What's the best red wine you can get for under $5 a bottle?

Question

I like merlots and shiraz.

Answer 1

"The Adequate" - $4.99 - $8.99/bottle
Lindemans Bin 40 Merlot South Eastern Australia 2001
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Alcohol: 13.0% by volume.
Production: Fruit harvested from various vineyards in South Eastern Australia. Oak Aged.
Appearance: Dark, red-purple; youthful and vibrant.
Aroma: Blackberry, cherry and a soft vanillin-oak.
Flavor: Cherry and red caneberry touched by a slight bit of mocha. Soft, gentle, and palatable.
Price and Availability: Purchased for $4.99 ($3/bottle discount) at Albertsons grocery store (Murrieta, California); imported into the U.S. by PWG Vintners USA, Inc., Napa, California.

Appearance: 4/5
Aroma: 20/25
Flavor: 34/40
Body: 7/10
Overall Quality: 15/20
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My Score: 80 -- 3¼ stars. (Perhaps generous)



"The Not-So-Bad" - $3.99 - $8.99/bottle
Folonari Merlot Delle Venezie 1999
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Alcohol: 12.0% by volume.
Production: Produced using Merlot grapes harvested in the Trentine and Veneto regions of Italy.
Appearance: Warm, bright ruby red. Lighter in color than the Lindemans, but clear and bright.
Aroma: Slightly tart raspberry and cranberry with a herbaceous tone that reminds me of a tomato plant leaf edged by a faint bit of gum latex.
Flavor: Cherry and raspberry fruit, slightly waxy with an undertone of green olive. Fine tannins with a medium-long dry finish.
Price and Availability: Purchased for $3.99 at Big Lots! (Murrieta, California); imported into the U.S. by Frederick Wildman & Sons, Ltd., New York, New York.
Recommendations: Serve at 60-65ºF (16-18ºC, per the winemaker's recommendation). Try it with an antipasto salad or a vegetarian dishes. Consider, for example, pairing it with boiled artichoke.

Bottled and Cellared by:
Folonari S.C.A.R.L.
Calimasino, Italy

Verdict: 3 stars. For the price paid, a fair bargain... but I probably wouldn't buy this one again. I think the the $4.99 I spent for the 2001 Lindemans Merlot was a smarter buy.

Appearance: 4/5
Aroma: 19/25
Flavor: 33/40
Body: 7/10
Overall Quality: 15/20
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My Score: 78 -- 3 stars.



"The Bad" - $2.99 - ???/bottle
Onesto Merlot 1998
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Alcohol: 13.5% by volume.
Production: Produced and bottled by Onesto Winery, Napa, California. "California Estate Grown"
Appearance: Dark pruple plum, ruby.
Aroma: Smoky, rich cherry fruit and a slight phenolic essence of sage/dry oak.
Flavor: Thin and fairly lifeless presentation of plum, cherry and blackberry. The fruit flavor is good... it's just very thin, almost watered down. Finish is brief and clean, with a small bit of cola nut. Unchallenging and not particularly rewarding, but not offensive and quite easy to put down.
Price and Availability: Purchased at Big Lots! for $2.99 -- a fair price for this wine. Not awful, just... not impressive.
Recommendations: Hmmm... really to thin to pair with roasted meats. I paired with wine with a C.A.O. Cameroon Belicoso cigar.

Verdict: 2 stars. I will not be buying more. There is very little to recommed here. Fairly priced at $3.

Appearance: 4/5
Aroma: 18/25
Flavor: 28/40
Body: 5/10
Overall Quality: 11/20
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My Score: 68 -- 2 stars.



"The Horrible" - $.99 - 14.99/bottle
The 1998 Cinnamon Grove California Merlot, 1998
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What happened here?
This is rot wine; perhaps the worst wine I tried in the past 12 months.

Alcohol: 13.5% by volume.
Appearance:
Aroma: Noticeably phenolic: an almost medicinal iodine, creosote, with a hint of raspberry and mint/eucalyptus.
Flavor: A somewhat sour and sharp pomogranate; thin fruit with resinous/wood tones.
Price and Availability: $.99 at the 99¢ Store -- and worth ¼ of the price paid. I admit my purchase was made entirely out of curiousity. Some online shopping sources point to this wine at a price above $14/bottle. I would take delivery of this wine again ...even if it were offered for free.

Recommendations: Avoid unless you are a curious consumer and are interested in the challenge.

Verdict: 1-star. Worst wine I've tried in a a few months. I drank two glasses and poured the remaining bottle contents down the drain. That's something that I rarely do. A pity, really. Consider, for example, that the 1999 Cinnamon Grove Cabernet Franc (California), at a $5 price, was recently regarded by Wine Enthusiast magazine as "one of the great values of the year" with a score of 86

Appearance: 3/5
Aroma: 12/25
Flavor: 20/40
Body: 6/10
Overall Quality: 9/20
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My Score: 50 -- 1 star (Avoid)

Answer 2

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Answer 3

It's got to be possible. Under 5 bucks is hard for reds, but you can get some real deals at Trader Joe's, besides the "2 buck Chuck", Charles Shaw. Which, by the way, is now 3 buck Chuck. If you shoot for a more reasonable 7 dollars, you can get some Shiraz's out of Washington and California, as well as Aussie wines. Good Luck!

Answer 4

Cat38 is right. For under $5 Charles Shaw's California Merlot will give you the most taste for your dollar, hence its nickname 2-buck Chuck:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/02/eveningnews/main556620.shtml
The problem is (again as Cat38 has already said) that as part of the marketing strategy, it is only sold through the Trader Joe's: http://www.traderjoes.com/
So if you are not near a Joe's you might want to try some of the "value" wines mentioned in this review, which starts, of course, with two-buck chuck:
http://www.slate.com/id/2085758/device/html30/workarea/3/
Finally as a general recommendation (although not as reliable bottle to bottle as two-buck chuck) you might like to try one of these wines:
France- Beaujoulais (great picnic wine, always buy and drink in the year of the vinatge; avoid the over-priced and over-publicized Nouveau that is released in November.
South Africa - Pinotage ( a hybrid grape, but up and coming with new makers.)
Chile - Merlot
Argentina - Malbec ( a bit dark and strong for most, but a good value still.)
Good Drinking

Answer 5

Lindeman's Shiraz usually about 4-5 bucks.

Answer 6

Beringer Merlot.

Answer 7

i don't know any merlots under 5 bucks a bottle but i like bolla merlot which is about 8 bucks. (a dry red wine)

Answer 8

If you REALLY want to drink wine that's under $5 a bottle, you could try L'Eypayrie. I wouldn't - but you could. It tastes like gasoline.

Answer 9

I've never seen wine for under $5.

Answer 10

Probably Charles Shaw wines .... 2-buck-Chuck @ $2.00 per botttle .... available at Trader Joes

Answer 11

For $6.99 for a 3 liter bottle - I'd say Livingston Cellars