10 Ways to Get into Wine Without Spending Top Dollar

This is a guest post from Louise Baker from Zen College Life.

Wine is one of the most celebrated beverages in the world, and for good reason. Not only is it delicious and perfect to pair with food, it is rich in antioxidants and is actually very good for the body in moderation. Unfortunately, it can also be rather expensive. However, you don't need to break the bank to learn how to enjoy good wine. Here are 10 ways to get into wine without spending top dollar.

1. Take a Class

Taking a class at a college or private institution is a great way to learn how to enjoy wine. More often than not, you'll be tasting some of the best wines available, all under the veil of "homework."

2. Attend Wine Tastings

Wine tastings are usually free, and are a great way to get acquainted with good wine. Usually, the wines featured at tastings are also relatively affordable.

3. Order Wine By the Glass

Ordering wine by the glass at restaurants is a great and economical way to learn about different types of wine quickly. Also, ordering by the glass is far less expensive than ordering a bottle.

4. Read Wine Literature

There are plenty of high-quality books and magazines on the market that focus on wine. The more often you read, the more up to date you'll be on current trends.

5. Shop at Closeouts

Wines are always going on sale because of overstock. Shopping at closeouts is a great way to try a number of different wines for less expense.

6. Go To Dinner Parties

Drinking with friends at dinner parties is an excellent way to learn more about wine, especially if they are wine enthusiasts. Bring a bottle of something you know is good, and chances are they'll have wines that you've never tried before.

7. Never Buy the Same Bottle Twice

Unless you've found a wine you really enjoy, try to vary your wine buying habits. Always pick up a bottle of something you've never tried before when going on a shopping run.

8. Tour a Winery

There are wineries all over the world that welcome guests in to view their operations and try their wine. Not only can you often purchase high-quality wines for discount prices at wineries, but they will usually offer you tastings of all of their different varietals.

9. Drink Locally

Local wines often cost less to purchase because they haven't traveled nearly as far as other wines. Try to drink local wines whenever possible.

10. Be Open Minded

One of the most important things about trying new wines is to be as open minded as possible. Just because you don't like a particular glass of wine doesn't mean that the style does not appeal to you. Be sure to try as many different wines from a particular style as possible before formulating any opinions.

When she's not trying to learn more about wine, Louise Baker is a freelance writer. She currently blogs about online schools at Zen College Life, where her most recent post was on the top online colleges.

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Latching on to a Certain Wine "Like You've Found the Cure"

Forgive me if I don't credit a specific episode of Wine Library TV but I remember hearing way back from @garyvee about how people tend to latch on to a specific wine they've enjoyed and want to drink it forever as if it contains the cure.

I remember hearing that and thinking "That's not me!  I rarely want to buy more than 2 bottles of a single wine and it annoys me when I can only get good pricing on a wine when I buy 12 bottles."

But if I extend the statement a little further and try to think of the last wine I wish I would have bought more of in the last few years the first that comes to mind is the 2007 Seghesio Sonoma County Zinfandel.  Good luck trying to find this wine around favorably priced- the 2008 vintage is more expensive and just doesn't offer the same level of excitement somehow.

What was it about this wine that made it disappear so quickly from my stash?  I think it's a few things coming together:  Price point around $20.  Delicious flavor profile.  Fruit-forward yet offers layers of complexity.  Luscious.  Consistently popular with guest. That about sums it up.

Why was I thinking about this?  Because I think I've found the first wine since 2008 that's got me thinking about backing up the truck.  I've been talking about it on Twitter (@RobertDwyer) but I'll be writing it up here in the coming days.  I'm looking forward to talking more about this wine because I feel like it will serve as a good litmus test of whether you should listen to my wine recommendations.  Check back soon or subscribe so we can continue the conversation.

Question of the Day: What's a wine you've bought in the last few years that you wish you would've bought more of?  And/or what's a wine that's still available in the market now that you'd recommend others stock up on and why?

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A Brief History of Wine Shipment into Massachusetts (as H4497 withers on the vine)

A summary of developments related to direct shipment of wine into Massachusetts over the past couple of years:

• For the longest time, wineries outside of Massachusetts couldn't ship here at all.  But then a law went into effect that allowed wineries which produce less than 30,000 gallons a year to ship here.  The logic was that in order for the small wineries in MA to be able to ship out, the state should let similarly small wineries out of state ship in.
• Good old Mitt Romney vetoed the bill because he thought it was discriminatory towards large out of state wineries, but the legislature overrode his veto and the 30,000 gallon cap went into effect.
• You'd think this would have freed up a lot of wine shipment to Massachusetts but it didn't.  Why?  Because the cost and complexity of obtaining a permit that needs to be renewed each year is an excessive burden for small wineries.  It costs them a hundred dollars in annual permitting to ship the first bottle (plus administration costs) and they'd rather not take the risk of not selling enough wine to the state in a given year to justify the expense and hassle.  Massachusetts is just one state out of 50 after all.
• Small wineries were further limited by the fact that UPS and FedEx (so called "common carriers") don't ship wine to Massachusetts because the state has inordinately stringent licensing requirements for vehicles that transport alcohol.  Each individual vehicle needs a permit.
• Further, there is wording in Massachusetts law stating that each individual consumer can only receive a certain amount of wine per year and any individual winery that put said consumer over their annual volume cap could be held responsible for an illegal shipment.
• In 2008, the Family Winemakers v. Jenkins case determined the 30,000 gallon cap was unconstitutional.  Family Winemakers represented California wineries, Eddie Jenkins was then the chairman of the Massachusetts ABCC.
• The discussion around Jenkins focused on protecting small Massachusetts wineries, but if you're a small Massachusetts winery you must have been indignant while this debate was going on.  Why?  Because it never had anything to do with protecting small Massachusetts wineries in the first place.  It had to do with protecting the 3-tier system that channels wine from producer to distributor to retailers and restaurants.
• Somewhat concurrently with her unsuccessful run for the US Senate against Scott Brown, Martha Coakley appealed this decision in her role as Massachusetts Attorney General.  When the appeal was denied earlier this year, there was dancing in the streets and it seemed direct shipment from out of state wineries to consumers would finally be a reality.  The local TV station even came over to interview me.
• Though it seemed direct shipments would now be possible, the same laws that stifled small wineries are now effectively stifling all direct shipments of wine to the state.  Since it's unreasonable that each individual truck should need a permit, and impossible for a given winery to know a given consumer's annual wine shipment capacity, new legislation is needed to make the direction from Jenkins effective.
• Massachusetts House Bill 4497 is that piece of legislation, but it's currently "stuck" in the House Ways & Means Committee.

The bill is the "model legislation" for direct shipment of wine.  They call it model because it strikes a balance between the rights of out of state wineries to ship directly with consumers interested in purchasing their wines -and- the rights of each state to collect tax revenue for the shipment and regulate the shipments.  Massachusetts isn't the first state to grapple with these issues and it won't be the last. 

Even if you don't drink wine or ever intend to get wine shipped to you as a Massachusetts resident you might be in favor of allowing legal direct shipment of wine.  Why?  Because it will increase tax revenue to the state by providing a channel for shipment and tax collection of wine which otherwise couldn't legally be shipped into the state.  The typical wines we're talking about here are ones that aren't available from retailers either because they're too small to warrant interest from distributors -or- are in such high demand that they only sell directly to consumers.  Believe me- as a wine enthusiast I'd love to buy all my wine directly from local retailers to save on shipping costs.  But many wines simply aren't available in the state.

Your call to action?  Visit the MA H4497 page on the Free the Grapes website and send an E-mail to the members of the House Ways and Means committee that are sitting on the bill.  If this bill isn't sent to the floor for a vote by the end of the week it will likely languish until next year effective keeping the status quo for at least another year.  Let's enact this bill to allow the intent of Family Winemakers v. Jenkins to become a reality.

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Cheap French Wine

Let's face it- there's something more sophisticated and adventurous about drinking imported wines, especially from France.  However, the charm evaporates when you encounter bitter, austere, or otherwise "challenging" wines when you're just looking for something delicious to serve your guests.  Especially when they're expensive.

I realized while looking around at my empty bottles in the recycling bin (I'm currently the mayor of the town dump on Four Square so let me know if you need any favors) that I've recently strung together a run of cheap inexpensive French wines that would be fun to write-up.  All 2009s: A white, a rosé, and even a red.  Some fared better than others but I thought they were all discussion-worthy:

2009 Earl Charpenties Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne Haut Marin Cuvée Marine (white)

Price: $8 
11.5% Alcohol

Maybe it was the occurrence of the word "Marine" on the label but I thought this wine was "of the ocean" on a number of levels.  It had this really enjoyable slightly-salt-watery characteristic that made me think it would pair well with oysters.

It also offered tropical aromas- bananas even.  Combined with just the slightest hint of effervescence, this makes for an excellent summer white wine with well-balanced fruit flavor.

87/100 WWP: Very Good
Purchased at Bin Ends Wine


2009 Château de Fontenille Clairet (rosé)
Price: Around $10
12.5% Alcohol

It seems to happen to me every year.  The weather starts to warm up and we have dinner out on the deck and crack open a delicious rosé.  I swear I'm going to drink nothing but white and pink wine all summer long!  Then reality sets in and I scurry back to my comfort zone which is still juicy new world reds.  But when you catch an affordable, delicious, guzzleble rosé it's hard to imagine one that's not utterly enjoyable.

Unfortunately, this Fontenille didn't quite deliver for me and the guests I served it to on a hot summer afternoon.  Smells of delicious strawberries, but a little thin and bitter flavor-wise. Though it's only 12.5% alc guests noted that "you can definitely taste the alcohol".

PS The wine I had at the beginning of summer and liked more was this one from Zepaltas.

78/100 WWP:Mediocre

2009 Chateau Roc de Segur (red)
Price: $10
13.5% Alcohol

The hype surrounding 2009 Bordeaux is a little different then 2005.  Whereas everyone seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the quality of the 2005s everyone seems uniformly stunned by the high prices of the 2009s.  Some of the retailers I trust most are suggesting there's limited upside in buying these wines as futures for a variety of reasons.

Sold almost entirely always as futures at this point (as in: pay now as part of a straight case or six-pack if you're a pauper, pick up in a year or two when they arrive) I've noticed a few retailers nationally offering this Roc de Segur as a first-look 2009 red Bordeaux.

When I opened this wine, my first impression was unfavorable.  It smelled like run of the mill red wine with Home Depot-esque wood notes wafting above the glass.  After some attempts to save it with various wine aerators things improved a bit but I decided to save it for the next day to see how it fared.

Fortunately, things were looking up the next day!  I'm not familiar with the composition of this wine, but it tasted like a Cab Franc to me the second day.  Green peppers and spice on top of a more solid foundation.  It even held on and showed well a 3rd day, which is something I see consistently in red Bordeaux at all price points: It fares well on the counter overnight with a stopper.

Now, the fact that a wine lasted three days around here says something: It wasn't too hard to resist.  This one definitely needs time to settle down, but the question I'd ask is how much space do you want to devote to laying down cheap Bordeaux?

Check out the notes from Garagiste posted on CellarTracker.

84/100 WWP: Good
Purchased at: Hingham Wine Merchant

Question of the Day: Have you had any of these? If so, what did you think of them?  If not, any tips for good affordable French wines?

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