How to buy wine on a budget: an expert reveals all

Wine tastes great, but it costs money.

Sounds simple enough, but we wine drinkers are forced to weigh up those two basic facts each and every time we purchase a bottle (or case) of the stuff.

What we really want are ways to keep the price point down without having to resort to bargain bin cleanskins in our nearest bottle shop – and Andy Lloyd, senior buyer at rebel online wine retailer Vinomofo thinks that’s more than possible.

We asked Mr Lloyd for a few tips on how to keep spending down while actually enjoying what we drink.

Go online

Going online seems to be almost obligatory if you want to save on the retail price of anything these days, and there’s a good reason for it.

“Instead of thinking, ‘Where should I go?’, think about it in terms of where you shouldn’t go: don’t go for convenience,” Mr Lloyd tells The New Daily.

That probably means your inner-city bottle shop isn’t going to be giving you the best possible price.

“Online business or warehouses have much lower overheads, so they can give you a better deal,” he says.

“Especially for bottles under the $50 mark, going online is more than worth it.”

Mr Lloyd also wants to dispel the “cellar door myth”.

“They’re not cheaper, in fact they’re often more expensive,” he says.

“Cellar doors are very profitable wineries.”

Buy a name you trust

“There’s an awful lot of private label wine at supermarkets, but you have no idea what you’re really buying,” Mr Lloyd says.

“Often all they’ve done is pay a graphic designer to slap a label on it.”

The wine buyer suggests saving pennies by honing in on a label you know is consistent – both in taste and value.

Go for private wineries that have their own names on the bottle and a reputation to uphold.

Buy in bundles and mixed cases

When it comes to actually swiping your credit card, Mr Lloyd recommends avoiding the individual buy if you’re really wanting to save cash.

“Bundles and mixed cases are a good way of getting a great deal,” he says.

“The case price might look quite high but the savings are super strong.”

Given that Vinomofo‘s model centres on selling bundles and mixed cases at much lower than the retail market, his suggestion isn’t surprising.

Find a critic you trust

Next, you need to identify a wine critic you trust (it turns out, wine reviews aren’t just for snobs).

“A lot of people look to James Halliday,” says Mr Lloyd of the famed Australian critic behind James Halliday’s Wine Companion.

“We use a lot of different critics at Vinomofo, but it’s worth seeing if you agree with one and sticking to them in the future.”

Different grape, different price

If pinot is your drink of choice, be aware that you may need to spend a little more to find a good one, he warns.

“It’s very hard to make a good pinot at the $15 level.”

Shiraz and cabernet, however, are a different story.

“They’re both fairly good below the $15 level. And cabernet merlot being out of fashion is actually a good thing, because it brings the price down.”

On the white side, Mr Lloyd says chardonnay is another grape that transfers well at that appealing $15 mark.

This article was sponsored by Vinomofo.