Suck on this, premiumization: 14 bottles of wine for $148

It’s still possible to buy quality $10 wine, despite the perils and pitfalls of the past 18 months

Yes, the pandemic, supply shortages, and premiumization are wreaking havoc with quality cheap wine. But does that mean the Wine Curmudgeon is worried? Daunted? Intimidated?

Of course not.

My shopping trip last week netted 14 bottles of wine for $148 (which included tax the case discount) – and each of the wines is top-notch, the kind of thing I’m happy to write about on the blog. How did I do it? I followed the cheap wine checklist and bought intelligently:

• Rose, where it’s almost impossible not to find $10 wine worth drinking.

• Portugal and South Africa, which continue to offer quality for more than a fair price. In this case, a red blend from Badenhorst and a red and white blend from Boekenhoutskloof, two South African producers, and a vintage vinho verde from Aveleda.

• Spanish producers, who suffered badly during the Trump tariff, seem to have cut prices to move product with the holiday season approaching. I bought two whites and a red for $32 – standbys Zestos blanco, Flaco tempranillo, and El Coto blanco.

• And, of course, Gascon whites – the always reliable Mont Gravet.

So suck on that, premiumization. You can try as hard as you want to make me buy crummy $15 wine, but it’s not going to work.

Photo: Alfonso Cevola

More about buying cheap wine:
• Premiumization be damned: $139.36 for 14 ½ bottles of cheap wine
• Panic wine buying
• Cheap wine checklist: $82.67 for a case of wine