Regards,
Richard Best, The Frugal Oenophile

Another way is to try out the Grocery Store wines. You know…the 3 dollar ones? It is fashionable to hate them, but Ive found several that I like. There’s several flavored apple wines that are great! Blackberry wine is also good to me. The investment is very small (especially when you can get the little bitty 125ml bottles to try it out)

Isn’t wine, by and large, more expensive than, say, Diet Coke? I ask because I drink Diet Coke, not wine. I’m not suggesting that anybody else not drink wine, I’m really curious – why is wine apparently OK if you’re frugal, but not caffeine? One of the added benefits to caffeine is that it helps reduce pain; I suspect if wine is used to the same effect, it could cause some problems. Or is there something I’m missing? I just wonder if it might not be “save money on coffee/soda [because I'd rather spend the money on wine]“.

Cheers,
Jason

I didn’t read through every comment so I don’t know if this wine has been recommended yet or not, but my favorite wine by far is Banrock Station Shiraz.

It’s a $5 bottle of Australian wine you can get at Wal-Mart (at least the Wal-Marts here in MI carry them), but it’s won numerous “Best Buy” awards for taste. And for $5, you can’t beat it.

I keep it stocked at my house, and never get tired of it!

My kid sister and her husband turned me on to Rex Goliath, and I second the recommendation. Good stuff. Plus, it’s named after a giant rooster, so we get to make all the expected, groaningly-bad “cock” jokes.

My wine-buying strategy is ludicrously simple: I go into Trader Joes, look to see what’s down to the last one or two bottles left on the shelf, and buy that. It’s a completely idiot-proof way to pick a decent bottle of wine.

I’d like to add another: World Market has some fantastic deals on good wines at good prices.

I bought two bottles of Pinot Noir for my thanksgiving meal (my personal favorite) — both were $9 and both were fantastic.

This doesn’t work for domestic wines, however.

Knowledgeable people in any field are called snobs by those jealous or ignorant about an art, but if you really want to become an expert in any field you will be called snob by other people.

If you are knowledgeable you are bound to ask pertinent questions about the wines you are selecting, which in turn may help you to save more money.

Fearing becoming a snob is frankly childish.

Every so often you have to drink a really good bottle of wine, if only to know what a really good wine tastes like (helps to have a friend with a good job, and an extensive cave)

One way to tell a decent wine at a lower price point is to go shopping on a Saturday and see which spaces are emptier.

Adventures in alcoholism!

jegan

i figure you can’t go wrong with an australian shiraz, as long as it isn’t yellowtail. other than that, the shiraz is always spicey and for some reason the ozzies seem to do this type of wine well…

another one of my favourites is a nz pinot noir… but i’ve yet to find one i love for under $40 a bottle… if you can find them from the central otago region, they are lovely and rich.. but the marlborough region is also great too.

i also have to add, that i think the prices in canada might be a bit higher than in the us for wine -we only have it available in liquor stores so i think they tend to bump up the prices a bit…

oh, and another suggestion – get some cheap cheap wine, and make mulled wine! perfect for this time of year!!!

http://www.wineintro.com/mulled/

Buy American first!!! Keep the money here at home.

peace, Rick

http://www.cinetopiatheaters.com/wine_bar/wine_bar.htm

For folks in Portland Oregon, like JD, Great Wine Buys has a $100 “case of the month” that lets you try a variety of relatively inexpensive wines that they select. But you can often get good recommendations from some wine staff at places like Fred Meyer and Costco as well.

Almost every store offers a case discount on full cases of one wine and many offer the same discount on mixed cases. So buying in bulk will save you money.

My experience is that wineries do NOT offer a discount on their wines at the winery. They charge retail prices and you can often find the same wine cheaper elsewhere. Visiting the winery is a good way to try several different wines before you buy. And you know how the wine has been handled if you are intending to cellar it.

Some labels that I can remember at the moment, with an emphasis on big, spicy reds over whites:

Cavit – Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir
Melini – Chianti
Yellow Tail – Merlot and Zinfandel
Nathanson Creek – Zinfandel
Egra/Bull’s Blood – Hungarian red

These can all run between $7 and $9 per bottle for the 750ml size, maybe a bit much for those on a strict budget, but then, I try to buy when there’s a sale, and I tend not to drink them every day.

I’ve sampled some local PA wines and so far, I haven’t been terribly impressed with any of them, although they are definitely less expensive (relatively speaking) than what’s at the state store.

Washington is the second now (overtaking OR a few years ago), so I’m not surprised to see many suggestions for both Columbia Crest and Chateau Ste. Michelle, which I love for table wines, too.

Agree with holding wine tastings both in your house and at the winery. Also, if you really decide to get into it, wine clubs can be great.

Chateau Ste. Michelle, for instance, has several wine club options. For locals, you can taste what you’ve been sent at the “secret” wine tasting room that’s separate from the main tasting room.

There are two distinct levels of wine to be frugal about — table/cooking wines and outstanding/memorable wines. I’ve found that price range does adjust accordingly with most of the really sensational wines starting around $20.

To find sensational wines: try a recommendation at a restaurant (an especially good deal if they’re by the glass), look at Wine Spectator recommendations (often posted at grocery stores), talk to friends, and ask the seller (here’s where the wine store comes in first).

Costco is a great deal on higher end wines, but not so much for table wines where I frequently get a better deal at Safeway when I buy 6 for an extra 10% off.

Also, try different grape varieties. And fruit wines can be interesting. We found a pumpkin wine in Illinois made by throwing pumpkins in a wood chipper and fermenting. Tasted similar to pumpkin pie.

My wife is the wine drinker. We never buy a case as she always wants to try something new, something different.

At local (now closed) liquor store that specialized in wine, the owner’s son was well versed in wino 101, 202 and advanced wino 305. He now runs a local winery.

Anyways, he told me once that for Champange, the price is nonsense. Any bottle you like under $10 is just as good as anything over $10.

He also told us that for any wine the year and region are more important than the brand or cost. If you find an Austarlian wine from 2006 is one you like then 9 times out of 10 any wine produced in the same environment (ie year’s conditions, soil, rain, sun, bugs, etc) will taste similar.

my favorite reds are from italy (give me any chianti), s. africa, australia, chile, and croatia. a little private label (well, they didn’t have labels actually, only a hang tag, and i guess it could be termed a garage wine) 60 year old croatian red being my favorite of all time.

really, if you are in a wine producing country, other than the US, you shouldn’t be wasting money, as my good italian friend keeps reminding me, on wine over $4/bottle.

A few of my favorites:

Redass Rubarb from South Dakota $10 a bot

Plum Loco from Arizona $9 a bot

Edelweiss from a Vineyard near me in Iowa $12

A Red that i forgot the name of from Kansas (i ran out so i couldn’t check the bottle) $11 a bot

My recomendation is, find a tour, take a tour, make a tour, while on tour try several.

Wine tasting tips
http://www.vinivino.com/blog/?p=85

Guy-Jacques
ww.vinivino.com