Drinking
well on a budget: what are the wine world’s best value bottles?
I reckon most people
aren’t at all surprised by the notion that wine can cost a lot.
Almost everyone I know is familiar with the idea that the best wines
are going to be expensive. We gasp a bit when we think of someone
paying a few hundred pounds for a bottle – it seems a bit expensive
for what is just a drink, after all – but we aren’t all that
shocked to open a restaurant wine list and see bottles priced in the
hundreds, and we don’t bat an eyelid when we see £30 bottles on the
shelves of supermarkets, even though as a nation our average spend on
a bottle of wine is under £4.
What’s my point? Simply
that we are used to treating wine differently from other drinks. Can
you imagine paying £5 a bottle for a beer – even a really good one
– or £3 on a carton of fruit juice – even a gourmet hand-squeezed
organic one? Yet with wine, £6 isn’t seen as expensive for a
bottle, although in the context of other foods we buy, this is quite a
lot of money. Indeed, in the wine trade, a sub-£10 bottle is though
of as a cheap one. Let’s face it: wine is quite an expensive habit
if you drink decent stuff regularly.
Most wine nuts are in the
fortunate position of having plenty of disposable income, and so they
can afford to spend a reasonable chunk of this on their wine habit.
But there are people who enjoy and appreciate wine who aren’t
wealthy; or have a cash flow problem; or are a bit tight. This article
is for them, to help them find satisfying bottles without spending a
fortune.
France
The French are lucky. Pick
up a copy of the Guide Hachette
(a famous French wine-buyer’s guide) and you’ll find hundreds of
small producers listed, all of whom are doing good work, from dozens
of regions. You can visit them (or, if you can’t manage this, phone
them up) and buy their wines directly. Steer clear of the most famous
names in the classic regions, and you could fill your cellar very
nicely with really smart wines at around 10-15 Euros a bottle—or
even less if the region is really unfashionable or your requirements
are more modest.
If you shop in France you
can certainly buy very drinkable, interesting wines with a sense of
place for as little as 5 Euros. If these wines reach the shelves of
retailers in the UK at all (many don’t because the production is too
small) then the price jumps massively, with the addition of UK duty
(just over a pound a bottle) and the retailers margin (up to 40% with
some), then VAT on the lot.
It’s a shame, but France
is still a happy hunting ground for bargain hunters, as long as you
skip the most famous names. Finding good cheap Bordeaux is almost
impossible, but drinkable Vin de Pays from the Langeudoc abound. Steer
clear of Cabernet, Merlot and Chardonnay; instead look for Shiraz,
Grenache, Carignan, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Rolle, Roussanne, Marsanne
and Sauvignon. Sticking with the Languedoc, AOC wines such as
Minervois, St Chinian, Corbières and Fitou can be great, although the
better examples are creeping up in price. The Southwest of France is
another place to have fun without much of a budget: I’m a fan of
Cahors, Coteaux du Quercy, Gaillac, Marcillac, Irouleguy (sadly not so
cheap but almost always brilliant), Jurancon and Madiran. Really
lovely, authentic flavours and usually brilliant bargains. Other less
fashionable regions across France can do well in the value stakes, but
you have to work hard tracking some of the wines down. Look out for
wines from the Jura and the Loire (but not Pouilly Fumé and Sancerre
– too pricey), and check out Macon whites (but not Pouilly Fuissé
– too pricey because it’s famous).
Spain
Sticking in Europe, Spain is
emerging as a value star. Spain has enormous tracts of vineyard land,
with loads of old vine Garnacha (aka Grenache) and Tempranillo. Away
from star areas (Rioja and Priorat) there are some increasingly
impressive inexpensive reds emerging, which are now a whole lot better
since producers realized that they are nicer if they haven’t been
stored for ages in crummy old American oak barrels. Spain even does
some cracking, affordable whites—in particular, look out for those
from Rueda. Penedès also does well for affordable whites. Spain could
well establish itself as the premier destination for tasty, affordable
red wines over the coming decade.
Italy
Italy is a complicated wine
country, producing a bewildering diversity of wines, most of which
aren’t well known in the UK. It’s a shame, because at their best,
Italian wines are fantastic. Value for money can be had, but not
always that easily. Lots of branded Italian wines disappoint, as do
cheap versions of pricier wines such as Barolo, Chianti or Brunello.
It’s tough to pinpoint the bargains from a country with as diverse a
wine output as Italy, but if pushed I’d say that the best value is
to be had from wines in the north east (Friuli for whites,
Valpolicella for reds) or the far south (Puglia and Sicily). Quality
can be patchy, though, so be warned. ‘Could do better’, is
Italy’s report card.
Portugal
Portuguese wines really
interest me. Winemaking has improved in the last decade, and marketing
and packaging are beginning to catch up. From its wonderful range of
indigenous grape varieties, Portuguese winemakers are putting out some
smart wines: the best, reds from the Douro and Alentejo regions, are
quite pricey because of fierce domestic demand. But the Ribatejo,
Estremadura, Dão and Minho are putting out tasty affordable wines
that actually have a sense of Portugueseness to them.
Chile
Moving to the vinous new
world from the old, Chile’s a popular destination for skint wine
lovers. There’s no debating that Chilean wines offer great value for
money at around the £5 price mark: reds, in particular, are popular,
with their trademark pure, ripe black fruits, with a touch of herbal
character in the background. A good bet. But what about at the £6 or
£10 mark? There’s the rub. You just get the same sweet, pure fruit
flavours, but with a bit more concentration, and perhaps a bit of
spicy oak, too. Chile’s problem is that it is a bit of a one-trick
pony. Good value, but you end up getting a bit bored. Let’s hope
this changes. Shiraz shows great promise, and I’ve enjoyed some
pretty smart Sauvignons and Viogniers.
Australia
Australia has been a value
star for ages, offering ripe, tasty wines with the sorts of flavours
people want. I’ve got the impression that Aussie branded wines at
around a fiver have run out of steam a bit recently. They’re OK, but
a bit dull. Australia really begins to clean up at around the £8–12
mark, where the wines from the diverse premium wine regions (as
opposed to the large, mechanized, Murray-irrigated, high-yielding
industrial vineyards of northern Victoria and New South Wales) begin
to make their mark. There’s a fair bit of regional diversity in
Australia if you look for it.
South
Africa
South Africa is one of the
newest new world wine-producing countries. While wines have been made
here since the 17th century, the modern wine industry only really
started in the early 1990s. It has been dragged kicking and screaming
into the global marketplace and in a short space of time a reasonably
number of very smart commercial wines have emerged. There’s been
loads of progress in just the last two or three years, and if you’ve
just got £6 in your pocket, a South African wine could represent a
shrewd use of this money. I’m not all that keen on Pinotage, South
Africa’s own red grape variety and an acquired taste, but Shiraz and
the more established Cabernet and Merlot do pretty well. For whites,
there are some attractive oaked Chardonnays, some fresh zippy
Sauvignons and, best of all, some lovely Chenin Blancs.
Argentina
Argentina makes more wine
than its neighbour, Chile, and while cheap Argentinean wine isn’t
always great, it’s often good value. I don’t know why Argentinean
wine hasn’t caught on as much as Chilean in the UK – perhaps the
industry is less dynamic. But I reckon it has more potential. Malbec
seems to be the best bet here, although there are some smart Shiraz
wines emerging. Whites aren’t usually up to much.
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