My homepage is Yahoo. Yeah, I know that’s bad and I know getting sidetracked on stupid articles wastes time. But I am going to reclaim some of that time right now. I am now going to use these open Sundays to Mock “The Man”. Any post that makes headlines that I can good naturedly mock is up for grabs:
My Target
Today’s target, Summer Wines Under $20, that just came across the Yahoo article board…
- First off, no one wants to view a slide show post. They want a list of 20 cheap wines as promised.
- Secondly, the wine afficionados will think all of these wines suck anyway and the cheap wine drinkers (like me) will think $20 is overpriced.
Here is the list that would have kicked butt…
5 Everyday Wines under $5
1. Barefoot Moscato
2. Little Black Dress Pinot Grigio
3. Lucky Duck Moscato
4. Voga Quattro (haven’t tried it yet, but awesome bottle)
5. Yellow Tail anything…
Bonus points, start the evening off with the $5 bottles and ease into the $3.50 bottles after the first one or two. You will be too tipsy to notice. 
Another tip, some places like Kroger, will offer 10-15% discounts for buying multiple bottles at once. For example, my local Kroger immediately takes 10% off if you buy 6 bottles or more, so we stock up for potlucks once every month or two. And we get the same amount of dirty humor out of a $5 bottle of Lucky Duck Moscato as we did off the $16 bottles of Mondoro Asti Spumanti that I was buying last year. 
Do you have any personal tips for cheap wine drinkers? How about cheap, sweet favorites since I definitely have a type?
Not a huge wine drinker but I agree that people can be stuffy with alcohol and then if you make them do a blind taste test they probably can’t tell… oh well it is their money not ours!
I never did like wine much because at its core, it is fermented grape juice, and I don’t really like the taste of grape juice, so I don’t really like the taste of wine either. However, my local liquid store has started carrying wine made from cherries, peaches, etc (no grapes) that I do like drinking.
I don’t drink wine, but I will say I agree 100 percent with slideshows! They are a major pain and I close the link the minute I can’t see the info I want within a page or 20. 20 pages slideshow? No thanks!
I cannot tell a fancy bottle from Riuniti, but people tell me Two Buck Chuck from Trader Joe’s is a good deal. That’s not what it is really called but what everyone knows it by. I too hate the slide shows!
There is a real popular wine sold at Trader Joe’s in California and elsewhere called Charles Shaw which is commonly called $2 chuck! Supposedly a good wine for $2.
I typically focus on $8-$15 bottles. To me, they are the best taste for the price.
If $8-$15 is too much then host a house party. People will bring you wine and leave you wine. AND – they will thank you for hosting. What’s better than that? People give you stuff and thank you.
Sangria! I just saw a recipe for white wine, fresh ginger and frozen peaches. Sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it!
I love Moscato..my BFF introduced it to me!
I do drink wine, and I totally agree! I hate those slideshows… also I hate where there are like 100+ of them… they they really expect me to hang around for 100 slides? lol
Whether you are buying one bottle of wine or an entire case (12 bottles) set a budget for how much you want to spend. I’ll give you three categories to help you set your expectations.
I’m not a fan of sweet wines, so I have no suggestions in this area. However, there is a Spanish cava at Trader Joe’s that is amazing and only costs $8 (here in the Chicago area, at least). It’s better than the higher priced champagnes!
In summer I love to drink vino verde from Portugal and it is always pretty inexpensive (usually less than $10 a bottle). At a slightly higher price point I enjoy dry roses from France (mostly for summer, again) and red wines from Argentina. Unless there’s a special close out, I usually end up paying around $10 a bottle for most of my wines, but they’re worth it. Now if I could just stay away from the single malt scotch my liquor budget wouldn’t be so high…
Dude, all I can say is that I am a $3-$5 a bottle type of gal, and yet I stayed with my parents for a while and they splurged on the $15. Now I don’t know if I just got lucky or if $15 really is better. Too bad I have to wait until I visit them again to continue this experiment.
Best,
Cat
aka
Budget Blonde
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Black Box. I think it’s as good as the $8-$15 range bottles.
The 2 buck chuck from Trader Joes is very hard to beat. If you’re in the mood for something a little fancier, you can find a nice Pinot Noir for a hefty $4.
2 buck chuck through a Venturi aerator tastes like $20 bottle of wine. And trust me….60% of the time, it works….EVERYTIME!
We don’t have a Trader Joes around here, so I will have to try 2 buck Chuck next time I visit someone out of state.
Thanks for all of the feedback on this little experiment!
@Amy, I haven’t heard of Black Box…I will check it out.
@Cat, LOL.
@Jenna, love sangria!
Here in San Diego we have Fresh and Easy grocery stores. They carry a wonderful chardonnay for only $1.99. Honestly, it beats $2 buck chuck! I haven’t found anything that tastes as good with such a great price. You wouldn’t guess that it’s only $1.99. It flies off the shelf!
[...] my opinion – especially when it’s about cheap wine. Crystal @ Budget In The Fun Stuff Mocks The Man and mentions some cheap wines that are actually worth [...]