If you want to buy the cheapest bottle of wine without sacrificing quality, look no further than Portugal.
The European country is the least expensive locale to buy a bottle of quality wine. On average, a standard 750ml bottle of wine costs about £3.49, or about $4.17, in Portugal, according to Compare My Jet’s “World’s Wine Habit Index.”
For comparison, the average price for a bottle of wine in the United States is more than triple what you would pay in Portugal. Regardless of size or origin, the average price in the U.S. is about $13.36 as of January 2023, according to data from the Federal Reserve.
Compare My Jet compiled the average prices of wine in 38 countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). CNBC Make It converted all prices from pounds to the U.S. dollar equivalent on Feb. 23rd, 2023.
Here are the 10 least expensive countries to buy a bottle of wine.
How to find affordable wine without sacrificing quality
Whether it’s high or low, “price doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the quality or taste of a wine,” Jon Thorsen, author of the “Reverse Wine Snob,” told CNBC Make It in 2019.
However, some experts recommend staying away from the cheapest options. Wine priced under $20 tends to be mass produced and farmed with synthetic pesticides and fungicides, Mark Osborn, lead sommelier at SommSelect, told CNBC Make It earlier this month.
Osborn has tasted more than 15,000 bottles of wine and says a good bottle is typically priced between $30 and $60.
To find a good deal, look for wine from a place off the beaten path. Since name recognition can drive up the price, regions that aren’t as well known tend to cost less than the more popular regions, Osborn says.
Instead of reaching for an expensive bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, try getting one from somewhere nearby, such as Paso Robles, California, Ray Isle, executive wine editor for “Food & Wine,” told CNBC Make It in 2019.
“I always suggest looking to lesser known regions and less familiar grapes — that’s where some of the great bargains are,” Isle says.
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Don’t miss: Sommelier who’s tasted 15,000 wines: If you want quality, don’t spend under $30 on a bottle
