Recession Wines: Tips and Tricks

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Admit it folks, the economy has got you down. Here we are, moving into a new year, and all they can talk about on the news is war and depression. It's enough to send you into a bottle – but those bottles are expensive! Oh what to do?

Fear not, Wine-Girl is coming to the rescue. While I'll do my best not to intrude on Tim's CheapWineRatings.com territory, I'm going to dip my toe into the pool about once a week. At the beginning of 2009, we'll be launching a new series called Recession Wines.

Each week or so, we'll review a low-cost wine – preferably under $10, but definitely under $15. Remember my $10 and Under post from October? You had some great suggestions for us in those comments. I would love it if you'd add even more to this post. (Or email me. I know, you all are tentative about comments but you love the email.)

In the meantime, I want to offer out two different tips for drinking wine when the money is tight:

Enjoy those wine tastings. As I often say, wine tastings in Kentucky are free. In Ohio, they are generally less than $5, usually around $1. Heck, Bigg's Skytop offers a gourmet meal of samples as well as full pours of 5-6 wines each week for only $10. And you can split a tasting with someone else. Tastings are a great way to get to know what wines you like. In many cases, they will be low-cost wines anyway. In other cases, you'll be getting to try wines you might never afford in other circumstances. So go out there and enjoy the tastings! Don't forget to take notes so that you can buy those wines later, when a paycheck is just burning a hole in your purse.
Closeouts. Oh, what a spectacular deal are closeouts! At Liquor Direct, they have an entire wall of closeouts – 2 for $10, 3 for $20. At Party Source, just ask someone. They will show you excitedly what is on closeout. You see, closeouts aren't necessarily bad wine or old wine. In many cases, closeouts are when a winery is redesigning a label or when a distributor is dropping a wine. Jump on these. Don't be afraid to ask at your local wine shop. In my experience, the retailers are just as excited about the closeouts as you are, and eager to share.