you sign up today. is a wine club designed for keeping you well-stocked. They send you 12 bottles every three months — enough for a bottle a week (for some of us, that's nowhere near enough, cough). They start with a sampler kit to help you get into the wine tasting experience and rate wines. From what we hear and have experienced ourselves, this tasting kit bears little relation to the actual wines you'll be receiving later, and in fact, your first full case shipment goes out before you even have time to do the tasting... which is, in our opinion, the worst thing about the club. is a top contender for great value in a wine subscription, and their pricing model of $14.08 per bottle delivered makes it affordable, too.