The Best Cheap Wine

Published on Monday, April 6, 2009, by CHOW Video Team / Edit Post

The Best Cheap Wine

Robert Camuto, author of Corkscrewed, recommends French Beaujolais for budget-minded wine drinkers. He does not mean Beaujolais Nouveau.

CHOW Tips are the shared wisdom of our community. If you’ve figured out some piece of food, drink, or cooking wisdom that you’d like to share on video (and you can be in San Francisco), email Meredith Arthur and tell us what you’ve got in mind.

ALLCHOW Tip
POST A COMMENT |6 Comments

COMMENT

  • This just showed up on my radar. The title says "Best Cheap Wine", not "Best Affordable Wine". What was meant is obviously "Best Less Expensive". The titles should match the articles.

  • I don't think that the point of the article was that they're aren't other wonderful affordable wines available. That would be absurd. The host merely suggested one of his favorites which happens to be French. Does anyone disagree that Cru Beaujolais is affordable, interesting and delicious?

  • I agree that it's just schtick that French is best and I'm quite partial to the French. Lately I've had a couple of very good Spanish wines. One was Montecillo Tinto Crianza and a sparkling wine-Segura Viudas Brut Reserva. Check them out. I actually found the Montecillo at Tick Tock in Hyattsville, MD.

  • I was at a Memorial Day dinner and someone brought this crazy good wine:

    Rene Barbier - Catalonia, Spain Mediterranean Series White

    Try it and tell me what you think? It went so well with some soft cheeses such as a brie and another cheese with a rind. I am getting a case for 60 US this week.

  • Excuse me for splashing the cold water of reality on your face, but, in many ways, French truly IS best. Let's look (or taste, actually) Beaujolais. All red Beaujolais is made from one grape, the Gamay Noir à jus Blanc. Each of the ten Crus of Beaujolais has its own particular terroir and, even when the same wine maker is making wines from different Crus, each tastes unique. With Burgundy and...+READ

    Excuse me for splashing the cold water of reality on your face, but, in many ways, French truly IS best. Let's look (or taste, actually) Beaujolais. All red Beaujolais is made from one grape, the Gamay Noir à jus Blanc. Each of the ten Crus of Beaujolais has its own particular terroir and, even when the same wine maker is making wines from different Crus, each tastes unique. With Burgundy and Bordeaux you will also experience this... but NOT at the same price point. Beaujolais from a top estate and from an outstanding year, is also incredibly ageworthy. I stocked up on Château des Jacques Moulin-a-Vent and Domaine des Quatres Vents Fleurie from the 2000 vintage that I'm drinking now. I share a matured, complex, rich wine that sold for $13 and tastes more like Burgundy than Beaujolais... and drinks like a $30 bottle. I haven't seen that in the wines that bkhuna mentions. There is a huge difference between "affordable" wine and "cheap". Cheap is never a bargain: affordable often can be.-COLLAPSE

  • Camuto specified "great value in French wines" as well as "hard pressed to spend more than twenty dollars."

    There are other red wines from places like Spain and Argentina that run significantly less and are rated right up there with the best.

    Don't fall for the whole "French is best" schtick any more. The wise and frugal wine lover can do better for less.