16th November 2022 | Top Drops | 8 minute read
Finding affordable fine wine alternatives to your high-end favourites feels like you’ve struck gold, right? Well, get ready to hit a gold mine as we’re about to give you not one, but eight fabulously affordable alternatives using our wealth of wine knowledge. From Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Chablis to NZ Sauvignon Blanc and Sancerre, we give you low cost options for the most lusted-after luxury labels.
When it comes to iconic luxury wines, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is wine royalty in France. It was considered so special that it needed protecting, so was granted AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) status in 1936, becoming one of the world’s first official appellations. With such impressive credentials, what better place to start in our article about affordable fine wine alternatives!
The Châteauneuf-du-Pape village sits at the foot of the Rhône Valley beneath the ruins of a castle that was once a residence of the Pope (CDP literally translates to “the Pope’s new castle”). In this historic site, the vineyards enjoy a Mediterranean climate and stony, rich, clay-based soils that are perfect for crafting robust red wines with grippy tannins. These wines are made from the GSM blend (Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre grapes), a recipe that’s revered for producing highly expressive, complex reds, full of deep fruity flavours and peppery spice, with floral and herbaceous aromas. It’s the GSM structure and grippy tannins that are key in finding an alternative.
Love Châteauneuf-du-Pape? Try an Aussie or French GSM blend.
GSM may have originated in the Côtes du Rhône region, but it’s a grape combination that’s now used in other parts of the world. Of course, you’ll find other GSM blends elsewhere in France, which will possess many of the qualities we love in Châteauneuf-du-Pape at a fraction of the price, but we’d recommend exploring Australia. The Tall Gum Reserve Grenache Shiraz Mataro from South Australia is an expertly crafted, robust red displaying succulent flavours of wild strawberry, black fruits and spice. It even offers hints of violet on the nose, a scent that’s famously associated with Châteauneuf-du-Pape!
Burgundy Grand Crus are some of the most expensive and elite wines in the world. When we think of fine French wine, a red from Burgundy is the first to spring to mind for many of us, with some bottles being priced in the thousands. Whether you like a fruity Beaujolais, a floral Fleurie or a velvety Volnay, we’ve got a low cost option that’ll remind you of your favourite luxury red.
Red wine from the Burgundy region is highly regarded for its elegance and sophisticated style. It’s always made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes, with the only exception being reds produced in the Beaujolais AOC where Gamay is king of the vineyard. Both Pinot Noir and Gamay are incredibly sensitive, thin-skinned grapes that are notoriously difficult to cultivate, yet the Burgundy region naturally possesses the magic formula for this high maintenance fruit to flourish. This goes some way to explain the premium price tag, yet you don’t always have to pay big bucks for a pristine Pinot Noir if you know other regions that share a similar climate.
Big fan of Bourgogne or Beaujolais? Try German Pinot Noir.
Pinot Noir made in German wine regions (where it is called Spätburgunder) tends to be of outstanding quality thanks to the cool, wet climate that this fussy grape variety adores. With an annual output that’s only just behind France’s, German Pinot Noir has garnered quite the reputation in recent years, admired for its freshness, gentle tannins, crisp acidity and graceful body. The Lergenmuller Pinot Noir Trocken is a particularly good Burgundian style Pinot from Pfalz, with a fresh and fruit-driven palate that’s everything you’d look for in a Bourgogne.
Lergenmuller Pinot Noir Trocken – £13.99
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more prestigious New World white than the mighty Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. This jewel in the crown of New Zealand wine has been a firm favourite for many white wine drinkers since the 1980s, and it’s a distinct style of Sauvignon Blanc that we’ve all come to associate with this part of the world.
The Marlborough wine region is relatively cool with plenty of sunshine, making it ideal for growing white grapes. The lower temperatures allow for acidic grapes, while the ample sunlight enables lots of fruity flavours to develop. It’s a wonderful environment for Sauvignon Blanc to really come alive and develop a powerful palate of palpable acidity and pronounced tropical and green fruit flavours. This is exactly why we love Marlborough Sauvignon and are happy to pay a little more money for it, but there are bargains to be had if you’re willing to move away from Marlborough.
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc your go-to thing? Try a Chilean or South African Sauvignon Blanc.
While Marlborough grabs all the headlines, there are other cooler climate, New World regions such as Chile that offer very similar styles of Sauvignon at a much lower price. The unexpected alternative, however, comes from South Africa. While not a cool climate country, vineyards here are irrigated to keep the vines hydrated and cool, allowing winemakers to produce surprisingly good NZ Sauvignon alternatives. Billy Bosch Reserve Sauvignon Blanc from the fabulous Paarl region is fresh, fruity and almost indistinguishable from NZ Savvy B.
Billy Bosch Reserve Sauvignon Blanc – £10.99
Staying on the topic of premium Sauvignon Blanc, we move back to French pastures to the “king of the hill” of the illustrious Loire Valley. Sancerre is an appellation that’s synonymous with quality, famed for its delicate white wines that exude class. The signature Sancerre style of wine feels like one of a kind, but there are more affordable fine wine alternatives just down the valley.
The Loire region is one of the largest in France, stretching the country’s longest river all the way to its estuary on the Atlantic Ocean. Often referred to as the “Garden of France”, Loire Valley is a patchwork of thriving vineyards and luscious landscapes. What makes Sancerre so special is that it’s one of the finest examples of Loire wine, offering trademark freshness, perfumed aromas and rich, layered flavours of stone fruit, citrus, gooseberry, grass and flint. Sancerre may be the flagship appellation, but its neighbouring regions benefit from the same climate and similar terroir.
Got a soft spot for Sancerre? Try a lesser-known Loire Sauvignon Blanc.
If you browse for Loire Sauvignon Blanc that’s made outside of Sancerre, you’ll find absolute gems like the Seraph Sauvignon Blanc. Refined and refreshing, this lovely drop is aromatic and expressive with a classic Sancerre-like taste. Chill it down and enjoy a glass with some decadent festive food and you might just forget you’re not sipping Sancerre.
Seraph Sauvignon Blanc – £11.99
If you’re a fan of that rich, powerful Italian red wine style then you’ll know it doesn’t get more plush than an Amarone. Balancing high alcohol and high acidity with an alluring palate of sour black cherry, plum, fig, chocolate, brown sugar and smoke, a single bottle of this fine Italian vino can fetch over a thousand euros!
The Veneto region, with all of its romance and Italian charm, is the home of this ravishing red. You won’t find Amarone produced anywhere else, although you will find plenty of other Italian red wines that have been inspired by it. Amarone gets its gloriously full body and striking palate from the partially dried Corvina grapes it’s made from, which provide intensity due to the water being evaporated from the fruit before fermentation. It means the grapes resemble raisins and have a much higher natural sugar concentration than plump grapes. This winemaking process is essential in finding affordable Amarone alternatives.
Adore an Amarone? Try other appassimento / appassito method wines.
The key to finding affordable Amarone alternatives is to look for other Italian red vino that’s made using dried or partially dried grapes (a method known as appassimento or appassito). You’ll still get that decadent palate of supercharged flavours that you get in Amarone, it’ll just be made with different grape varieties and in lesser known areas of Italy. The Baciato Appassimento Negroamaro is a beautiful dried grape wine that gives Amarone a run for its money (and at a bargain price, too!).
Baciato Appassimento Negroamaro – £14.99
How could we have an article about affordable fine wine alternatives and not talk about the most expensive sparkling wine in the world? Champagne is the OG bubbly, influencing winemaking methods since its invention in the late 1600s by legendary monk Dom Pérignon. Lively and exciting, it was the first wine to be produced in a way that deliberately encouraged an effervescent body.
Being the first of its kind, and made using such lengthy, meticulous methods, Champagne will forever be held in extremely high esteem. That classic Champagne blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes, along with the traditional production method of trapping air bubbles in individual bottles rather than large steel tanks, are what give Champers all of its complex characteristics that we love. So, when it comes to seeking out affordable alternatives, you want to look for fizz that uses the same grape blend and same traditional winemaking method.
Crazy for Cristal? Try a classy Crémant.
Crémant is a more budget-friendly version of your favourite golden fizz. It’s made using the same combination of grapes and the traditional production method, but it’s produced elsewhere in France (outside the boundaries of the Champagne region). It’s still incredibly good quality, with that crisp acidity, delicious bready / brioche notes and persistent mousse, yet considerably less money. We can’t recommend Julien Barthazac Crémant de Bordeaux highly enough.
Julien Barthazac Crémant de Bordeaux – £14.99
Chablis is the white wine of choice if you’re after something a bit special. A cool climate district in north Burgundy, Chablis is part of one of France’s most reputable regions, benefitting from ancient, limestone terroir that enriches its vineyards. What many people don’t realise, however, is that this delicate, mineral white is actually made from a grape some wine drinkers wouldn’t normally go near for being too fruity… and that’s Chardonnay!
Chablis is somewhat of a secret Chardonnay, offering a refined and subtle palate that isn’t commonly associated with such a grape variety. The Burgundy terroir, of course, has a lot to do with this, but the other major influence is Burgundy’s climate. Cooler temperatures (and all the weather that comes with that) create grapes that are thin-skinned, gently flavoured and highly acidic, which produce crisp, light-bodied, low alcohol wines. They allow for sophisticated nuances such as minerality and salinity to be present in the wine, along with zestier fruit flavours.
Simply obsessed with Chablis? Try other cool climate Chardonnays.
Cool climate is key in your search for Chablis alternatives. The delightfully crisp De Martino Niebla Chardonnay is from Chile’s cool, coastal Casablanca Valley, offering a dry, refreshing palate thanks to its proximity to the sea. With its steely citrus undertones, light body and even lighter price tag, this is one very satisfying Chardonnay indeed.
De Martino Niebla Chardonnay – £13.99
The last in our list of luxury wines is the historic heavyweight that is Bordeaux. Famed for its enchanting châteaux, ancient Gothic architecture and earthy, tannic Cabernets, Bordeaux is the quintessential traditional French wine region. On the Left Bank you’ll find prized appellations like Pauillac, Margaux and Graves, while the Right Bank houses iconic names like St-Émilion and Pomerol, with the latter costing up to 4,000 euros for a single bottle!
As wonderful as Pomerol is, we can probably all agree that we don’t want to be shelling out our savings for it. The solution is to identify what defines a classic Bordeaux red wine, and to seek out other regions that produce a similar style of red. The great Bordeaux blend is a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and this produces a full-bodied, savoury style with mouth-drying tannins.
Bonkers about Bordeaux? Try South African or Lebanese Cabernet Merlot blend.
When it comes to affordable fine wine alternatives, this one is an absolute corker! The Vanguard Perdeberg Cabernet Merlot is a classic Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with distinct South African swagger. Displaying typical Bordeaux notes of blackcurrant, herbs and leafiness on the nose, this is a stylish, dry red wine that’s both generous in flavour and kind to your bank balance.
Vanguard Perdeberg Cabernet Merlot – £12.99
