Wine Fans Tell Tasting Table Which Brand They Think Is The Best Affordable Option - Exclusive Survey

Buying wine, for most people, is a function of balancing what we like with what we can afford. While we may throw down big bucks for a high-end special occasion bottle, folks who enjoy a glass of wine with dinner each evening can find that the tab for wine purchases adds up quickly. That's why having a go-to value brand is so important. Taste is inherently subjective, so finding your very own house wine may take a little trial and error.

In general, one way to keep costs down for practically everything is to buy in bulk. When you're talking about toilet paper, the only limit is how many rolls you can squirrel away in cabinets and closets, but wine is perishable. Unless you're investing in Bordeaux you plan to cellar for decades, most wine for daily drinking is meant to be consumed young, while it's still fresh and full of the flavors you want, per Wiens Family Cellars. 

Yes, there are ways to keep a bottle of wine fresh once you've opened it, but wine packaging has evolved to give consumers more options for keeping wine on hand longer without sacrificing freshness. Tasting Table wanted to know what our readers think is the best affordable wine brand at the grocery store, and the choices offer options packaged in everything from an individual glass-sized 187-milliliter bottle, to a standard 750-milliliter bottle, all the way up to 3 and 5-liter boxes. 

We offered five options to the 588 Tasting Table readers we surveyed: Barefoot, Franzia, Carlo Rossi, Sutter Home, and Woodbridge. The winner was clear, 36% of readers like to kick off their shoes and enjoy some Barefoot. Depending on where you buy it, a standard 750-milliliter bottle of Barefoot wine is a very reasonable $6.99. Barefoot's wines, most of which hail from California, offer something for pretty much anyone, from small bottles to bag-in-a-box that keeps wine fresher longer, and sweet, fruity options as well as dry reds and whites. Sutter Home, most famous for having created the very first white Zinfandel in 1972, pulled in 22% of the votes and is also roughly $7 for a standard bottle. 

There's a tie for third place between Carlo Rossi and Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi, both of which garnered roughly 15% of votes apiece. Carlo Rossi offers great value in its 4-liter jug priced as low as $16.99, while Woodbridge is slightly pricier at $16.49 for a 3-liter box. And finally is Franzia, which received about 12% of votes and recently topped the list for our survey about your favorite boxed wine brands. We can see why, because a 5-liter box of wine can be priced as low as $12.99, per Total Wine.