What are some good wines under ten dollars per bottle?

Answer 1

There are some wonderful wines from Chile and Australia that are pretty close to $10 that you might like. If you go to a good liquor store that features many wines, ask the owner to suggest a few. Be sure to tell him/her what wines that you already like, so you can get a good match to your tastes.

Answer 2

For an easy simple white wine try Sutter Home. Inexpensive, tastes good & goes with everything. Particularly the white zin.

Answer 3

Try Finding a Trader Joe's in your area...They're known for cheap but really good wines & even have a Charles Shaw "Two Buck Chuck" for $2...

Answer 4

"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)