Why Whine About Cheap Wine?

It's not difficult task to pick out a great bottle of red wine for $50, but drop that to the $10-15 range and immediately, you have a problem. Cheap red wine usually, well…tastes cheap. Even cheap wine advertised as "no two-buck chuck", is just that. Dare to buy it and try it. After a sip and decanting it and airing using a handheld aerator, you will dump the glass and the rest of the bottle down the drain or use it to clean your toilet. It's sad, but true. Luckily for you, I have tried a great deal of wines in the range and have a few recommendations. 

So, if you want to look on your own, it's not too hard. These are the countries and varieties you should look at. My personal favorite is: Spain, Rioja. You can look under Ribera Del Duero as well. These are excellent. France: Rhone & Bordeaux (yes, there are good cheap Bordeauxs). Also, if you like wine that is a little spicier, check out wine from Argentina (Malbec) and Australia (Shiraz). They tend to have good wines on the cheap. Go to Trader Joes for the best wine prices on the standards. Once you run out of those options, try your local wine shop. They usually have wines they have personally sourced from wineries, and thus, are unavailable at the major stores.

For personal recommendations, if you can find them (use wine-searcher.com) try 2006 Vina Sastre, Marques de Carceras (easy to find), Bonterra Cabernet Sauvignon,  2004 Dom De Tours Pays de Vaucluse, 2006 Côtes du Rhône Comte Louis Clermont-Tonnerre "La Berardière Très Vieilles Vignes", and 2005 Lineshack Cabernet Sauvignon. This should provide a good starting point for your own wine adventures.

Most of these red wines should be dumped into a decanter for a good thirty minutes to an hour to let them open up and reach their potential. Believe me, it's worth it. If you are in a rush or only want a glass, try the handheld aerators, it's better than nothing even though they don't work as well. You can buy single glass serving decanters as well, but you might as just dump the wine into the glass and let it sit for thirty minutes.

Good luck and good wine hunting. Enjoy the purple teeth.