Wines at local grocery store

[Innkeeper]

Hi Rebling, and welcome to the Wine Board. There is very little "bad" wine on the market these days. The brands you mention are all owned by conglomerates with financial managers focused on the bottom line, and put out several lines of wines at different price points. The operative word might be safe. Where there is no risk, the resulting product frequently is plain jane.

There are other brands at your super market that we prefer (all other things being equal). These in include B&G, Ecco Domani (from the folks that brought you Turning Leaf), and the various Vins de Pays coming in recently from Southern France.

You should first find out what kinds of wine your like, and then try those from various producers at the same price point. That's how we started our adventure forty years ago.

There are some things you won't find, or will have to look hard for. For example in you do not like your chardonnay laced with oak, you would be lucky to find one without it on a typical super market shelf.