Welcome to TastedOnline.com, dedicated to people who enjoy wine that’s a good value for the price and purchase most of their wine from traditional retail outlets e.g., liquor stores, wine shops and grocery chains. A “quality wine at bargain a price” by our definition is good and inexpensive (less than $15.). We like to drink a bottle of wine with dinner every day and are always looking for new wines to pair with different foods. For us the hunt for the best quality at the lowest price is a challenge and part of the whole wine experience. Many years ago we began to buy wines from around the world that were less expensive than the highly rated/named brand wines in the hope that they still retained some of the high quality. Needless to say there were a great many disappointments; but surprisingly we did uncover some really great wines at what most people would call bargain prices. We would buy these bargains, but in most cases they would quickly be out of stock so our search for the best buy wines became a continuing, and enjoyable effort.
Another aspect of our search was to quantify what we were drinking so comparisons between wines could be made at a later time. We began making short notes about wine we drank and developed a record that clearly identified what we thought were quality wines, excellent values for the cost and good food pairings. We’re not wine snobs nor do we have a tasting ability that is anything close to a professional wine sommelier. However, in hindsight our tasting records have proven uncanny in their ability for us to accurately equate the same wine six months or a year latter. And, probably most importantly identify which wines we wanted to buy again for ourselves or recommend to our friends.
This website is a way of sharing our ongoing search for wines that are the best value for the cost. If you are a wine connoisseur or someone who is willing to pay top prices for known high quality wines our wine list and recommendations are not for you. However, if you are somewhat adventuresome and looking for reasonably good everyday wine at the lowest price, the bargain listings on this site may save you money and help you make a wine selection that only includes good quality at the lowest price.
We live in North Carolina for part of the year and Southern California for the other part so our sources of wine vary tremendously. In North Carolina we buy wine from wine shops (primarily The Caviste, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina that is simply the BEST wine shop we have found in this country!!!), Total Wine, and occasionally North Carolina vineyards. In California we also include the grocery stores, Total Wine and central & southern California vineyards, but most of our purchases are from the Woodland Hills Wine Company located in Woodland Hills, California. We usually only buy one bottle of any wine, but if we do have it (or another vintage) again and the tasting is significantly different for the second bottle, either from the food pairing or differences in the wine, we will write it up as second tasting post; if it is very similar we will include comments for both tastings by editing the original post (we note in the comments if there is a second write-up for the same wine). Occasionally wines are provided to us at no cost. These wines are listed as a “Sample” in our reviews and the advertised list price is provided. All other wines we review are purchased by us and the price shown is what we paid for them. If we receive a case or other discount we list it with the price.
Over the years we have received comments from readers and made several changes that we think improves the reporting format. For example in 2015 we added the alcohol content, type of closure, UPC code and importer of each wine we reviewed. Later in 2015 we added a link that provides producer information and a photo of the vineyard. In 2017 we added a map showing the vineyard location and combined the “He said – She said” comments into one single wine review.
We E-mail a weekly newsletter of the wines we recommend (those in the Quality wine at a bargain price and Recommended as a buy categories). To receive this weekly listing complete the form at the top right of every page.
For information on our rating system see: How we rate wines.
For a complete listing of all the wines we have reviewed see: Wine Tasting Results
If you have found wines that fit our definition of a “quality wine at bargain prices” let us know so we can try them. Just email us at either: ray@tastedonline.com or vicky@tastedonline.com.