How to Make Cheap Wine Taste Good

The slumping economy and its impact on our budget have forced us to sacrifice luxury services, frivolous spending and restaurant visits. We recycle plastic baggies and aluminum foil. We've eliminated salon visits and security services. We've pared down our cable package. The list is endless.

Sound familiar? Maybe you're doing the same thing, too.

While we've greatly reduced our budget, we are not willing to eliminate the little things about our lifestyle that we really enjoy. We just do them in a lower cost way.

Pre-recession, we'd not blink an eye at purchasing a $70 bottle of wine or a $50 bottle of champagne. Now, just thinking about that makes us cringe. I'm confessing this because it proves that we are wine snobs. If we can learn to enjoy and, dare I say it, appreciate a bottle of cheap wine, so can you.

These tips won't turn a bottle of cheap cabernet sauvignon into a bottle of Silver Oak cabernet sauvignon. They will, however, assist you in learning how to enhance the flavor of that cheap bottle of wine.

A cheap bottle of wine, for the sake of this article, is any wine under $5 a bottle.

Have an Open Mind

You have to totally eliminate all thoughts of your favorite expensive wines from your mind and vocabulary. Cheap wine will never taste good if you dismiss it before you uncork it. An open mind is critical here.

Realize that you'll have to re-train your palate to accept the flavor of the cheap wine. This won't happen overnight.

Drink the Wine with Food

There are wines so good that you can enjoy them by themselves. Some wines, however, simply taste better when paired with food. Honestly, this is true of both cheap and expensive wines.

There's a reason why certain foods and wines are paired together: they enhance each other. It's the perfect relationship. You don't have to be a sommelier, however, to pair wine and food. You don't have to follow traditional pairings to make it work, either.

If your first sip isn't exactly what you like, grab a snack to eat with it. You'll notice that it changes the wine's flavor immediately. You just might find a new favorite.

Add Fruit to the Wine (Sangria)

An obvious addition to wine is fruit. You don't need a recipe for it, either. Simply use any fruit you have on-hand or buy various fruits while at the grocery store. Since you don't know what the wine will taste like, buy a well-rounded selection of fruit. What you don't use for sangria can be eaten, thereby not necessarily adding a lot of extra money to the cost of the bottle.

Before you go crazy adding fruit, be sure to taste the wine first and have an open mind while doing so. Keep in mind your preference for sweet, dry, oaky, etc. wines and ask yourself what you need to add to the cheap wine in order to bring its flavor more in line with your palate. This will guide you in your fruit selection.

Empty the bottle of wine into a pitcher. Doesn't matter if the wine is white or red. Chop fruit, such as apples and peaches, into a large dice and add it to the pitcher. You can also add citrus fruits. If the fruit is squeezable, be sure to squeeze a few slices into the pitcher to enhance the flavor. Don't be scared to experiment.

The key to great sangria is time. The longer it steeps, the better it'll taste.

Watch for Sales

That's right. Wine does go on sale. Train your eye to scan those grocery store shelves for signs that read less than $5. Sometimes, you'll be able to find an $8 or $9 bottle of wine for $5 or less.

See how easy it is to experiment with cheap wines? Go ahead - buy a bottle or two. You might like it. Plus, the money you save will definitely be worth it.