🍷12 Great Wines For Under $12🍷

Ever find yourself overwhelmed by choices when buying wine? This list may help! Many of these wines have become regular purchases for me, you really don't have to break the bank to get a great bottle of wine.

Jacob's Creek Sparkling Brut (750mL), $11
It’s time to re-train your brain on Australian wine. It’s not all Shiraz and kangaroos. This bubbly is a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, two varieties that produce some sick high-end Aussie wines. It offers bright citrus and mineral notes.

Franz Etz 2012 Grüner Veltliner (1L), $12
No one can pronounce this grape, but you can: Grew-ner-velt-leen-er. This international white delivers more than just stone fruit and bright minerality: it has a twist top, is low in alcohol (perfect for pint-sized pours), and boasts “perky acidity”.

Yalumba 2012 Y Series Viognier (750mL), $11
You've never tasted Chinese food until you've paired it with this Viognier. This wine has candied-ginger and honey-suckle notes.

Anjos de Portugal 2012 Vinho Verde (750mL), $10
Wait, Portugal has been making wines other than Porto for the last 4,000yrs?? Yes, captain. Vinho Verde makes a light, lively, straw-colored, citrusy, and crisp white. This one is perfect as an aperitif -- consider it your Spring porch-pounder.

Mark West Pinot Noir (750mL) (Any vintage), $9-$12
This is the all-purpose, all-American, budget-buddy red wine -- medium bodied with bright red-cherry and sweet oak flavors, it is superbly tangy alongside herb-seasoned rack of lamb, and has a touch of earthiness, good with quinoa salad or stew!

Atteca 2009 Garnacha de Fuego Old Vine (750mL), $9-$12
This wine is so sexy -- layered with juicy black and red berry flavors...mmmm!

Côtes du Rhône 2012 "Rive Droite, Rive Gauche" (750mL), $8-$11
This plush and spicy red is produced by Les Vignerons D’ Estézargues, a co-op known for making natural wines. It’s a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault, sourced from the right (droite) and left (gauche) banks of the Rhone R

Las Rocas 2009 Garnacha (750mL), $11-$12
“Hemingway loved this wine,” you tell an intimate gathering at the party. Grenache (or Garnacha, as it is called in Spain) comes from 80yr-old vines that produce tiny berries packed with flavor and a fresh, juicy wine of dark cherry, anise, and savory notes.

Clos Siguier 2011 Cahors (750mL), $10-$12
Show up to the next party you're invited to with this French gem and make sure to tell everyone: “It’s the best Malbec from France, earthy and fruity, and the French have been growing Malbec for centuries, long before Argentinian winemakers.

Alamos 2011 Malbec (750mL), $9-$12.
Anyone who bashes Argentine Malbec is an amateur and a traitor to wine connoisseurs. Alamos’ grapes are planted in the foothills of the Andes, as high as 5,000ft above sea level. The wine is full bodied and juicy with raspberry, mocha, and sweet spice notes.

Goats do Roam 2013 Red Table Wine (750mL), $9-$11
The 2013 vintage is all Fair Trade Certified grapes -- a blend of Shiraz, Mourvedre, Grenache, Cinsault, Carignan, and some grape called Durif, fermented with yeasts from the Rhône Valley.

Crosby 2010 Cab Sauv (750mL), $9-$11
The guy who proclaims that there are no good California Cabs under $20 is about to be kicked in the mouth with intense blackberry, plum, and black currant flavors. Let this Cab serve as a reminder of where you began once you start dropping Benjamins on cult Cabs.