Good, cheap wine isn't always easy to come by. But, after comparing a range of supermarket wines under £5, we've found some excellent offers. Discover our top picks.
Whether you prefer red, white, rosé or sparkling wine, you'll likely know that finding a tasty one on a budget can be a challenge.
However, we've done the hard work for you and taste-tested cheap wines to find the best options. Very selfless of us, we know.
Every wine we tried for this guide cost us under £5 per 75cl (prices were correct at the time of writing).
You can get budget wines in most supermarkets, but we were particularly impressed by the options at Tesco.
Top supermarket wine offers
Here are the best tried and tested wines for under £5:
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Cheap white wine
- Top choice: Taparoo Valley (Chardonnay)
- Cost: £4.25 per 75cl.
Taparoo Valley is a great choice if you're looking for low-cost, dry wine. This one is our favourite of the white wines we've tried under £5 and it's suitable for vegans.
Unlike some bargain wines, it has a rich, fruity taste without being too rough to drink. The bottle recommends drinking it with roast chicken and veggies.
The Taparoo Valley bottle is £4.25. But, if you're looking for a white wine below £4, the Vineyards Zesty white wine is an option. It costs £3.45 per 75cl and is pretty good value for money.
However, the bottle's label doesn't have a 'suitable for vegans' symbol.
To make the bottle last longer, you could mix some wine with soda water to create a white wine spritzer.
Unsure why some wines are vegan and others aren't? It depends on the production process. Some (but not all) wines are filtered using fining agents made of animal products like milk protein or egg whites. Check the label to see if a wine is vegan-friendly. -
Cheap red wine
- Top choice: Toro Loco Superior (Tempranillo Bobal)
- Cost: £4.99 per 75cl.
The best red wine under £5 we've tasted is the Toro Loco Superior from Aldi.
It's won a gold medal at the Berliner Wein Trophy. You don't often find award-winning wines for less than a fiver, so this is a great deal.
This wine is suitable for vegans. It has a dry, rich and fruity taste, and the bottle suggests pairing it with spicy food and tapas (yum).
Prefer a sweeter red? You might like the slightly fizzy Lambrusco Rosso red, which costs £3 from Tesco. The bottle doesn't include the 'suitable for vegans' symbol.
Initially, we tried the Lambrusco at room temperature. We'll be honest: we didn't love its taste when it was slightly warm. But then we tried it chilled (as recommended in one of the reviews on Tesco's website) and it was much nicer.
You can save over 40% on wine by getting it in a box rather than a bottle. For example, we've seen a 2.25L box of Argentinian Malbec cost £15 (£5/75cl) from Tesco, while a 75cl bottle cost £9! -
Cheap rosé wine
- Top choice: Casa Maña (Tempranillo Garnacha)
- Cost: £4.09 per 75cl.
The Casa Maña rosé has a dry but delicate flavour. If you're having a fresh dish like a salad, this would be a good rosé to pick.
There isn't a 'suitable for vegans' symbol on the bottle. So, for anyone looking for a bottle that does guarantee it's vegan-friendly, another option is the Castellore Pinot Grigio Blush from Aldi.
However, the Castellore is slightly more expensive than the Casa Maña rosé at £4.89.
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Cheap sparkling wine
- Top choice: D.O.C.G. Vino Spumante (Asti)
- Cost: £4.49 per 75cl.
On the search for a cheap sparkling wine? Asti is usually a good shout.
The Martini version tends to cost around £8 from supermarkets so we looked into own-brand versions instead. Of the ones we saw, Aldi had the cheapest at £4.49 for a 75cl bottle.
This Asti is suitable for vegans.
It's worth noting that Asti is very sweet. Dryer fizzy wines can be harder to get for less than £5.
Having said that, we found a Barigny sparkling Brut wine from Tesco just within budget (£4.99). Its label doesn't have a 'suitable for vegans' symbol.
Admittedly, we weren't huge fans of the Barigny wine as it had a slightly bitter aftertaste. Although, if you're not keen on Asti, but still want to buy a cheap sparkling wine, it might be one to try.
To improve the taste, try mixing it with orange juice to make a budget Buck's Fizz.
The difference between cheap and expensive wine
There's a wide range of factors that affect the price of wine, such as:
- Type of grape – The supply and demand of grapes impact the cost of wine. The most popular grapes (especially those in short supply) tend to be more expensive. As Tempranillo is Spain's most common wine grape, it's not surprising that wine made from it is often cheaper, like the top choices of rosé and red wine in our list above.
- Region – Wines from prestigious regions (e.g. Champagne) often cost more. This can be due to a region's good weather and soil conditions, along with the type of grape grown there. You might find cheaper bottles are from regions that are less well-known for wine.
- Packaging – Generally speaking, the packaging of expensive wine is more likely to look luxurious than budget wine. For example, if a bottle has an eye-catching label, this won't impact the taste, but it can lead to a higher price as shoppers will be more likely to select it on the shelf. You'll also notice that boxed wine is usually more affordable than bottled wine. Boxes are cheaper to produce than glass bottles, and they generally hold a higher volume of wine, which keeps the cost down.
If your budget allows, you might decide it's worth spending more to buy a certain bottle. Maybe you've found a grape flavour that you prefer or a region that produces good wine. That's your call.
However, as our taste testing has shown, it really is possible to get a nice bottle for less than £5.
Try not to get swayed by what a bottle (or box) of wine looks like, and think more about what you enjoy. You could find some great bargains.
Cheers!
Save money (and avoid hangovers) by trying the best non-alcoholic drinks.
source https://www.savethestudent.org/save-money/food-drink/best-cheap-wine.html