Check out all of our products > 10 Great Tips on Buying Good Cheap Wine Wine is a lot more affordable than everyone thinks. For example, a $15 bottle of wine contains 5 servings (at 5 oz/150 ml each), making each serving just $3–a price that beats many craft beers! The one big problem with buying wine is the more you spend the more likely you’re going to get a good wine. The flip side of this,–and the reason why sites like The Reverse Wine Snob are popular– is the less you spend, the more likely you’ll get not-so-good wine. The econ-conscious British call this “QPR” or “quality price ratio.” So how does one get great QPRs? The “Good Wine” Curve An example how the ratio of good wine to bad wine changes based on cost. Recommendations are great, but wine is always changing. A wine might be stupendous on one vintage and then ‘meh’ the next vintage, or in some cases for bulk producers, not even the same wine. There’s also so many wine brands that come out each year (the TTB processes over 100,000 requests a year).

So, no human could possibly give you a rundown of them all (we’ll need wine-tasting robots for that…). Fortunately, you don’t need to taste all the wine in the world to know how to seek out quality.If you don’t learn anything else, learn this) The #1 awesome advice we can give you is to pay attention to value regions. Countries like Spain, Chile and Portugal produce gobs of wine, but don’t have the same prestige (or economic status) as countries like France and the United States. You’ll stumble across more values (across the board from cheap to fancy) than you can possibly ever expect to drink! See 2015’s hottest value regions More Cheap Wine Buying Tips Trying to avoid those horrible cheap wine headaches? Keep an eye out for wines made with organic grapes, they have more rigorous production requirements. Try lesser-known grape varieties that haven’t quite made their way into the spotlight. Often these varietals offer great value. A few examples include Carménère, Primitivo, Tannat, Bobal, Nero d’Avola and Petite Sirah.

Buy by the case to take advantage of retailer’s case discounts, which often save you up to 15%. Most sub-$10 US red wine is produced by a large brand name or a sub-label of a large brand name. what is the best bottle of wineSome of these large brands have great track records for decent quality affordable wine, so track your bargain bottle back to the source and seek out more labels like it. best wine chinaCheck out Kobrand (for a list of their producers) , Jackson Family Estates and Chateau St. Michelle.large glass of wine cost If you think you’re sensitive to sulfites, opt for wines from the EU, organic US wines, or US wines made with organically grown grapes. good quality wine for cheap

These wines generally have less sulfites added during production. You should also read this awesome article about sulfites. Wines in Tetra Pak carton packages have lower production/shipping costs and are therefore worth investigating for decent wines. wine best friend quotesFor example, in the US, CalNaturale produces organic wines sold in Tetra Pak that are often quite drinkable.fonts for wine bottles Look to local long-standing wine shops for an ample selection and more flexibility when it comes time to negotiating a case discount, especially for closeouts on older vintages.best wine to buy at fresh and easy Avoid relabeled wines (common in supermarket chains) which are usually bulk wines and “shiners.”best white wine for 20 dollars

Here is a wonderful summary of some great online retailers to investigate. BONUS TIP: Drink more white wine. Empower Your Wine Buying Skills Learn more about what wines to seek out and what wine regions to explore. best white wine with italian foodWine Folly: The Essential Guide to Wine is the wine drinker’s bible–a visual delight to look at and a powerful resource for knowing wine. Wine Folly Book (on Amazon) Game of Thrones Cabernet Sauvignon Game of Thrones Red Blend Online Only - Free Shipping on $75+ To redeem online, enter promotion code FREE75 at checkout. on ground shipping on a purchase of $75 or more, excluding items purchased for in-store pick up, and before taxes, shipping, and handling. Delivery surcharges, and 2-day and overnight shipping charges still apply. Offer not valid in Alaska and Hawaii. Cannot be combined with other coupons.

No adjustments to prior purchases. Game of Thrones Chardonnay Line 39 Sauvignon Blanc Line 39 Cabernet Sauvignon Line 39 Pinot Noir Joel Gott Cabernet Sauvignon Joel Gott Sauvignon Blanc Justin Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon Taylor Fladgate Late Bottled Vintage Port Freixenet Carta Nevada Brut Sparkling Wine Coppola Diamond Pinot Grigio Menage a Trois Gold Chardonnay Love Noir Pinot Noir Seaside Cellars Pinot Noir Il Conte Stella Rosa Black Red Wine 19 Crimes The Warden Red Blend Sola Meritage Red Wine Pepperwood Grove Cabernet SauvignonThe holidays are over. It is January, a month much associated with cutting back and shopping more wisely. Still love your wine? Read on for some great wine shopping tips to help you find the best deals, and save a few dollars. Tip #1 - Buy By the Case and Not By the BottleI have mentioned this a number of times in previous posts. While it might seem extravagant to order a case of wine, you generally get a discount of anything between 10% and 15% by doing so.

Additionally, most retailers apply the case discount to mixed cases as well - so you do not have to buy 12 bottles of the same wine. Mix it up and have some fun. Tip #2 - Seek Out Bin Ends SelectionsBin ends are odd bottles of wine that a retailer is trying to move. Wines end up as bin end selections for many reasons. A torn, scratched or damaged label is enough to do it or, the new vintage has arrived and the retailer wants to quickly sell any remaining previous vintage bottles, or maybe the wine for whatever reason, was a difficult sell. I have found so many great bargains in the bin end box. However, the bin end selection is often not very prominently displayed, so seek it out, or ask your retailer if he/she has one. Tip #3 - Take Advantage of Regular Retailer SalesIncreasingly retailers designate a day per week or per month when some section of their wine inventory is on sale. For example in New York City, well-known retailer Astor Wines has a sale day every Tuesday, when it offers a 15% discount on every single wine from a selected region.

One week it could be Bordeaux, the next Tuscany, then New Zealand or whatever. Another great way to savvy shop and save. Tip #4 - Shop Around.It is quite amazing the disparity in wine pricing for the same wine in different stores. Significant price differences between states is somewhat explained by different sales tax and excise duty regimes. However, even within the same state (or same city) you can find considerable price differences. Today it is easy to shop around without leaving home by using Wine Searcher - a search engine website that enables you to search for any wine by state. It is a search engine of retailer price lists. You enter in the name of the wine, and up comes a list of retailers that stock the wine and the prices they charge. There are two levels of Wine Searcher: A free version that really works quite well, but prioritizes Wine Searcher sponsors. Then there is the Pro version, which searches a more complete list of retailers. It costs $39 per year. I use the Pro version a lot and find it very useful.

Occasionally I find that the retailer listed no longer has the wine in stock - so it is useful to call ahead to verify that the wine is still in stock. I am also always amazed by the price differences! It really does pay to shop around. Tip #5 - Make Use of Daily Deal Websites Over the past year the 'Daily Deal' website concept has taken off for almost everything you want to buy. From multi-product sites like Gilt that sell everyting from high fashion to gourmet foods, to specialist wine daily deal sites like Vitis, Lot 18, Cinderella Wine and WTSO. These specialist wine websites offer just one wine at a time but it is discounted anywhere from 30% to 70% off the suggested retail price. These sites are able to offer such discounted prices because of savvy purchasing strategies and availing of importer / distributor close out pricing offers. In the interest of full disclosure, I have a relationship with one of these sites - Vitis, where I am part of their product tasting team. Along with fellow Master of Wine, Christy Canterbury, I taste and review wines for Vitis before they decide to purchase and sell them on the site.