Italy is known for producing great wines. I bet a plate of pasta and a full glass of wine are two of the first things to enter into your mind when Italy is mentioned. (At least they are for me :-).
I love a good red wine. I completely and utterly adore it to be exact. Even before moving to Italy, my palette was always drawn to Italian reds. Montepulciano, Chianti, Barolo, Amarone, Lambrusco, Brunello … oh Brunello! Enough of my obsession. On to the cheap wine.
There are several supermarkets (I use the term supermarket loosely) here in Italy that offer very reasonable prices. Two of them are In’s and Eurospin. The first time I visited In’s and saw their prices for bottles of wine, my jaw dropped. Literally, I stood there speechless with my mouth open, just staring at the wine. My mind could not fathom the price tags staring back at me. I honestly turned and asked if it was some sort of a joke. Once confirmed it was not, I then asked how the store could charge so little.
What were the prices you ask? Are you sitting down? €1.79, €0.99, €2.29, €1.19. Yep, that is for a bottle! In the States, I was used to paying a minimum of $10 for a bottle of wine. Mind you, $10 was the minimum, and then it was usually for a bottle I picked up from the supermarket out of convenience and it was something basic like Merlot, Cabernet or sometimes a Malbec (juicy red wine produced in Argentina). My mind started computing that I could now by 9 or 10 bottles for what I used to pay minimum for 1 bottle. JACKPOT! I even saw a bottle of Brunello (one of Italy’s top wines, and my favorite wine) for around €12. The same bottle will run you around $90 (or more) in the States. DOUBLE JACKPOT!
I am assuming the reason for the low cost is because the wines are produced locally. Many of them come from small, local producers, not big industry leading wineries. I know the wines I find here are not necessarily the ‘cream of the crop’ or the top of the line, but they are great for a girl on a budget who enjoys a regular glass of wine with dinner at home. Cin cin!
I, too, love cheap wine!!
I bought a bottle of Sangiovese today (a heavier Italian red) for only €1.19. The prices still shock me. I LOVE it! 🙂