What are the good "cheap" wine brands?

FiancB

I genuinely like 3 buck chuck over a lot of more expensive wines. If you're on the west coast and you can find it, Willamette Valley Vineyards is a favorite of mine and it's not too crazy. I'll second dreaming tree and cupcake as being good, inexpensive wines. Dreaming Tree is VERY good, can be kind of hard to find. 

We bought wine for our rehearsal dinner and I think we mostly had yellow tail. Decent and comes in huge bottles. 

NowIAmSyp

Not sure if you were looking for champagne, but a good cheap champagne is Freixenet- in the black bottle.  Its like $10/bottle, but believe it or not, it's pretty decent!  

ginnybinny17

Inkdancer said:

Apothic is crazy good.

Yes!  I was looking to see if anyone else recommended Apothic.  Apothic Red is my go-to for basically anything (parties, book club, dinner at home, drinking by myself).

KatieinBkln

Ooh, I just remembered this one! http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article/711

It's a Trader Joe's house brand, but how much more wedding-friendly can you get than "Dearly Beloved I Thee Red" for $7.99 per bottle?

amelisha

I am kinda shocked so many people here like Apothic. It is probably #1 on the list of wines everyone I know loathes. Red wines with that kind of sweetness do not fly in my circle, lol.

ginnybinny17

amelisha said:

I am kinda shocked so many people here like Apothic. It is probably #1 on the list of wines everyone I know loathes. Red wines with that kind of sweetness do not fly in my circle, lol.

Huh!  I actually don't find Apothic Red all that sweet (although it's definitely not super dry or anything).  I haven't had the Apothic White, though.

badbnagdway

soontobesyp said:

Not sure if you were looking for champagne, but a good cheap champagne is Freixenet- in the black bottle.  Its like $10/bottle, but believe it or not, it's pretty decent!  

I like that one and I also like Poema Cava Brut. It is from Spain. The price on it really ranges but if you are buying in bulk online I can usually find it for under $10 per bottle plus shipping. (In my local liquor stores it's more like $12-14). 

ashley8918

FiancB said:

I genuinely like 3 buck chuck over a lot of more expensive wines. If you're on the west coast and you can find it, Willamette Valley Vineyards is a favorite of mine and it's not too crazy. I'll second dreaming tree and cupcake as being good, inexpensive wines. Dreaming Tree is VERY good, can be kind of hard to find. 

We bought wine for our rehearsal dinner and I think we mostly had yellow tail. Decent and comes in huge bottles. 

Huh, must be regional because it is EVERYWHERE here.

photokitty

ashley8918 said:

FiancB said:

I genuinely like 3 buck chuck over a lot of more expensive wines. If you're on the west coast and you can find it, Willamette Valley Vineyards is a favorite of mine and it's not too crazy. I'll second dreaming tree and cupcake as being good, inexpensive wines. Dreaming Tree is VERY good, can be kind of hard to find. 

We bought wine for our rehearsal dinner and I think we mostly had yellow tail. Decent and comes in huge bottles. 

Huh, must be regional because it is EVERYWHERE here.

Yep, and WVV wine is $20 around here

FiancB

ashley8918 said:

FiancB said:

I genuinely like 3 buck chuck over a lot of more expensive wines. If you're on the west coast and you can find it, Willamette Valley Vineyards is a favorite of mine and it's not too crazy. I'll second dreaming tree and cupcake as being good, inexpensive wines. Dreaming Tree is VERY good, can be kind of hard to find. 

We bought wine for our rehearsal dinner and I think we mostly had yellow tail. Decent and comes in huge bottles. 

Huh, must be regional because it is EVERYWHERE here.

That's funny, H looked for it seriously for years before finding because Dave Matthews. Now we found a couple stores around that have it but yeah it's not super common at all. 

maeday2

amelisha said:

I am kinda shocked so many people here like Apothic. It is probably #1 on the list of wines everyone I know loathes. Red wines with that kind of sweetness do not fly in my circle, lol.

I had the same thought about Apothic. 

I got a bottle as a gift from a coworker last Christmas and couldn't even finish it. It was terrible. Once I saw it at Sam's for about $7 I felt less guilty for pouring it out. 

Then again, I tend to like red wines that taste like the oak barrels they aged in. 

Inkdancer

amelisha said:

I am kinda shocked so many people here like Apothic. It is probably #1 on the list of wines everyone I know loathes. Red wines with that kind of sweetness do not fly in my circle, lol.

I don't drink red, only white. (Red gives me the worst headache EVER.) So I can't tell you anything about the Apothic Red, but the white is a nice middle of the road flavor. 

badbnagdway

maeday2 said:

amelisha said:

I am kinda shocked so many people here like Apothic. It is probably #1 on the list of wines everyone I know loathes. Red wines with that kind of sweetness do not fly in my circle, lol.

I had the same thought about Apothic. 

I got a bottle as a gift from a coworker last Christmas and couldn't even finish it. It was terrible. Once I saw it at Sam's for about $7 I felt less guilty for pouring it out. 

Then again, I tend to like red wines that taste like the oak barrels they aged in. 

This is the hard thing about finding affordable red wines (or even wines in general). On another thread, I had several people tell me Apothic Red was the way to go for affordable red wine. I asked a friend who is a wine drinker and she said, "Umh, I don't think I'm picky about red wine, but I specifically find the Apothic Red to be so gross I can't even finish a glass, which is totally unlike me." I do also know at least one red wine drinker who likes it and uses it as his go-to basic red wine. So, yeah.

For those of us who don't drink red wine it is super confusing. 

KatieinBkln

badbnagdway said:

maeday2 said:

amelisha said:

I am kinda shocked so many people here like Apothic. It is probably #1 on the list of wines everyone I know loathes. Red wines with that kind of sweetness do not fly in my circle, lol.

I had the same thought about Apothic. 

I got a bottle as a gift from a coworker last Christmas and couldn't even finish it. It was terrible. Once I saw it at Sam's for about $7 I felt less guilty for pouring it out. 

Then again, I tend to like red wines that taste like the oak barrels they aged in. 

This is the hard thing about finding affordable red wines (or even wines in general). On another thread, I had several people tell me Apothic Red was the way to go for affordable red wine. I asked a friend who is a wine drinker and she said, "Umh, I don't think I'm picky about red wine, but I specifically find the Apothic Red to be so gross I can't even finish a glass, which is totally unlike me." I do also know at least one red wine drinker who likes it and uses it as his go-to basic red wine. So, yeah.

For those of us who don't drink red wine it is super confusing. 

There is so much more variety with reds--whites don't have a huge variance in types of flavors or textures, but reds have so many different ones available to them that it is definitely hard to choose a "crowd-pleaser" sometimes. If it were me I'd go with one heavier-bodied, oaky, aged variety, and then a lighter-bodied, fruitier, younger one, to cover my bases. I'd do a sweet white (since in my experience people who prefer sweet wine will almost always prefer a white to a red).

It's definitely not always easy to decide, though!

arrippa

My absolute favorite wines are from TJ's and are both under $10.00 Révélation Cabernet-Merlot (blend) and Alamos Malbec.

floridabride44

Robert Mondavi & Yellowtail are good inexpensive wines. I'm also a huge fan of Apothic Red. Also, since you mentioned Costco - I've tried their Costo-brand Kirkland wine and it was actually decent. You can get big bottles for a great price since it's technically generic store-brand. 

princessbuttercup09

My family is a huge fan Menage a Trois for red and Primal Roots for white. They're both blends and seem to keep everyone happy! Have fun tasting! Maybe you could have a few friends over to test out a couple of the suggestions people made.

JennyColada

I ditto the many mentions of Cupcake.

I also like Gnarly Head red zin. It's more earthy than spicy and that makes me happy.

JennyColada

Also, pro-tip: Aerate your wine by pouring the bottle into a blender and blending for like 30 seconds on medium-high. Quick and easy!