I’m not going to say too much here because everyone has their own budget and sense of what is affordable and expensive. Plus, everyone drinks a different amount per night. I’m also going to ignore talking about investing in wine for resale, but whenever I splurge on a higher-end long term wine, I always say to myself that I can sell it for even more money in the future if I were ever desperate enough to need the money (an online auction like with K&L is a place to sell your own wine for only a 5% fee). I bought a few bucket-list wines with this reasoning. However, collecting wines can become addicting, so you have to keep some budget and inventory discipline.
Budget & Planning
Like any expense, you should budget both how much you can afford to spend on wine per month and storage space in relation to how much you actually consume. I have a range of what is my everyday wine price, mid level with friends price, and special occasion/long term aging wine price. That range will depend on your budget. At first, maybe my everyday budget was under 10 dollars. It will increase the more you get interested in wine and hopefully the more money you start earning as you get older. However, gaining more wine knowledge helps you to find bargains as well because you’ll know about lesser known regions or producers who make quality wine.
Unless you’re a millionaire, you need to consider QPR or quality price ratio. If you want to make your budget go further towards drinking more pleasurable wines, you have to know that price only increases quality to a certain point. Therefore, you can find bargains for the wines you like and avoid over-priced wines. I talk about some of the reasons why some wines are more expensive and its relation to quality in the page about winemaking.
You also have to balance the timing of when you’re going to drink these wines. You can’t only have wines that require 20 years to age in your collection. The nice age worthy wines need to be spaced out with wines that are ready in around 15, 10, and 5 years along with tons of everyday wines to drink in the meantime. However, you also have to know where your personal sweet-spot age for drinking certain types of wines are. For example, some people like aging Southern Rhone wines while others prefer them young. For some, it depends on the style, vintage or producer. On the other hand, they may have a different aging strategy for Bordeaux or Champagne. For this reason, many collectors like to buy a case of one wine so that they can experiment with the wine at different ages.
For the everyday and mid level price, I also figure that as long as I have the space to properly keep them, it is worth it to order/buy wines in larger quantities because you may get discounts or save on shipping bundling wines together. No matter how many you get, you will eventually drink them all assuming it’s a wine you like. Imagine you drink one bottle every 3 days. That’s already around 120 bottles a year of just everyday wines. I know many households that drink far more than 1 bottle every 3 days. Therefore, if you have the space, the financial incentive and immediate cash to do so, you might as well buy more.
What to buy?
I like buying diversely and authentically, so I always have a wide range of wines in my personal stock to pair with a variety of foods and situations. This is less true when I have a good local store I can just pop into to get what I need last minute, but sometimes what I need can only be found online. For example, if I want to make a Portuguese dish, and my local shop doesn’t have Portuguese wine, then I’ll order it online. I’m always experimenting with wine more than food though, so it’s more likely that I found a Portuguese wine region or variety I’ve never tried before, so I decide to make a dish that matches it.
When I experiment, I try to find an everyday priced wine from the region, variety, producer, or vintage I want to try out to know if I like it before I buy it again or buy a higher end version of it. However, the one negative is if you’re only drinking the cheaper stuff, perhaps you’re not getting something that is really representative. This is where research comes in handy. I try to find a wine with a review whose description matches what professional regional or variety descriptions say are typical of this wine (see wine-searcher or wine folly for good descriptions of varieties and regions). It helps if the producer is a well established producer in the region and is also sold in its country of origin and not just made for the international palate.
Every region has examples that are more international in style with no sense of place or variety, and you may like it, but it might not be typical of that region, variety or iconic producer. When I experiment I try to find something affordable but also representative of that variety, region or producer to truly know if I like it or not. It’s like if you visit Chicago, you’re going to try a Chicago deep dish style pizza recommended by locals such as Lou Malnati’s or Giordano’s or an Italian beef sandwich from Al’s. You want something authentic from the region rather than some beef sandwich or pizza from some national chain restaurant that you may also like, but is less authentic.
As far as the international style wines with no sense of place, they’re still good discoveries as well because they might be cheaper versions of the style of wine you like. Chilean wines are the perfect example. If you don’t want to spend 50 dollars for a decent Napa Cabernet, you can find a 15 dollar international style Chilean equivalent. It just may not have a sense of place if you’re trying to explore.
Obviously a big caveat is that “authentic” is a loaded term. It could mean what your average local from that country/region drinks, or perhaps it means a benchmark wine that shows what is best and essential from a certain variety, region or producer. We could debate about what is “authentic” now versus “authentic” 20 years ago. Ultimately, you’re still trying to find what you like and by getting something “authentic” or “typical” it can help you decide which wine types, varieties, regions and producers to seek out or avoid, but all wines are worth revisiting too because your tastes change and there’s so much variability even if you find “authentic” wines.
Wine Shops
As far as actually shopping for wines, it all depends on where you live. If you live in/near a big international city like New York, San Francisco, London, Paris, etc., you will have access to all types of wines at relatively fair prices in your local shop because there’s enough demand and some of the better shops import directly rather than through middlemen. Certain regions are always more expensive in other countries because of tariffs and more middlemen to get the wine there. Italian wines are always more expensive in the US than Europe for example, but many Bordeaux labels are often cheaper in the US than Europe since there’s so much demand.
I still love just walking into a local boutique, talking with the staff, and browsing their selection to see what I have tried and what I haven’t. Getting to know your local dealer is one way to learn about wine and that connection may also help when you’re traveling and want to visit a winery because that dealer may have a relationship with the winery or the buyer to help score you a tasting appointment especially if that winery doesn’t host a lot of guests.
Moreover, many shops have free or cheap tasting events, which is another way to learn a lot about wines and meet other wine geeks. I’ve been to some free tastings in Geneva with more than 300 wines, and so you exponentially accelerate your wine learning curve all in one night (just remember to spit most of it because I found out the hard way). Movenpick Wine in Switzerland always has wines ready to taste as well as regular tastings once a month. The US has the chain Totalwine all over the country. They have wide selection and host tastings. Check our wine shops website to see if they host tastings.
In smaller towns in Europe and the US, there are a lot of nice shops at perhaps more expensive prices, so do your research on wine-searcher.com to see average prices in other shops around the world. You may save money buying online if that’s the case.
Buying Online
If you don’t have a local dealer with an extensive selection, then there are several great online dealers who ship wines (most of those listed below have physical shops too if you do live nearby). Many have detailed descriptions of their wines and/or live online help these days. They also have practical browsing categories to find what you’re looking for. Plus some have online auctions for older wines.
I buy mostly from dealers in California because I can pick them up when I’m in town visiting family. K&L wine merchants and JJBuckley are 2 of my favorites in Northern California. You can get better deals if you join their special client mailing list. K&L specifically has lots of variety from all over the world and often feature affordable aged wines too. Wine Exchange and Hi-time Wine Cellars in Southern California are also good. Calvert Woodley and MacArthur Beverages were my favorite wine shops while living in DC and deliver too. Grand Cata in DC is great for smaller South American wines. Flickinger is a wine dealer I’ve bought from out of Chicago. Totalwine also sells online. Wine.com is also great for their selection and their one time fee unlimited free shipping for a year program. However, their prices are generally more expensive, so you need to order frequently to make the free shipping fee worth it.
A new online dealer I like for California wine especially is Wine Access. The main reason they stand out is their ability to procure wines or grapes from big name wineries and/or winemakers under their Wine Access labels for a fraction of their usual price. Sometimes even famous cult wineries have surplus grapes that either didn’t make the cut, are from younger vines or that they don’t want to sell under their main label to keep their wines scarce so they can keep their wine prices high. Hence, they sell their wines under another label with a Non-Disclosure Agreement prohibiting Wine Access from mentioning their name, but clients of Wine Access benefit. Denegoce exclusively sells wines sourced from non-disclosed producers in the US too.
There are also websites that do flash sales, where they feature one heavily discounted wine until it sells out. Last Bottle Wines is one of the most famous.
Because each state has their own weird rules on alcohol, you may have some shipping barriers ordering from these companies. You also have to consider how and when the wine is shipped. Obviously, express shipping will cost more, but if you want to save money on ground shipping, you have to consider the weather. Many wine shops will hold your wine during the summer to ship it during a cooler period. Some package their wines with material to keep your wines cool throughout its journey, so consider these factors to keep your wines from being cooked in delivery. In addition, some shops keep your wine for free up to several months but then charge you to keep your wines longer. To make shipping cheaper, I often take advantage of that by waiting for my wines to accumulate and bundle them together in one shipping to save money.
If you’re looking for a specific wine or want to research a wine to know its price and quality, the best place to start is wine-searcher.com. You will be able to compare prices with shops all over the world and you can often find ratings/reviews on the wine. Wine-searcher.com also has links to descriptions of the region and varieties so I can learn more about the wine beyond what the reviews and ratings say. Most of the best dealers in the world advertise their inventory through wine-searcher.com. You can search for a local wine shop on their website too, which is useful when I’m traveling and want to find a nice wine shop nearby.
If I’m looking at wines at a shop or browsing a shop’s website, I will compare prices and reviews with wine-searcher.com and check cellartracker.com for amateur reviews if I can’t find any professional reviews. Amateur ratings on average actually correlate well with professional ratings. Prices are all relative of course, so if I live in the US, then I compare prices with other American shops. For instance, Italian wines are almost always more expensive in the US than in Europe, but shipping from Italy will obviously be more expensive, so I just compare prices among American shops.
There are also apps that can help you buy wines like Vivino and Sippd. Vivino is a way to identify and rate your wines while also seeing other people’s ratings and find where to buy it. Sippd basically uses AI to help identify other wines you might like based your previous taste preferences and budget
Buying Wine in Chile
Buying Chilean wine can be cheaper if you’re visiting Chile, but that’s mostly in the under 30 dollar range. Wines that are more expensive tend to have a larger market outside of Chile and can be 50%+ cheaper in Europe or the US. This is especially true for the big Bordeaux blends from commercial producers. However, there’s certainly a lot of small independent producers in Chile that are difficult to find outside of Chile and cheaper in Chile, so that’s what I would focus on if I’m shopping in Chile. This is especially true of some good Pinot, Carignan or other less common varieties that have less of a market outside of Chile since it’s less known for these varieties. Natural Chilean wines often have a bigger market outside Chile, but prices in Chile are still about the same or cheaper.
There are several shops in Chile that are worth visiting. The best is Supermercado Diez. They have 2 locations in Santiago (Vitacura and Providencia) and are consistently the cheapest place to buy Chilean wines along with a large selection. Mundo del Vino, CAV, and BBVinos also have a large selection and are all about the same price but more expensive than Supermercado Diez. Directwines has a smaller selection but decent prices if purchased online. La Vinoteca in Vitacura has good selection, but they are more expensive. However, it might be worth it to eat there since you can order wines at store prices with your food. Santiago Wine Club has a store in Santiago and Temuco. Armonia Wines is good shop in Las Condes. Try Cavas Reunidas if you’re in La Reina. A couple of online shops with a large selection are Sacacorchos and Wines & Co.
For natural wines, try Vino Natural and for boutique wines try La Cava del Barrio, Wineam, Tandem Wines, Vinoteca Italia, Baco (a French brasserie & store) or WoWines’ online shop. Catas Nomades is also a source for boutique wines. Market Maule is an online store that sells a lot of wines from small producers in Maule. Up to Wine sells boutique wines and has a new monthly magazine in Spanish about independent producers of Chile. Of course there’s MOVI (Chile’s association of Independent producers) who have their own online store for their members. Sr. Vino sells through his Facebook page and tends to offer harder to find and independent wines. Contact Alan Grudsky on Instagram for a list of his wines.
Avinemos both hosts educational tastings and sells boutique wines. The is true for Bocas Moradas, which hosts boutique wine tastings. Tastewine sells wine through their website and organizes tastings too.
Outside of Santiago, there’s La Vinateria in Rancagua and Distribuidora New Wine in Valdivia. Outlet de Vinos in Santa Cruz has a good selection of local wines at a discount (don’t be fooled by the humble appearance of the store). They also give you a coupon to get free corkage at 4 restaurants in the area, so you can bring any bottle you purchase there to these restaurants.
If you want to buy traditional wines like Chicha, Chacoli and Pipeno, you will see houses all over the countryside in Maule and Rapel Valleys with signs selling them from their home. However, I also found a website of countryside producers with contact information of individual producers to try to get bottles that way.
Lastly, many of the wineries sell through their websites (see our directory). Sometimes it’s more expensive. Sometimes it’s cheaper. For example, Tabali sells its wines much cheaper through their own website.
If you want to buy international wines in Chile, more and more choices are starting to emerge. However, the prices will be 50%+ more than in bigger markets like the US or UK depending on exchange rates because Chile does its best to protect their domestic wines with taxes, and there’s still not enough demand to import in bulk. Mundo del Vino and BBVinos have several choices from various countries. Les Dix Vins also has international wines, especially French, along with French cheese, charcuterie, and pate at similarly inflated prices. If you’re just looking for French products such as foie gras, escargot and duck products to go with your French wines, there’s also Helene de Fleurac , La Fromagerie and Bocus. Lar Portugues has some Portuguese and Spanish wines and products. Esquina Gourmet has Spanish products. Emporio Globe Italia and Gourmitalia have some Italian products and a few Italian wines too. Supermercado Diez is limited to mainly Argentinian Malbec and some Spanish wines for their international choices. Armonia Wines also has a few good Spanish, Argentinian and Italian options. Supermarkets like Jumbo have a few low-end international wines and champagne as well. Most Spanish wines come via Miguel Torres, who has a large presence in both Spain and Chile, so you will find some of their Spanish wines even in some supermarkets. They also have an online store with domestic and international wines.
Additionally, there are smaller dealers like Vigneron, who mostly has Burgundy and Piedmont wines and La French Wine, who have small selection of French wines. Tanico has a small selection of Italian wines. Directwines mostly has champagne for their international selection. Cuppa specializes in Spanish wines, particularly Cava. Booz.cl has a lot of Chilean and some French & Italian options at the lower end.
Argentinian wine doesn’t have as much of added premium, so it’s around the same as prices in the US. However, it’s still like 50-75% cheaper in Argentina if you’re visiting both countries; Mendoza takes as much time to get to from Santiago as the Southern valleys of Chile, so if you love Argentinian wine, it’s worth crossing the border.
Finally, the absolute best place to get international wine is Edwards Fine Wines, whom you have to contact via Facebook or email for him to send you his list. He specializes in organic wines from all over the world and some of the less famous regions are priced about the same as they would be in the US or UK. For example, Loire Valley wines are about the same prices with Edwards as in the US. However, famous regions like Bordeaux and Napa will be the same 50%+ more. Edwards also sells a lot of wines from small independent, Chilean producers. He’s the dealer for wine geeks in Chile. He’ll even have small allocations of hard to find wine geek cult wines like Lino Maga or also high-end iconic wines like JL Chave Hermitage, Rayas, Silex, and Latour if you’re looking to impress and have the wallet to afford them.