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How to Find Affordable Wines That are Good
Wine is such a wonderful luxury, that it can be and is enjoyed by multitudes of people throughout the world. Most of these people never experience a one hundred-dollar bottle of wine. Yet there are so many different affordable wines on the market that are absolutely wonderful, that you need not break the bank in order to enjoy wine and trying new wines. You just need to know insider tips on finding the best wine at the best price.
Wine Tasting
One way is through wine store or liquor store sponsored wine tastings. Such events tend to generally be very low priced or even free. The free wine tastings tend to offer only a very few selections to try, usually around five or fewer. They often only have one wine of each type. However, many stores will do much bigger tastings, with thirty or more wines to taste and will typically charge between five or ten dollars per person. There are usually tables representing countries, wine regions or even wine producers, with a variety of different wines to sample before moving on to the next table. Usually staffed by "wine specialists", these employees are armed with information to teach you about the wines you are tasting and give you advice about which selections to make. Quite often these types of wine tastings showcase wines from a variety of price ranges, depending of the income demographics of the area where the store is located.
Wine Bars
Wine bars are another route to go when looking for affordable wines. A general rule of thumb is that if you double the price of your glass of wine that you order in such places, you will have more than paid for a bottle of it. Therefore, if you try something that is $6 or less a glass, then you know that it will definitely be an affordable wine for you to buy for home. More and more wine bars also offer taste prices, as opposed to glass prices, which open up your possibility of testing out a couple of different types before committing to one.
Ratings
Familiarize yourself with the ratings systems for wines. Anything rated above 86 points is usually deemed to be very good. There are several different rating groups, which provide independent ratings and reviews of wines from any and all price ranges. Obviously, you make the final decision, but ratings are very useful if you are looking to buy good wines that are affordable too, without having first tasted them.
Wine Specialists
When you shop for wines, ask to speak with a wine specialist in the store to see if he or she has any recommendations. Often they are a good source of information. Apart from formal wine education, they can often advise you based on comments from other customers and from their knowledge of the volume of specific wines sold. If you happen upon a wine that a store usually "can't keep on their shelves", you may want to try it. It may be a much better bet than the bottle next to it that is the same price but covered in dust.
By putting these tips to work and doing a little extra reading on affordable wines too, you should be able to fill your wine shelves with great bargains in no time.
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