Best Wines Under $20 is about finding good wine at the lowest prices. We explore the outer reaches of the internet to find the sharpest prices, and we buy most of our wine online.
The worst places for buying wine are the bottle shops attached to Woolworths and Coles. Most of their sales are to people grabbing a bottle on their way home, after they’ve done their shopping. It’s the convenient thing to do. The supermarkets know that, and exploit that scenario. Just look at the simple table we’ve compiled:
| WINE | BWS | DM’s | Other |
| Franklin Tate Estates Chardonnay | $19 | $12 | |
| Domaines Astruc Chardonnay | $17 | $24 | |
| Petaluma White Label Chardonnay | $30 | $27 | $20 at WSD |
| Pikes Traditionale Riesling | $29 | $24 | $22 at Nicks |
| Heggies Eden Valley Riesling | $27 | $19 | |
| Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling 2022 | n.a. | $35 | $27 at Winestar |
| Squealing Pig Rosé | $15 | $20 | $14 at 1st Choice |
| Ninth Island Sparkling Rosé | $28 | $25 | $22 at Get Wines Direct, $17 at DM’s Carnes Hill |
| Seppelt Original Sparkling Shiraz NV | $25 | $20 | $18 at VC |
| Sieur d’Arques Cremant de Limoux | $27 | $18 | |
| Moët & Chandon Impérial Brut | $85 | $70 | $65 at WSD |
| Cow Bombie Shiraz | $18 | $12 | |
| Borsao Selección Grenache Blend | $22 | $17 | |
| Louis Latour Bourgogne Pinot Noir | $40 | $31 | |
| McWilliam’s 10 Year Old Grand Tawny | $34 | $28 | $25 at Coles |
As you can see, Woolworths screws us without mercy. It owns Dan Murphy’s and BWS. The cost of convenience is around 25 to 40%, as you can see. That’s 5 – 7 bucks for a bottle under $20, 10 bucks for under $40 bottles, and 20 bucks for fancy bubblies.
It’s outrageous, it’s daylight robbery. Al you have to is to drive around a few blocks and buy the same wines at Dan Murphy’s, and save a bundle.
And Dan Murphy’s doesn’t have the sharpest prices out there either, as it claims. And if we remove the wines above that are direct imports or made for DM’s, that becomes even more obvious.
To disguise this, Dan Murphy’s has been busy buying wineries and having wines made exclusively for them. The list is growing rapidly, and you can check it here: https://www.therealreview.com/who-makes-my-wine/.
The list is put together and updated by Huon Hooke and his team at The Real Review, a wonderful website that delivers on its promise: straight talk on wine.
The list starts with labels owned or imported by Coles, who owns 1st Choice Liquor, Vintage Cellars and LiquorLand. We’ll do a comparison of their prices in the near future.
If you don’t want to pay through the nose for your wine, grab 4 weeks of our BEST BUYS WEEKLY mailer for free here
Essential Reading: Online – The Smart Way to Buy Wine