How to cope with rising wine prices
As wine prices rise, how much are you willing to pay for a satisfying bottle? Is inflation driving you to buy less? What’s your survival strategy?
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The combination of tariffs, inflation, and competition that’s tightening the wine economy means this is not a trivial question. With $20 per bottle as my cutoff point for our Substack paid-subscription paywall, I still need to find the under-$20 delights that I’m comfortable recommending for our biweekly free edition.
This quest is still possible, with plenty of good wine still selling in the $15 to $20 range. Excellent funds under $15 are becoming a lot more difficult to score, however, although I’m delighted when I find one to share with you.
But the market keeps rising. How much? It depends on where you look. According to a January 2026 article in The Drinks Business, the average price of a bottle of U.S. wine sold direct from winery to consumer reached $56.78 last year, an 11% increase.
That unbelievable-sounding number should be placed in context, though: Consumers ordering directly from wineries are typically seeking high-end wines, often for cellaring. You’re not likely to hit the Internet to grab a bottle of something nice to enjoy with dinner tonight.
As with all statistics, everything depends on the question you ask. In another article last month, The Drinks Business – yes, the same publication – found that most American wine drinkers continue to buy bottles priced below $20.
That figure, based on a January 2026 survey conducted by wine research firm Wine Opinions, found that more than half of the 1,351 respondents in every age and gender group said they purchase wines priced under $20 on a weekly or monthly basis. Purchases of wines priced under $15 were particularly associated with younger consumers aged 21 to 39.
That’s a little more reassuring, but we’ve still come a long way from the days, not all that long ago, when there was plenty of good-value wine available for $10 or less.
This week’s Substack conversation: How much are you willing to pay for a satisfying bottle? Is inflation driving you to buy less? What is your survival strategy?
Here are a few of my tips for finding good-value wines at affordable price points:
Steer away from the most sought-after wine regions — Burgundy’s Côte d’Or, Bordeaux’s Haut Médoc, California’s Napa Valley, or Australia’s Barossa — in favor of neighboring regions that may boast similar geology and climate without the price tag.
Try less sought-after grapes. I love to explore, and tell you about, less familiar varieties from Aglianico to Refosco and beyond. This unsung treasures can reward you in taste and enjoyment.
Check the label for trustworthy importers like Kermit Lynch, Skurnik, Louis/Dressner, and many more. Even the wines at the low end of their price range are likely to be satisfying.
Rely on a trustworthy retailer. Good merchants will learn your preferences and offer good advice when you ask for it.
I put several of these tools to work for this week’s featured wine, Domaine Henri Perrusset Mâcon-Villages Chardonnay. It’s a delicious Burgundy Chardonnay that pays off in value because it’s from Mâcon, a large region well south of Bourgogne’s sought-after terroirs but still quite capable of producing first-rate Chardonnay. It’s an import from Berkeley’s Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, a distributor whose wines are almost invariably to my liking.
All that being said, this wine still commands a price in the middle $20s, which is a great value but still locks it behind our subscription paywall. Since I buy all the wines I review at retail and do not accept wine samples or other gratuities from the industry, I count on the support of paid subscribers to help cover the cost of the wines I review. Accordingly, I have to reserve wines that cost me more than about $20 behind our subscription paywall.
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