Thoughts on value

I love great wine, but I can't afford great wine.There are moments when I fantasize about being invited accidentally to a first growth Bordeaux tasting, but short of a miracle I realize that my chances of tasting such exalted juice are pretty close to nil. But, I was reminded yesterday that with a little savvy and patience, you can drink great wine on a budget. You are not condemned to drink Woodbridge and Barefoot forever. On Sunday we enjoyed the Sabbath at one of our dear friend's home. She treated us to a simple but magnificent dinner of lasagna made with lots of marscapone and fresh noodles, drown in rich red sauce and crisp Italian sausages. It was heaven. I supplied the wine. We drank three bottles, a Washington Cabernet from the Waluke Slope, a small production Syrah from California, and a dolcetto/nebbiolo blend from the Piedmonte in Italy. The combined value was around 80.00. I paid 25.00 (8.00 vs. 27.00 a bottle). That's lower than supermarket prices for mediocre wine. All three of them were distributor closeouts that I found at my local wine shop and at our Grocery Outlet. What's more, they were all fantastic wines. Deals like this don't grow on trees, but they are consistently to be found, especially in our economy. Read how a place like Grocery Outlet gets great deals here Bottom line, you don't have to drink bad wine just because you can't shell out 20-30.00 for a bottle. Beat the system. Think of wine shopping like you do yard sales. Keep your eyes pealed for the overlooked gem and then pounce.

Beware of supermarket wine "sales"

I'm still upset about this. Today, I stopped by a local supermarket to check out their "one day, 20% off" wine sale. Now, I know this store and I generally keep track of their stock and prices and I was disappointed to discover that along with the 20% discount, a shocking number of the wines had seen price increases from previous week of around...20%. To the observant eye there were very few wines that turned out to be really good deals, most were no lower than you could find on any other day of the year. But the allure of a discount is a powerful thing, as I discovered later that evening when I stopped by the store again to pick up something for dinner. To my even greater shock, the wine aisle was full...full of people taking advantage of the "sale"; buying wine by the case. Buyer beware. There are loads of good deals out there (I have been particularly impressed by uncorkdeals.com), but supermarket wine isles can often be misleading because the "retail" price (which you almost never pay) is artificially high, often higher than you would pay at the winery. So, let's say you have your favorite wine X and the price on the shelf says that it's price is "normally" 15 bucks. But this week the supermarket is running an advertised special that marks wine X down to 12.99. Now, on top of that they have a one day 20% off sale. That brings the price of wine X down to 10.39. Wow! That's a great deal, right? It is unless you happen know that discount stores routinely sell wine X for 8.99. Compared to 15 dollars, 10 seems like a nice savings, but the deception is that no one in their right mind pays 15.00 for wine X. Don't be fooled by great savings on artificially high prices. The blessing and curse of supermarket wine pricing is that it is constantly changing. Which means that sometimes you can find a really super deal and at other times you can get taken to the cleaners. And a lot of folks today got the feeling of a great deal without really getting one. This explains why, at times, supermarkets can afford to sell wine below their cost. They make up for it later. Do your homework on your favorite wines and watch for a good price, not a good sale.   

"Try before you buy" may change the way you buy wine

Recently, uncorkdeals.com rolled out a new "try before you buy" program. Like many discount wine sites, uncorkdeals offers great discounts and free shipping on 6 or more bottles. But if you are like me, I'm reticent to commit to 6+ bottles without having tasted the wine even if it is a great deal. Now that problem is solved. Uncorkdeals will send you a half case or a full case and let you try the wine before deciding if you want to keep it. If you don't enjoy it, they will send you return shipping and you can send them back the remaining bottles. Free shipping both directions and you only pay for the bottle you tasted. Now that is a great deal and great customer service.

The Great 10.00 Wine Hunt