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There\u2019s nothing that says luxury and the good life more than sitting down on the patio and sipping a glass of good wine on a hot summer\u2019s evening. I used to think that being a Budget Smart Girl meant that I\u2019d either have to forgo this one little pleasure, or be forced to buy a wine that wasn\u2019t that great. However, as the philosophy of the Budget Smart Girl\u2019s lifestyle is to have luxury but at your own price, I did some research and happy to say you can enjoy a great glass of wine at a Budget Smart price, and here\u2019s how-<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t Always Look at the Price<\/p>\n
Here are some great tips from Glen Agrittelley who\u2019s considered to be one of Dallas\u2019 top wine experts and owner of the Mercy Wine Bar in Addision, Texas. \u201cRather than look for the cheapest wine, I\u2019d look for areas that are up and coming. Most of the wines from California are well marketed which means the price of the advertising and marketing is built into the wine. Look for wines from New York, and Hill Country of Texas that are much less known, but still have good quality and are a good value. And look outside the US. Wines from Chile, Argentina, Spain and Portugal are great values now. South African wines also fall into this category. While wines from France, Italy and Australia are of great quality; it\u2019s harder to find the great values unless you are very knowledge about wine. Right now wines from Sicily also offer great value and good quality.<\/p>\n
Vino<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a Web site worth checking out www.vino100.com It\u2019s a national wine franchise that offers small batch artisan wines from around the world for $25 or less. They have the Vino 100 Wine Barometer that is a graphic and easy to understand wine rating and information system that indicates how fruity to dry a wine is. And also shows how light to full bodied each bottle of wine is too. I think it\u2019s a great resource if you\u2019re not sure what to buy and don\u2019t want to waste your money on something you or everyone hates.<\/p>\n
French Wines<\/p>\n
Here are some tips from Sherri Sauter Morano who\u2019s based in North Carolina. She\u2019s not only received the prestigious Master of Wine title, but is also a wine educator. Morano says if you\u2019re looking for a good French wine visit www.wines-France.us\/ click on the American flag and look under the buying guide. There you\u2019ll find a list of 45 wines that are all under $20. Some stores she recommends include Best Sellers and Total Wine. And has this tip for preserving leftover wine. Put it in the fridge, yes, even the reds, to protect it from interacting with oxygen.<\/p>\n
Wine Myths Demystified<\/p>\n
Most of us waste money because of the stories we\u2019ve heard about wine. The Wine Market Council has put together these tips to clear things up:<\/p>\n
\u00b7Myth 1-A bottle of wine needs to be consumed the same day it is opened.<\/p>\n
Fact-You can simply re cork and refrigerate partially consumed bottles; this way the wine should stay fresh for 3-5 days.<\/p>\n
\u00b7Myth 2-Screw caps mean the wine is cheap.<\/p>\n
Fact-Screw caps are now being adopted by some of the most cutting edge wineries because they eliminate the chance of corked wine and preserve the freshness of the wine longer.<\/p>\n
Learn the Language<\/p>\n
One of the best ways to save money is to gain some firsthand knowledge before you go shopping. Here\u2019s a site I found that\u2019s devoted to doing just that www.intowine.com<\/p>\n
Check Your Local Wine Store<\/p>\n
Where I live there are several major stores that have wine tasting events a couple of times a year. You can go along and not only sample the wine, but also get some expert advice too.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t Be Afraid to Speak Up<\/p>\n
If your local store doesn\u2019t have wine tasting events, ask if they\u2019ll let you taste test before you buy. When you\u2019re on a tight budget there\u2019s nothing worse than handing over your money for a bottle of wine that both you and your guests hate. Some stores will be accommodating, some might not be. And don\u2019t be afraid to ask for some advice about what\u2019s a good wine in your price range. Never be embarrassed about letting people know you have x amount of money to spend on something. Sometimes with that information up front, store clerks can help you find a really good bargain.<\/p>\n
Red, White, and Drunk All Over<\/p>\n
Natalie MacLean, author of Red, White, and Drunk All Over, is a freelance and independent wine writer. She says with increasing competition from new regions and more producers, there are many delicious and reasonably priced wines to be found these days. To help us get the most for our money she has the following tips:<\/p>\n
\u201cLook for lesser know regions within wine producing countries. For example try Washington State rather than Napa Valley, southern Italy (Campania, Sicily, Sardinia) rather than Piedmont and Tuscany. In Spain, Priorat or Rueda rather than Rioja. And in France, the Languedoc, southern Rhone and Loire regions rather than Bordeaux or Burgundy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s nothing that says luxury and the good life more than sitting down on the patio and sipping a glass of good wine on a hot summer\u2019s evening. I used to think that being a Budget Smart Girl meant that I\u2019d either have to forgo this one little pleasure, or be forced to buy a wine that wasn\u2019t that great. However, as the philosophy of the Budget Smart Girl\u2019s lifestyle is to have luxury but at your own price, I did some research and happy to say you can enjoy a great glass of wine at a Budget Smart price, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-serving-wine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}