Guilty Pleasure: Buying Bargain Wine

I like good wine, who doesn’t. If you had an endless supply of money you’d probably be sipping on reserve labels and vintage wines every day, even cooking with it. Maybe you can, but I certainly cannot. So every once and a while I take a detour on the way home from work and stop off at the local Grocery Outlet (Bargain Market).

I have found some real treasures there. My first great find was 2 years ago, a 2005 Johan Pinot Noir for $8.49, retail $25.99, at the winery here in the Willamette Valley it was in fact $27 at the time. I wish I would have gotten a few more of them because it was such a great deal for an ’05 Oregon Pinot. Probably not something I’d have paid retail for but a good value at $8.49.

Now, I don’t think the Marilyn Merlot wines are too spectacular, but my father gets a kick out of collecting them. So when I found a Norma Jean young merlot for $6.99, I had my Father’s Day present for him. That was 2 years ago and since then I’ve found 2 vintages of Marilyn Merlot and 3 vintages of the Norma Jean. All of which I buy 3, 1 for him, 1 for me, 1 to drink. Someday they may be worth their retail prices of $25-35.

I never thought I’d buy a case of $3.99 wine, but I never thought Crimson Wine Group or one of their distributors (who knows who it really was) would dump the Domaine Alfred line into the bargain market. When I saw DA Red I grabbed a bottle, bought it, ran out to my car to taste it, capped it then went in to the store and loaded up a case of it. I then proceeded to tell everyone in the wine aisle that this was a $16 wine (and who it’s new sister wineries in Oregon and California are). It is amazing, it is my go to Grey’s Anatomy-Thursday night wine and I will probably cry when I run out. I think I have 4 bottles left and I am rationing them out cautiously.

The really cool thing is that another wine from DA was there just a month ago or so. It was the 2006 Syrah, not as good as the 3.99 DA Red, but at $6.99 ($20+ value) still a great find.

I have had some fun tasting various vintages from the Barossa Valley and other parts of Australia on a tight budget in the past few months, but nothing I’d say is worth stocking up on. Especially if you’re not looking for daily drinking wine. Collectors need not waste time at GO, it is for drinking not saving.

Recently there have been more Oregon labels that have filtered into the mix but I am hesitant to really recommend grabbing them as I believe we are about to enter into a glut where Oregon Pinot Noir is no longer the sexy wine but the over abundant, easily accessed, and over rated wine that is on every shelf and no longer the premium choice for shee-shee. However, if you find a pinot that is a 2005 or 2008 from Oregon, you might find a tasty treat at a better than reasonable price.

(NOTE: You do have to be careful when buying wine at GO because it is a dumping ground. Domaine Alfred was being removed from circulation because they changed the name of the winery and ownership, but some wines are just dumped to get them gone. If there is dust on the label, the labels are banged up or somehow “just not right,” pass on it. Anything that seems too good to be true probably is. You’ll find a lot of $3.99-$9.99 wines but remember, but most of them really are only worth what you’re paying.