Video > Best Wines Under $20 Plus Food Pairings

CTV host Marci and I chat about the best wines under $20 that are in liquor stores now.

You can click on the arrow above to watch the video. Here are the wines we featured:

Errazuriz Sauvignon Blanc

Cathedral Cellar Kwv Cabernet Sauvignon

Trapiche Fincas Las Palmas Malbec

Henry of Pelham Winery Baco Noir

Henry of Pelham Winery Family Tree

Sibling Rivalry Pink

Remy Pannier Sevre & Maine Sur Lie Muscadet

Pascual Toso Malbec

Video > Best Wines Under $20 Plus Food Pairings

Marci: Who says to buy good wine has to cost an arm and a leg? Natalie Maclean is the editor of Canada’s largest wine review site and Nat’s here to share her top picks for wine, under 20 bucks, which is very good news.

Natalie: Absolutely, especially for wine cheapskates like me. I believe, firmly, you shouldn’t have to pay more for pleasure than you really have to and these days you can get a great bottle for under $20 and most of these are under $15.

Marci: Under 15? Okay.

Natalie: Yes.

Marci: Take us through some of your favourites here, okay?

Natalie: If we go from the neck down, the first thing to look at when you’re trying to find the bargains in the liquor store is getting the right country, the right section of the liquor store.

Marci: Okay, good advice.

Natalie: This would be Chile. This is Errazuriz.  It’s a Sauvignon Blanc for $13.95. Very crisp …think seafood, shellfish, salads.

Marci: Perfect for that?

Natalie: Yes, Chile is an underpriced country because they have good growing condition. It’s a warm climate so they’re not losing a lot of crop. That’s why the prices are lower. But we can also zip over to the Canadian isle.

Marci: Let’s do that.

Natalie: We must.

Marci: Yes, we must.

Natalie: Okay so you know, we excel in a lot of fine wines in Canada that win awards in competition, especially Pinot Noir and Riesling.

Natalie: We get wines like this at about $13.95. We also have this Rosé from Henry of…

Marci: I love the colour.

Natalie: Isn’t that pretty? Pretty in pink.

Marci: Yes, that one attracted me right away.

Natalie: And I love that they’ve got three brothers, the three Speck brothers so real men do drink pink and so the women.

Marci: Right, they absolutely do.

Natalie: Let me pour you some.

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Marci: Especially a sweeter kind of wine.

Natalie: Exactly.

Marci: It’s bad to be drinking at … what time in the morning is it?

Natalie: It’s never too early, it’s five o’clock somewhere.

Marci: That’s right, I hear you Natalie. Let me take a sip, okay, so?

Natalie: Do you like that? Oh, good. Rosé had a bad reputation in the 70’s but not any more.

Marci: Syrupy right?

Natalie: Exactly, almost like sugar water but these are fresh and refreshing.

Marci: That’s delicious.

Natalie: And just a touch of fruit sweetness.

Marci: Let me ask you this, you’re going to a dinner party and you bring a hostess or a host gift and it is a bottle of wine that’s under 20 bucks. Etiquette, is it okay to do that? I’m thinking if you have the right friends, it’s okay to do that.

Natalie: If you have the right friends, yes. If you don’t, who cares what you bring?

Marci: Exactly.

Natalie: But I think that, you know a great bottle of wine is about the food, the friendship, the camaraderie and you don’t have to over pay or get a badge wine.

So if we look at these two from Argentina … they’ve done studies that show more white space on the label looks expensive.

Marci: Yes?

Natalie: Yes, it looks elegant and yet this is only $17.

Marci: You have that? That’s interesting.

Natalie: Exactly.

Marci: You’ll see the exact things that your eyes are drawn to.

Natalie: Exactly, Argentina, like Chile, has great growing conditions, so their prices are going to be lower. That’s the same for South Africa; right here, Cathedral Cellar … gorgeous wine.

Marci: So Natalie, less can be more?

Natalie: Exactly.

Marci: Thank you so much for all of these.

Natalie: Well cheers Marci!

Marci: Cheers! This is delicious.

Natalie: Okay.

Marci: You’ll find the full list of the wines on our website.

Posted with permission from CTV.