Yes, you can drink well for less! Here’s your go-to, up-to-the-minute list of inexpensive wines to count on that won’t let you down. From crisp to creamy whites and light to rich reds, there’s something for everyone. And each glass will cost you less than a cup of coffee. A smart splurge caps the list.
2023 Botter Oggi Pinot Grigio delle Venezie DOC, Italy
(LCBO 27682, $40.05/3L box)
For those looking for an inexpensive, classic Pinot Grigio that’s bone dry, clean-fruited and crisp, this is a smart choice in the convenient bag-in-box format that keeps the wine fresh for weeks after opening. The wine is star bright with subtle scents of salted lemon zest and wet stones. Then, it streams in tasting sunlit, glassy smooth and cool as flavours nod toward lemon-lime and pear with a touch of minerality emerging on the finish. This boxed wine offers good value at the equivalent of $10 per bottle. (12% alc., 3 g/L sugar)
NV Jackson-Triggs Proprietors’ Selection Chardonnay, International Blend from Imported and Domestic Wines
(LCBO 305144, $48.95/4-L box)
Fans of wooded Chardonnay will find joy in this boxed wine, which costs the equivalent of about $9.20 per bottle. The scent suggests fresh apples dipped in warm caramel before gliding in and bathing the palate with sun-soaked orchard fruit — sliced pear, MacIntosh apple and white peach. That fruit-forward, dry purity tastes crisp and refreshing and then shifts to reveal allusions of buttered toast, crushed praline and pie crust. Not a long wine but it’s well-made, clean-fruited and impeccably balanced. It will keep you topping up. (12% alc., 7 g/L sugar)
2023 Toro Bravo Tempranillo Merlot, D.O. Valencia, Spain
For those looking for a drier style of red wine that tastes Old World, this is your bottle. Each glass starts with subtle aromas of muddled mixed berries laced with cinnamon. It’s a fetchingly soft perfume that leads to a sheer, elegant rush of blackberry cobbler, black coffee, blackcurrant liqueur and vanilla with a sprinkle of baking spice somewhere — a lot of precision for a sub-$10 red. Meanwhile, lovely tension hems in the fruit, making it a pleasure to drink glass after glass. (13% alc., 5 g/L sugar)
2024 Santa Carolina Sauvignon Blanc, Chile
Sauvignon Blanc is loved for its mouth-watering strokes of flavour that recall lime, green mango, gooseberry and grass. All those elements are on the nose and palate of this Chilean charmer making it a textbook version of the style. While the flavours aren’t as chiselled as they might be in a more premium bottle, they’re all there, sort of braided together in every sip. This juicy white is also lower in alcohol and bone dry without tasting dilute or shrill. An easy-to-enjoy quencher at a great price. (11.5% alc. 3 g/L sugar)
2023 Adesso Merlot d’Italia, Italy
If you like cherries dunked in chocolate, you’re probably a fan of Merlot — because that’s what it tastes like. More complex bottles layer in nuts, tobacco, plum and so on, but this smooth expression is all about cherries and chocolate. The nose starts with sweet black cherries drizzled with a dark chocolate. Then, it sweeps in with more of the same, along with folds of creamy milk chocolate, a bright cherry centre and a dusting of cocoa on the finish. (12% alc., 11 g/L sugar)
2021 La Nerthe Les Cassagnes Côtes-du-Rhône Villages, France
(Vintages 494674, $27.95)
This recently released gem will have you at hello. It’s a beautiful blend of Grenache and Syrah seasoned with Mourvèdre that starts with a gorgeous bouquet: very meaty with roasted cherry and smoked stone notes. That fragrance is followed by a velvety flush of vibrant fruit, plunging minerality and cascading complexity. Wild blueberries, tapenade, espresso and candied violet meet blood orange, underbrush, blackcurrant and peppercorn. Much going on in this exciting red wine that is worth every cent. When you need a showstopper, this is your wine. (14% alc. 3g/L sugar)
