Inexpensive Wine

10 more days til we get there!!! Can anyone reccomend good inexpensive wine that we can purchase. Kids like good wine so wondered if someone could reccomend. My hubby and I drink Carlo Rossi so you can see our price point, but bringing the kids along and they like good wine, I want to show them you can get good wine and you don't have to pay alot. Especially since our dollar is at an all time low!! Thanks in advance and Cheers!!

Serame (not Chateau Serame) has a wide selection of varietals in the 5-8 Euro range. It is served by some of the local dining establishments as the house wine.

I've heard good things about the boxed wine they sell at Leader Price, but I just don't want to lock into 4 liters of wine at a time. i seem to recall it's in the 10 Euro neighborhood.

I've also had good experience with Vin D' Alsace, most of which are in the 6-10 Euro range.

I have stuck to the French wines rather than US ones.

Honestly, have them go to Super U and just browse the wine aisles! In June, we found ALL KINDS of wines there at $3 a bottle and under.

Us wines cost more in st Martin than they do in the states. Best pricing are with wines from France, Australia or Chili. That's why we always bring a few premium Washington wines with us to share with island friends.

But she asked for good wines. Maybe I'm just unlucky, but when I've pulled bottles more or less randomly off the shelf below 5, most of them have been plonk.

We found Casillero Del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon, 3 for 20 at the market in Maho, seemed decent - not huge wine drinkers but enjoyed it. At home it runs around 14 a bottle

I agree. Vino is an app that if you have a Wi-Fi connection you can take a picture of the label and it will search and give you the rating and review feedback as long as it is recognizable or noteworthy. I'm not a wine snob but I appreciate good wine and don't mind paying for it. There are a lot of poor to average wines out there and difficult to wade through them with out some help.

I agree. That is a nice every day wine at a good price. Grand marche and the market garden carry it along with some other buy two get one free wine specials that are usually good wine at a good price.

Yes, the Maho Market has those as "buy 2, get 1 free". Great way to try them as you can mix and match.

No two buck chuck in St. Maarten?

Thank God. But if it was it would be four buck chuck. There are plenty of wines in that category if you so desire in St Maarten. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

We found Bordeaux wines at super U for around 5.50 euros to be very good. My hubby said one night lets buy 1 more expensive tonight & it wasn't as good. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cool.gif" alt="" />

Have a decent bottle of Rose from Provence in the fridge and they probably won't touch anything else for the stay. If they truly know wine, turn them loose in any store and they will be in heaven.

We like wine but don't know much about it, so we go to Bacchus and give them our price range and ask for their advice. They have always picked out fantastic wines and once we have a few names we know what to get the next time

Scubaman, what are some good Washington wines? I bought and then gave away a bottle of a Washington wine for a Christmas gift because it was such a beautiful bottle, but kicking myself as it was the only one of its kind in the store I bought it at. But I would be interested in trying a few if you could recommend some.

Found 3 litre boxes of Cabernet Sauvignon at the Super U for €13. They also offered $ for € exchange.

Good inexpensive wine cannot cost $3 a bottle. $3 is the cost of the glass bottle, the label, transport and storage.

Buying such trash is putting your health at risk for the sake of saving a few dollars.

At Super U you will need to pay min 7 € a bottle.

I can highly recommend all GERARD BERTRAND wines. Most of them are organic and Bertrand is a well recognized wine maker in France.

Otherwise, FAUGERES is a good buy.

Burgundy is over priced. Cotes du Rhone has doubled over the lst 10 years. Bordeaux is out priced also.

US wine is overpriced at as usual.

I come from France, the current trend is to drink less, but drink better quality wines...

I think wine preference is a personal thing. I am a beer person but my wife is definitely wine oriented.

In France we have purchased MANY bottles of very decent wine for 4-6 Euro a bottle. It is a common and not a rare find at all...

I agree, add 1 or 2 Euros for transport from France and you get the 7 Euro figure.

Another suggestion - Grape Wine in Hope Estate, near Simply market. Francois has wine in all price ranges and is very helpful.

I always remember the bottle of Sancerre we got from a small store on a side street in Marigot. It was $3 usd. We enjoyed it so much that when we returned home we went to a local wine place and found it selling for $40 a bottle.

phillygirl7
As scubaman can attest anything labeled Spokane, WA will satisfy the most discriminating palate.

I was always told that, by law, the price of French wine is the same in French SXM as it is in France.

I don't know who told you that, but it's the greatest joke I've heard in many years ...

Look for some out of the Walla Walla region like cougar crest for example. Anything from red mountain is pretty dependable.

That's a pretty all-encompassing statement about Washington wines, or even Spokane wines.... As with most anything, wine palates vary greatly and I seriously doubt that all Washington wines are created equal.

Very true. Each wine region in Washington has differences because of soil. Also the winemaker has a lot to do with it.

Chuck
Just kidding. But there are some very good wines with a Spokane appellation.

Another vote for Grape Wine, near Simply market in the Hope Estate.

Francois is a great guy and doesn't try to push high priced wines on you.

I had not even heard of Washington wine until this thread yesterday. At dinner last night I took the opportunity to have a glass of Washington Syrah. Splendid, but more like a pinot than I would have thought.

Oregon wines are excellent as well, as I learned this past summer while visiting friends in the Portland area. I've actually had a couple of cases shipped to me here in North Carolina. If you have the chance to try the wines from Tesoaria in Portland, you won't be disappointed.

I like WA State Chardonnay. Chateau St Michelle, Columbia Crest Grand Estates, Hogue are all good - they are double the price in Anguilla.

I'll double down with Ellen.
Chateau Ste Michelle is our weekly at home Sunday brunch bubbly choice. Columbia Crest is fine as well. They make the trip from the west coast to NH in fine shape at our cheap State stores and many grocery stores as well.

Yes. Oregon makes some incredible wines. Their pinots are ranked as some of the best in the world.

...but to get back to the original post, most US wines are more expensive in SXM. Better to concentrate on French or other European wines while there, to get bargains on things that you wouldn't normally be able to get cheaply at home.

At Simply, it can be worth it to pay attn to end-of-aisle displays, and they sometimes stack specials on pallets near the entrance... Once we bought a red from the SW of France for ridiculously cheap, 3 or 4$. Tried it the next day and found it to be a quite good value... Went back the next day to get more and all 40 cases or so that had been on the pallet were gone!

Super U also has specials, which are a great price..

two buck chuck in the New England is now 3 buck chuck!

And it is loaded with Arsenic. People need to realize that you get what you pay for. I wouldn't touch bottles of wine that cost less than $10.

Not sure price is the only criteria re arsenic in wine - I think you are referring to the California law suit from early 2015.. Arsenic in ground water is the issue. The amount of arsenic in ground water is mostly a feature related to the underlying geology make up. The arsenic finds it's why into a crop thru the ground water absorbtion. Red wine is more of an issue due to skin contact during fermentation - the arsenic is more likely to be found in the skin, than the pulp or juice. Note some "big chards use an amount of skin contact pre fermentation to bring out more flavour. If you have conerns about arsenic, I would be equally or more worried about apple juice and rice products such as organic brown rice syrup found in lots of products from baby food to protein bars.
Personnaly I would be more worried about copper and ethanol in food products.
However I will agree that life is too short to be drinking poor wine
J&B

The main issue in wine is sulphites ... even most organic wines are full of them.

Sulphites are a natural product of fermentation - maybe up to 40ppm. A small part of the population do have sulphite allergies, probably linked to asthma. Sulphites are used to perserve wines, sweet have the most, then white and then red [the tannins tend to help]. Sulphites decrease in the bottle over time. Better quality wine often has somewhat lower sulphites.
If I was allergic to sulphites I would not be drinking wine, but sulphites are a larger issue in lots of other food products. If I was looking to lower my sulphite intake I would be looking at cutting out other products before wine. Note for the record I can normally detect sulphite around 100ppm, low for wine, most people cannot detect that level without either a sulphite issue or tasting education. I tend to buy wines I know have lower sulphites, aged reds or in a pinch decant - but that's just me [and for the record I never drink alcohol out of a styrene container ie summer bbq picnic, glass for me always]
J&B

In addition to the natural occurring sulfites (during fermentation) they are also added to prevent spoiling (oxidation) of the wine. Dried fruit has 4-5 times the amount in wine.

But "no sulfites added" obviously does decrease sulfates..it just doesn't eliminate them

Thx that's a very extensive explanation.

I'm a red wine fan, when I do drink white, I get a headache.

In France only a few vineyards refrain from adding sulphites to red, which, as rightly point out, should not always be necessary thx to tanins who also have an anti-oxidant action.

In Europe over la last 30 years, there has been a trend away from quantity and towards better quality. That's why I steer away from too cheap wines in order to reward those who make an effort in improving their product.

In Italy, sulphites are not added to red wine, and in spite of what I read on a site that explained that sulphites really don't cause "red wine headache", everyone on our trip (16 people) found that we didn't get headaches after drinking the red wines there. Most wines we enjoyed were from small family vineyards, so that may have also played a part.

While in Italy we visited six different vinyards. We were told that sulfites were added to the wine for export to US but we could buy some there with only natural occuring sulfites. We found that the wines wthout added sulfide did not taste as great a day after opening. We bought only reds.

Yes, they are required by law to add them if exporting. I can't comment about how wine tastes the day after opening, lol.

What started as a potentially positive post about inexpensive wines has become a discussion of arsenic in ground water, arsenic levels in wine, sulfites and regional requirements for exporting wine. Anyone got suggestions for reasonably priced wines available on St. Martin and perhaps not widely available in the US that might be worth a try????? I prefer reds that aren't overly dry.

You forgot the Washington and Oregon wine diversions <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

True enough...My bad!

As I said a long time ago, go to Super U and check out the sales!!!

I will take you up on that in a week... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />