How to Source for Budget Friendly Wines

Photo Credit: vino101.com

Of all the drinks you will think about serving at your wedding, wine is probably the most constant because your wedding toast requires champagne or some other sparkling wine. You'll likely need another kind besides these; white, red, rose... so how do you source for good yet affordable wines for your big day? We'll show how you can get them without blowing your budget.

Go to the market
Why pay more in a luxury wine store just for air conditioning and arranged shelves? As we say in Nigeria, "All na packaging." Go to a store known for low prices like Shoprite, or skip that entirely and enter the local market. Show some street smarts by insisting on original brands (they usually can tell the difference), inspect them as well; and present yourself as a potential regular customer so that they will give you the best products and the best prices.

Buy by the case
You get a discount of up to 10-15% when you're buying an entire case instead of buying a variety of bottles singly. Don't sleep on it. Buy in cases and remember to haggle!

Champagne is sparkling wine
If you ever wondered about the difference, here it is. Champagne is sparkling wine specifically from the region in France known as Champagne. That's it. The name comes with a higher price tag than a lot of sparkling wines from other regions, but that doesn't stop them from being just as bubbly and just as tasty.

Buy wine from other regions
Instead of insisting on French and Italian wines, get those from developing wine regions like South Africa, Chile, Australia, Spain and so on. You'll find a lot of really good ones here in Nigeria for even N1500 and below, retail price.

Don't skimp on taste and quality- Ask friends
If the only thing you consider is the price, you might end up with some crappy-tasting wine. If you do a little homework, your budget can get you really good stuff that tastes far more expensive than they are. Ask your friends their favorite budget wines. We all know a few winos if we ourselves aren't right? Some of ours are Carlo Rossi, Frontera, Cuvee, Castro Velho.
If you have a few options you're curious about, do a trial. Buy a bottle of each and invite your wine-loving friends to a tasting.
Their verdict would be very helpful.

Buy only what you need
For sparkling wine, you only need one bottle for every 8-10 persons. Few people drink more than half a glass for the toast. For the others, estimate how many people won't drink alcohol in your guest list and cut down. Eliminate those who prefer other drinks like beer. Are you serving cocktails? Cut down by a further 30%. For those left, divide that number by 2.15, and you have the number of bottles you should buy.

Remember, drink responsibly!

 

Written by Sandra N.U.