In the past few years, it’s become increasingly difficult to find a good bottle of Northwest wine for $15 or less.
Part of this is because the costs of running a winery and growing grapes continue to rise, and that means crafting an inexpensive wine is harder. The Northwest doesn’t grow a lot of high-production, low-quality grapes, for which California’s Central Valley is often known. In that area of California, it’s not unusual to see grapes for under $300 a ton. In Washington, white wine grapes might drop below $700.
In other words, really inexpensive wine – like that which comes in a box or jug – just doesn’t pencil out here in the Northwest.
However, we keep a keen eye out for good to great wines that drop to that magical price range of $15 or less. Here are 15 examples from Washington, Oregon and Idaho that we’ve tasted in the past several weeks.
Thank you for the info on $15 and under wines. I’ve been a red wine fan for most of my adult life and now that I’m retired I must be frugal with wine costs. I appreciate the information, especially because I want to support Washington wines.
Mike, thanks for the note. These are simply some of the wines we’ve tasted in recent weeks. Look for brands such as Columbia Crest, 14 Hands, Washington Hills, Waterbrook and Hogue and you’ll find a fair number of wines in that nice price range (reds and whites).