Wonderful wines under $20

Do you think a great wine has to cost you big bucks? Guess again! I have the pleasure of being able to try new wines every week.  After numerous years of tasting, I’ve learned that not all wines need to be expensive in order to be amazing.  There have been expensive bottles that I’ve loved and ones that I’ve absolutely hated and wouldn’t recommend.  The same goes with well-priced bottles of wine.  It’s important do your research and see what people think about that wine and the year in which it was created.  I use the application Vivino to rate all of the wines that I try and see what others have to say about it.  Here are some of my picks for the best wines that won’t break the bank.  I used the average price for each bottle according to Vivino for the wonderful wines $20 and under.

 

Educated Guess:

This wine instantly caught my eye by its unique orange and black label.  The label has the chemistry formula for the process of how the wine was made and fermented.  The winemaker described the bottle as “a story of how you can make an educated guess in winemaking, not to give you nightmares about your high school chemistry class.” Educated Guess is a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon with so much to offer.  I would describe this wine as a medium-bodied cabernet and a nice bite at the end.  The tasting notes I get out of it are fruits such as cherries and blackberries. Also, I get a hint of cocoa and slight pepper in the lingering finish.  This wine will always be one of my favorites and the average price is $18.95 a bottle.

 

  

 

 

 

 

Meomi:

This is one of the most popular and well-known wines out there.  This wine has a simple, classy label which is much like its taste!  Meomi is a Pinot Noir produced from grapes from all around California such as Monterey, Sonoma County, and Santa Barbara Country.  You can tell by its cloudy color that this wine has a rich texture and is medium-bodied.  It almost looks a little like cranberry juice because of its beautiful ruby color.   The tasting notes I get out of this are bright, blooming berries and cooking spices.  Meomi is considered the go-to wine by wine connoisseurs and I believe it’s because you can enjoy it with or without food.  Being one of most popular wine given as a gift, Meomi’s average price is about $20 a bottle.

 

 

White Haven:

Looking for the perfect alcohol refreshment this summer? This wine has a dazzling aroma and taste that will leave you wanting more.   White Haven is a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.  In my last blog, I talked about how when I smell New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, I relate them to memories from my past.  The memory with which I associate this wine is walking outside on an early spring morning to smell the beautiful blooming flowers and fresh-cut grass.  The best part about this wine is that the taste is so similar to the smell.  It’s on the dry side for a white wine and is also medium-bodied.  The average price of this wine is $11.99 and you better get two because it goes fast!

 

    

 

Noble House:

Ok, all you sweet wine lovers, here is a wonderful wine that is totally worth the buy!  Noble House is a Riesling on the sweeter side from Mosel, Germany.  I like to introduce this to new wine drinkers because it is refreshing and super easy to drink.  One of my favorite things about this wine is its beautiful, delicate bouquet aroma.  After you swirl it and smell again for further inspection, it has almost a skittles or candy scent to it.  The tasting notes I get out of this wine are fruits such as apples and peaches.  It also has a light minerality taste to it that gives it a little acidic taste in your mouth.  Noble House goes for only about $11.99 a bottle!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Louis Bouillot:

Who doesn’t love a good bubbly wine? Well, this one is definitely one to toast with.  I love the label of this wine because it’s a metallic, light pink color (my favorite color, of course).  Louis Bouillot is a sparkling rose wine from France; I like to call it the fizzy-lifting drink because of its lively bubbles.  This full-flavored wine is perfect for special occasions.  It’s considered a semi-dry wine and with its light acidity comes a nice, fruity finish.  Louis Bouillot goes for an average of $19.99 a bottle and you won’t be disappointed.

 

    

 

 

So, as you’ve read, a delicious wine doesn’t have to set you back. These are just a few of the many wines that I love.  If you’re just getting into wine, there are so many suggestions that I can give you.  If you have a passion for wine as well as I do, leave some of your favorite wine choices in the comment section. 


Check out this YouTube video link on how to choose wine! http://bit.ly/2oIAgeP

A quick guide on how to professionally taste wine

Do you want to get the most out of your wine tasting experience?  Many people think of wine as a simple, relaxing alcoholic beverage. Red or white? Sweet or dry?  I’m not going to deny that I previously thought the same thing.  However, I’ve been working with wine for the last five years and have learned many new aesthetics to wine that I never knew existed. I like to think of each bottle as a story; a never-ending learning experience.  If you take the time to like to experience these aesthetics, you start to appreciate the true beauty of wine.  When it comes to tasting wine, there are a couple important steps to take before you go right for the sip. Before you begin, you need to have a clear (preferably thin) wine glass.  Also, I recommend you start with your white wines and work your way into the reds.


Step 1: The Color

Holding the wine up to a white background, such as a napkin, really helps show you the true colors of the wine.  The colors in wine tells you a lot about the age of the wine.  White wine tends to gain color as it ages and red wine does the opposite.  I’ve noticed that older red wine tends to have a brownish rust tint to it where as a new red wine has rich red color to it.  If a wine is a little more thin and transparent, it usually means that it has a lower alcohol content than the wines that have a thick, creamy look.

Step 2: The Swirl

Whenever you see wine experts swirling their wine, they’re not doing it to be snobby.  They’re doing it for a reason.  Start by swirling your wine in a small circle rotation.  It’s important to do this because when you open a new bottle of wine it needs time to breathe in order to amplify its distinctive aromas.  This also helps release underlying odors in the wine that you might have missed otherwise.   

Step 3: The Smell

After you swirl the wine a couple times, stick as much of your nose in the glass as possible and smell it.  This might sound extreme, but it makes a huge difference.  I like to relate the different aromas of wine to different life experiences.  For example, when I smell Sauvignon Blanc’s from New Zealand, I think about standing on my front porch and smelling the blooming flowers in the spring time.  On the other hand, when I smell Sauvignon Blanc’s from California, I smell a slight tint of fresh cut glass on a dewy, fall morning. 

Step 4: The Taste

The most important part of tasting the wine is the initial taste.  It’s like the first impression, you want to make the best of it.  Make sure you take a bigger sip than usual because you want to swish it around your mouth, like you do with mouthwash. Also, I like to slurp it causing it to bubble in my mouth.  This makes it so the wine scent not only goes deeper into your nasal cavity, but it also helps the wine hit every single one of my taste buds. 

The fun part about wine is that everyone’s pallet is different.  There are no rights and wrongs to the tastes you get out of wine.  It’s all about learning and doing the research to see the different smell and tasting notes that people get out of wine.  It’s a great idea to write down the different aromas and tasting notes when evaluating a wine.  As you start to learn the notes found in each ‘varietal’ of wine, your pallet will become that much more sophisticated and each wine begins to tell its unique story!


Check out the link below to watch a video tutorial of expert sommelier and wine educator Marnie Old on how to taste wine like a professional.

How to professional taste wine

Video found on YouTube by Better Book TV