Whether you're having a party to please the masses, reworking your spending budget to save for your month-long European vacation, or want to taste how far your money can go when it comes to happy hour, there's always a great reason to opt for affordable wines.
Contrary to popular belief, great wine doesn't always need to come with a huge price tag. Although more upscale and expensive wines can live up to their hype and create an experience all their own, cheaper wines can be quite enjoyable as well — if you know what to look for.
What Makes A Wine Expensive?
Some may argue that there are $10 bottles of red wine that taste like $100 bottles and $100 bottles of red wine that taste like $10 bottles. While that may be true, when it comes down to it, the more money it takes to produce a specific wine the more it ends up costing on the shelf. This doesn't mean that expensive wine is always better, it just means that you need to know what to look for when searching for great crowd-pleasing reds at lower price points.
Time
You've heard the tropes about wine getting better with age and this is particularly true for red wines. Time literally changes the fresh and fruity flavors in a red wine, reduces the acidity, and smooths the tannins. This makes the wine much more full-bodied, yet also smoother in finish. Oak-aged red wines rest in barrel and in bottle before being released for sale so that they develop a complex bouquet and palate. Wineries must make an investment to put a worthy product on the shelf, and this naturally means a higher consumer price tag.
Oak
It's no surprise that the most desired red wines in the world are aged in barrels, and in order to age wine, you need a whole lot of time. Aging wine in oak adds earthier complex notes to the juice and exposes the wine to oxygen. This in turn makes the tannins less intense and the wine much silkier in mouthfeel. New barrels are a significant production cost for the winery. As such wines aged in newer barrels tend to cost more than those aged in more neutral, older ones.
Terroir
Terroir refers to how a particular area's climate, soils, climate, and terrain affect the taste of wines through the grapes it produces. Though it may sound counterintuitive, some of the most talented winemakers focus on yield reduction in order to produce more intensely flavored grapes. Again, it sounds oppositional — but the best vineyards that produce the finest grapes are often the ones that struggle the most and yield the lowest crops.
What do these seemingly backward facts surrounding terroir mean? That the more a vine struggles, the better the wine will likely taste and the more it will likely cost.
Affordable, Crowd-Pleasing Reds
Before you pick your bottle — or many bottles — of cheap red wine to please everyone who is lucky enough to come over for dinner, think about your company. Is this an intimate date, or a gathering between old friends? Are you having your boss and his wife over, or a few of your new coworkers?
When you need to impress and are looking for a reliable wine you can serve throughout the entire evening, pop the cork on one of these incredible values. All under $25, you're bound to find something that has everyone asking when they can come over again — but you don't have to mention the price tag.
2018 Substance CS Cabernet Sauvignon
With dark-fruit characters of cassis and black cherry and complex notes of tobacco and spice, this cabernet has certainly earned its 93-point rating. It would pair great with a low-key romantic dinner of home-cooked steaks or anything you would serve alongside a pricier Cabernet Sauvignon.
2007 Bodegas Los Aljibes Selectus
Especially when pouring for guests, the camaraderie of red blends can really bring your table together. This Spanish blend unusually combines syrah, merlot, and cabernet franc for a multi-faceted and succulent finish. This is for your friends, family members, and co-workers that love being adventurous and trying new things.
2018 Castello Di Volpaia Chianti Classico
For the inner wine enthusiast in all of us, this Chanti is a mid-weight, berry-heavy red with essences of fresh flowers, herbs, and cedar. These qualities make it a fantastic pairing with pizza — yes, pizza — and tomato-based dishes including pasta. If you want the perfect blend of versatility and class, look no further than Volpaia on a night you want to feel fancy and have fun.
2016 Arbalest Bordeaux Blend
An incredible value, this red is merlot-heavy with lesser parts cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and petit verdot. Jammy and chocolatey, this rich, mildly acidic red finishes seamlessly with hints of spice. When you're looking to impress a friend or family member you haven't seen in a long time, this Bordeaux blend is what you want to pull off of your wine rack.
2016 Carpe Diem Pinot Noir
If you truly want to seize the day, go with this pinot noir that promises balance and brightness right out of the bottle. Well-balanced and tangy notes of strawberry and raspberry combine with global spice to give this wine a clean finish. There's no doubt this is the red that will go down quickly when you're sharing stories from the past with your oldest and dearest — so be sure to get several bottles.
Shop the Best Cheap Red Wines With JJ Buckley
When you're looking for bottles of wine that make people feel like they're living the glamorous life, you want to look for the best bottle your money can buy — even if that's $20. You're buying a whole bunch of them for your entire crowd, right?
No matter what kind of affordable red wine you're looking for, you can rely on JJ Buckley Fine Wines to deliver exceptional customer service, wine knowledge, and sale updates so your money goes as far around the table as possible. Explore all of our best cheap red wines and start planning the gathering you've been meaning to for months, knowing you can keep the red wine flowing without worry.