Nearly everyone is a winner!
The local Italian food wholesaler has cheap wines for sale by the cash register. They’re priced at $3.99-5.99. SUPER cheap!
At first I thought, “These must not be very good. Or else very old and not stored well. Surely all of them must be vinegar.” Surely not at all! Most labels are from recent vintages in the last 2-3 years. They come from an assortment of countries, not just Italy. (Because it’s a specialty food shop)
We had very good luck in trying wines from South Africa, Argentina, Australia and Italy. We tilt towards trying new varietals that boyfriend hasn’t had before. (I am the more experienced wine drinker who favors reds. He’s dated one too my women allergic to sulfites, so he prefers whites, but I’m changing his palate.) We go for blends. We go for grapes we’ve never heard of. We go for pretty labels. We go for price.
In the 10 bottles we’ve had, we’ve only had to pour one out due to being terrible. If I thought I could rescue it by cooking, I would have, but I wasn’t planning on making anything that would use a wine reduction sauce that week.* (recipe below)
A friend of mine also does this and like me, she’s been surprised at how delicious some of the wines are. Boyfriend and I have actually gone back and bought a case of a $5.99 wine as table wine for our regular pizza dinners.
Don’t be afraid of cheap wine unless it’s Boone’s Farm, yo.
Simple Wine Reduction Sauce
1 cup red wine
1 cup water
dried cranberries, cherries, raisins, what have you
a few spices like black pepper and salt, maybe a clove, garlic, orange peel, ginger, rosemary, juniper, etc.Boil everything in a saucepot. Reduce it till thickened, strain out the fruit and spices, and keep reducing till it’s about 1 cup or less. This is really easy for dressing roasted meats. Pick herbs to complement the seasoning on the meat.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Well, don’t keep us in suspense, what should we be on the lookout for
Nicole – Bella Sera Rosso 2005 from Italy. It usually goes for about $10-12. We just happened to get it for about $5.99 each and a 10% case discount.
Also Tall Horse Merlot from South Africa. I can’t remember the vintage year, but it was very nice and cheap. We just couldn’t get back to the shop in time to get a case of it cheaply.
Gabbiano Chianti from Italy. This is not from the cheap bins but we’ve really enjoyed them a lot right now. We have a Reserve Chianti of theirs from 2005 or 07 that was spectacular at a restaurant. We had an excellent blush/rose of theirs too, but I don’t see it on the website.
Ooh. I take that back. I found the rose we liked. 2006 Castello di Gabbiano Rosato Toscana, Chianti for about $10.00. But we got it cheaper than that at the wholesaler’s shop.
Charles Shaw wine isn’t too bad. The best part it that it’s sooo cheap. It can range from $2-$4 per bottle depending on the state and is sold in Trader Joe’s wine stores. In NYC it’s $3 and we call it 3 buck Chuck. Trade Joe’s wine store in general has great prices and the people that work there are always very nice and helpful. I couldn’t live without TJ’s!
Hi CentsInTheCity!
I’m familiar with “Two-Three Buck Chuck.” However, it’s only sold at Trader Joe’s and not everyone likes to shop there. Besides, they are very hard to find. When I was in high school, TJ’s was only in Boston. When I finished college, I shopped at the one in SFO. Now that I’m 10+ yrs out of college, they finally have them *near* DC, but not actually *in* DC. So it’s a right mess trying to get it.
There’s a trader joe’s -in- DC. It’s in Foggy Bottom at 25th and Pennsylvania Ave. NW. It opened 1-2 years ago. There is a good Malbec on sale for $3.99 right now called La Boca.
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