I have been getting this reoccuring question lately, "what is the best VALUE wine to buy?". Well, "value" is just a fluffy term for "cheap", right? Not quite. In this day and age, I would say value is paying $50 for a $100 bottle of wine (or 50% discount). A lot of retailers put up massive displays of the "2 Buck Chucks", Tisdale, & Crane Lake. Let me clarify this...these are CHEAPly made wines. Do not be fooled by the quality of these wines. There's nothing of a value behind these. These bottlers (not wineries) use the most inexpensive grapes on the market, and try to put something tangible in the bottle.
Okay, so maybe $50 a bottle isn't in your budget. There are values to be had with wines in the 'teens. A lot of wineries, whose wines retail between $30 - $50, are struggling to sell cases. In order to move a little bit of volume, they offer tremendous deals to certain retail accounts. Therefore, these accounts pass along that value to their customer.
My advice to the saavy wine shopper:
1) Go to the largest retail account in your area
2) Ask one of the floor guys, "what's the steal in your store. What's the hottest deal you have on display?". He may ask you your budget, but should direct you to a tremendous value.
In my personal experience, I'm finding a lot of $30 wines for about $19.99. In my mind, these are the VALUES we should be looking for. They may not be your everyday drinking wines, but you'll be able to cellar them awhile, and have something to crack open on a special occasion.
