So, I found myself Googling synonyms for 'frugal' this week.
Came up with thrifty, sparing, economical, canny, unwasteful, cheap, prudent, stingy, sensible, penny-pinching, spartan and parsimonious.
Parsimonious, of course, is my personal favourite because it makes seeking out budget bottles of wine sound like a higher calling.
Thus said, I was parsimonious -- in the most gleeful sense of tightfistedness -- in compiling and then drinking through this list of 10 affordable wines.
My wife, Kerry, helped me and cooked most of the dinners that were paired with these inexpensive beauties.
As mentioned last week in Part 1 of budget bottles for January, we're all looking for ways to save money this month after the spending bonanza of Christmas and New Year's Eve.
So, be prudent with your cash, but still enjoy good wine.
These wines fit the bill, all coming in at $20 or less a bottle.
There are lots of reasons why wine is expensive, and in turn, more affordable.
In the case of this list, they are all from wineries under the Arterra umbrella.
Arterra is Canada's leading producer and marketer of wines and is owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.
I know, smart teachers and a smart investment in wine.
Toronto-based Arterra owns 100 wine brands with wines at all price points, has 1,700 acres in grapes (including in the Okanagan and Niagara) and has 164 Wine Rack retail stores in Ontario.
It owns Okanagan wineries Jackson-Triggs, Inniskillin, Nk'Mip, Culmina, Steller's Jay, Laughing Stock, Sumac Ridge and See Ya Later Ranch.
It also has such well-known international brands as Ruffino from Italy, Kim Crawford from New Zealand and Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi from California.
Anyway, this is the long way of telling you Arterra is a huge company and as such has the advantage of economies of scale.
It buys so much equipment and materials, grapes, expertise, marketing and distribution that it has purchasing power.
It can produce wines for less and pass the savings onto you, the wine consumer.
So, without further ado, here's the list with wine aromas and flavours in brackets and also what my wife and I ate with each bottle.
- Open Chardonnay ($14) (apple and vanilla) (lemon pepper sauteed shrimp on rice)
- See Ya Later Ranch 2022 Gewurztraminer ($19) (exotic, off-dry grapefruit and lychee) (korma chicken with naan bread)
- Saintly The Good Sparkling Rose ($20) (bubbly peaches and cream) (on its own with friends on games night)
- Bodacious Smooth Red ($12) (juicy blackberry jam) (comfort-food meatloaf)
- Bask Pinot Noir ($11.50) (cherry and spice) (more comfort-food shepherd's pie)
- Inniskillin 2021 Pinot Noir ($19) (on its own while we tried to watch the Netflix movie Good Grief, which is getting mixed reviews)
- Culmina R&D Red Blend 2021 ($20) (plum and spice) (grilled burgers -- as I mentioned in a column earlier this season, I continue to barbecue through the winter)
- Jackson-Triggs Reserve 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon ($17) (velvety blueberry and dark chocolate) (barbecued top-sirloin steaks)
- Jackson-Triggs Reserve 2022 Pinot Grigio ($17) (apple and lemon) (roast chicken)
- Sumac Ridge Private Reserve 2022 Pinot Grigio ($15) (lemon and honey) (Greek salad with lots of salty feta)
Steve MacNaull is a NowMedia Group reporter, Okanagan wine lover and Canadian Wine Scholar. Reach him at [email protected]. His wine column appears every Friday afternoon in this space.
