Cheap wine

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dishdude

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I refuse to spend more than $10 on a bottle of wine and recently picked up this bottle only because I thought the label was really cool. Turned out to be excellent! What are your finds?

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Ha, Cold Chisel was the first thing I thought of when reading the thread title
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I can honestly say I've never seen that video/heard that song before.

...despite my attraction to Marmite/Vegemite and baby-eating Dingo's
(seriously tho, I do prefer Marmite).
 
That's one of the worst songs I've ever heard, and that's even after drinking a bottle of cheap wine!
 
Since I turned 60, I've radically cut down on the red stuff. Nowerdays a bottle easily lasts me a week (before it was lucky if it survived the day!).

However I've still retained my old attitudes to buying wine which is to treat it like a necessary commodity (akin to gasoline) which I'm duty bound to source for the lowest price.

There's a German supermarket here in the UK called Lidl (rhymes with 'needle') & they usually do a 'weekend special' wine for £2.99 (roughly $US 4). The price alone is amazing when you consider that £2.00 of that price is tax! I don't know where exactly they source it but their own-brand Ozzie Cab-Sav & Oz Shiraz are two of the best wines I've ever necked! My garage is full of these £2.99 marvels.

To anyone that says I'm an uncouth heathen, I've enjoyed the myriad delights of McLaren Vale & umpteen South Africa wineries & I've sat in Berry Brothers in St James Street & imbibed all sorts of mega-expensive glugs. I may not have a classically educated palette but I did go on a 40 year 'total immersion' course which must count for something!
 
I see you went to BevMo. Good. Next time you're there, look for this:
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... You'll be glad you did. I ALWAYS make sure I keep at least 5 bottles each of the Old Vine Zin, and their Cabernet Sauvignon in my house at all times. Some of the best cheap wine you're ever going to find. IMHO, it rivals many $40-50 bottles.
 
I'm not a connoisseur of wine but, I do like a merlot. It is said in my area, "don't spend more than $20 on a bottle of wine". Apparently, spending more doesn't get a better tasting wine. And I think we've all heard this one..."don't cook with a wine that you wouldn't drink".

My BIL loves his wine. He was telling me something along the lines of(maybe someone can shed some light on this), a winery can only produce a certain number bottles of wine from the same lot/barrels or whatever. And then they have to call it something else under another name/label(one of their own). And these are the bottles of wine for less money that my BIL tries to buy. And it's the same wine that the winery produced under their main label.

It has to do with some law or rule in the wine industry? Does anyone know about this?
 
I have tried many different wines over the years from cheap to expensive.

At risk of losing credibility, my favorite wine is Carlo Rossi Chianti.

if your one of those people who likes to take mental thoughts down and describe wines i.e., this wine has notes of blah blah who cares whatever, you wont like it.

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Good stuff skyactiv!
My FIL(90 yrs old) drinks Carlo Rossi(anything) and I agree it is good!
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He always drinks a red wine Burgundy, Merlot, Chianti etc. IDK about today but, Carlo Rossi was alway about $10-$12 gal. It's good!
 
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I find some of the better cheaper wine comes from Chile, Bulgaria, etc.
 
We have Aldi and Lidl here and they both sell wine for around $2.75 a bottle. Some of it is pretty good. Trader Joes have their $3 bottles. A glass of red is supposed to be good for you.
 
Lots of good options at or below the $10 range. If you find one you like, buy it up! It's hit and miss on them, so if you find one at $8.09, don't mess around, just take home a case!
 
Well, I probably would have bought that for the cool label as well.
Most Cabs are pretty good and are a safe bet.
In general, for an inexpensive sparkling wine, a Cava is always a good bet. For whites, anything German. For reds, Spanish wines are usually a good pick. Italian wines are kinda hit and miss IMHO. There are also many good wines from the PNW, Cali, Chili, Argentina and South Africa as well as Oz and New Zealand. Let's not forget France, from which we often find inexpensive wines that are quite good as well as some worthy only of being used to cook with. Contrary to what some think, a wine that's nothing you'd really care to drink will work just fine in cooking.
We have a large local retailer here that has a wine section larger than an entire typical Aldi store. They usually have some real deal wines, and we'll often buy a bottle to try and if it turns out to be something we like we'll then go back and buy a case or two.
Aldi also has a nice little wine selection at moderate prices.
 
Heh heh, I discovered Carlo Rossi Red Mtn Vin Rose back in Stockton CA in'69 . 99 cents a gallon then and there. 40 yrs later, 2800 miles east the merlot is 14 bucks. First swig is ga-ross. However, I learned to crack the cap and allow it to breathe. Overnight at least. In MA there are only a few Trader Joes that sell wine. Their 2.99 /750 ml. bottles are a true bargain. Trouble is, I have to drive 40 miles to get it. Too old school to try boxed wine. Gotta be glass at least .750 L. SIL gave me 2 bottles of Spanish riojo that is great with pasta.
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We drink a lot of wine in the family. (Italian) most of it's bootlegged but we will buy here/there for dinner with friends/family at their house.

I find a lot of wine to be subjective at setting the price and not truly a better experience. I've been out with customers for business dinners and we have ordered expensive wine and honestly it's no better than some of the $12-$13 ($10 USD) wines here IMO.

I think it's like Art. The value is in the eye of the beholder sort of nonsense.
 
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Anytime cheap wine is mentioned I remember my first experience with MD 20/20. The first advice given before acquiring the Mad Dog was to get the gold and not the red. The red will look like blood when it comes out your nose.

Ghastly stuff but as teens it was a coming of age thing.
 
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