When I took my first gulp of Chapoutier Belleruche last Saturday night, I had an explosive coughing fit. Not due to any fault with the wine, which was as silkily delicious as ever; it was the revelation of the price which caused me to fear I was about to suffer a pulmonary embolism.

Family were visiting from Europe, and my brother-in-law, who works in the French wine trade, always arrives with a clinking bag containing a few vinous gems. The first bottle we pulled the cork from was the Belleruche.

Chapoutier wines are some of the ‘go-to guys’ of the wine trade. They tick so many boxes that they can be used in diverse situations. Good quality? That goes without saying. Broad range of styles? Red, whites and rosés from the length of the Rhône valley. Packaging? Classic French labels with modern clarity. Green credentials? Biodynamically farmed, with the full-on burying-a-cow-horn-filled-with-dung-during-a-full-moon treatment. Quirky story behind the wine? All Chapoutier labels are also written in Braille.

Belleruche falls under the Côtes-du-Rhône appellation, a sweeping classification that includes extremes of thin, insipid filth and rich, robust reds that deserve only the finest beef as an accompaniment, which explains why the region’s better producers try to create an individual brand name alongside the appellation monicker. Grenache and Syrah, the Rhône’s dominant red varietals, constitute the lion’s share of the Belleruche blend, and the rich, slightly smoky, black-fruit flavors and firm structure with its silky tannins evoke the gnarled old vines twisting out of the hot, stony Rhône soil. This is a wine that would be perfect with beef or pork that have been charred on the grill, and on a hot day giving it 15 minutes in the fridge will draw out a few gentle red fruit aromas and flavors.

Oh, I almost forgot, the price… Well in a culture of big-brands produced in quasi-factories by corporate behemoths, most of whose wines are over-confected, over-sweet, and essentially fruit juice for adults, you’d expect a moderately refined and complex wine from a mid-size, biodynamic, French producer to be coming in over $15, probably more. Which is why I choked when, having asked the price as I raised the glass to my lips, my brother-in-law shrugged and said, “$9.99″. And to take advantage of this utter steal of a price, check out Gotham Wines before it’s all gone.

The rule of thumb for red wine is usually to serve it at room temperature, which of course overlooks the fact that rooms often have different temperatures: I have a friend who basks in desert-style heat in his lounge all year round, while another removed his antiquated electric heaters three years ago and hasn’t got round to replacing them yet (which is why he ate Christmas dinner in his anorak last year). There are shelves packed with sommeliers’ guides and wine science that provide ideal temperatures for serving wine according to grape, region, vintage and proximity to the vernal equinox (joke) but here are the guidelines I follow at home: bigger, chewy reds with grainy tannins (richer Cabs and Merlots, Shiraz, heavier Italian reds etc) can be drunk at 60F to 63F (lower than you might expect, but this brings out the freshness of the wine’s fruit); lighter, fruitier reds (anything from delicate Beaujolais through to Pinot Noir, lighter Grenache, and various other unoaked wines) show their best side at 54F to 59F – the lighter the red wine, the more inclined I am to treat it like a white, particularly in summer.

If you’re really interested in exploring the effects of temperature on red wine (and possibly if your social life’s going through a rather quiet phase…) then try tasting three glasses of the same wine at different temperatures, say 54F, 62F and 68F. Having sampled the glasses alongside each other, you almost certainly won’t be drinking your red at the warmer end of ‘room temperature’ in the future.

If reds are generally served at a nebulous room temperature, then white wines are frequently stuck in the fridge for a few hours until they’re more chilled than George Clinton having an afternoon snooze by the pool. Serving white wines too cool mutes the fragrance and freshness that are the hallmark of so many vins blancs, delicate green fruit aromas and citrussy zestiness reduced to a bland, neutral ‘crispness’. You can use similar temperature principles for white wines as for reds: for the full-bodied whites, especially those with great dollops of vanilla oakiness or the firm structure of white Burgundies, use a higher temperature, say around 50F to 54F depending on just how rich the wine is. For refreshingly acidic Sauvignon Blanc, lighter Chardonnay, unoaked Chenin Blanc, or Riesling, drop the serving temperature to 45F to 47F. And if you’re serving Pinot Grigio, then hell, chill it as much as you want – a CIA-trained bloodhound would have trouble sniffing out aroma and flavor in most examples of this varietal.

The best way of gauging wine temperature is to use a wine thermometer. These start at about $10 and are available in plenty of wine stores, while Amazon also sell have a big range, including my (slightly pricey) favorite, the Menu Wine Thermometer.

And rosé? Well, that’s a whole blog in itself…

There are a couple of rules of thumb for summer drinks: one, tone down the alcohol content unless you want a dry mouth, thudding headache, and the possibility of a psychotic episode if booze is fused with sunstroke; and two, a drink sipped under a hot sun has to be lip-smackingly refreshing.

There is a drink that lets you observe these rules and also chucks a twist of decadence into the mix: moscato. Often derided in my home country of Britain as a sweet drink for teenage girls, in the hands of a half-decent winemaker moscato is an unmistakably adult drink, miles away from the over-syrupy sweetness of alcopops. It’s likely that the first sparkling wines ever drunk by our ancestors several millenia ago would have tasted similar to moscato – the simple fermentation techniques of Fred Flintstone aren’t too far from the gentle handling the grapes receive today. Unlike some of the elaborate conjuring found in many of today’s modern wineries – oak chips, microoxygenation, etc – moscato grapes are picked, crushed, pressed, fermented, and then fermentation is stopped when only half the sugar in the juice has been converted into alcohol. The wine is then quickly filtered and bottled.

The result? A gently sparkling – even foamy – wine with only 5 or 6% alcohol, and a delicate, grapey sweetness: this is pretty much the only wine that genuinely tastes of grapes. The bubbles add a thrill of hedonism, and the low alcohol level means you can guzzle it for long sun-drenched hours on a balcony or in the yard, munching on bowls of olives or, even better, chunks of cantaloupe or juicy tangerines.

One of Piedmont’s great vignerons, Giorgio Rivetti of La Spinetta (famous for their Albrecht Dürer rhino labels), makes a sublime Moscato d’Asti which does much to restore the somewhat battered international reputation of the “d’Asti” suffix. If most mass-produced sparkling Asti wines are noisy buzzing Fiats, this is a purring Bugatti, oozing refinement. It’s available at Morrell Wine on Rockefeller Plaza for $16.95.

Photo from www.marcarini.it

These days it seems like everyone is trying to figure out ways to save money. When it comes to wine, sometimes it’s smart to think inside of the box. Wait, I know what you are thinking and I am not talking about Franzia White Zinfandel or the atrocious Merlot usually served at art openings. There is a number of wonderful box wines out there that are a great way to save money without sacrificing quality or taste. Here are a few of my personal favorites. They are all available at Astor Wines and Spirits.

From The Tank, 3 liters $34.99 – Jenny and Francois Selections is a wine importing company that specializes in natural wines from France. Working with the Cotes du Rhone cooperative Estezargues, they have come up with a white and a red that are really incredible. The white is a blend of Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Bourboulenc and Viognier. It’s a big and rich white that has a permanent place in my fridge. The red is a classic, peppery Cotes du Rhone Blend of grenache, syrah and carignan.

Yellow+Blue, 1 liter $8.99 – Yellow and Blue imports Torrontes and Malbec from Argentina made from certified organic grapes. Matthew Cain, an importer based in Pennsylvania decided that bringing wine in a TetraPak or box was not only cheaper, but also better for the environment. The white wine made of 100% Torrontes is light and floral with a pleasant acidity, perfect for spring. The Malbec is medium bodied and slightly spicy with hints of plum and orange rind.

VRAC, 3 liters $26.99 – VRAC is a light and fruity Cotes du Rhone, perfect served with a slight chill in warmer weather. VRAC is a French term referring to something bought in bulk, appropriate for this larger format wine.

These wine are all a great deal and since they come in a box they have a much longer life span than bottled wines. The sizes they come in are also a draw as three liters correspond to four bottles at well under $10 a bottle.

Never underestimate French self-belief though. When the rest of the wine-making world gets over-excited about the latest über-trendy grape variety or a new bottle closure that will change life for wine consumers forever, the Gallic response is a laconic shrug of the shoulders followed by carrying on as before. And sometimes, that is exactly the right attitude. Sure, there are dozens of boring or poor quality French wines, especially at the inexpensive end of the market, while France has also been guilty of complacency in the face of the threat posed by fine wines produced in the New World, and much of the French wine industry needs modernization, particularly its marketing. But for many French winemakers, the motto is rightly ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.

One producer who thankfully has this outlook is Chateau Charron. Since the 18th century, this chateau has been producing red and white wines in Bordeaux’s Cotes de Blaye (Thrifty Gourmet Wine Tip: reds from the Cotes de Blaye and Cotes de Bourg are a great value-for-money alternative to their more famous neighbors St-Emilion and Pomerol). White Bordeaux, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, is less exalted than the world’s two great Sauvignon producing regions, the Loire Valley (Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé) and New Zealand, but has many wines worthy of acclaim.

Chateau Charron 2007 treads a path between the in-your-face fruit of Kiwi Sauvignons, and the minerally elegance of Sancerre. A hefty proportion of Semillon in the blend gives it a richness with flavors of mango and lime, while the Sauvignon Blanc gives it a blast of zesty citrus fruit and crisp acidity. This is a fine food-pairing wine – it’d be perfect with lightly spicy Thai or Chinese dishes, meaty fish like roast sea bass, or would be sublime to sip in the sunshine alongside a bowl of olives or smoked almonds. And the price? It’s a steal on sale at 67 Wine on the Upper West Side for $9.99, down from $11.99. Snap up this bargain, old-school classic while you can.

However, if you’re not feeling like shelling out the bucks for a meal or a bottle in a restaurant, you can always do your own wine tasting at home. There is a variety of very affordable Rioja wines out there. I spoke with Nathan Semler, wine consultant in New York and Barcelona native about his favorite varietals from his second home. Here are two of his favorite under $25 picks:

Rioja Vega Crianza 2005
One of Nathan’s favorite value wines from the region, this red is a classic expression of Rioja wines. It reveals vanilla and sweet oak overtones on the nose, a supple and elegant texture on the palate, and rounds out with a slightly spicy finish. Made in the Rioja Baja with 50% Tempranillo, 25% Mazuelo and 25% Garnacha, this is an extremely versatile wine that will please all palates. Retails around $15.

Bodegas Ostatu Rioja Blanco
Made with 90% Viura and 10% Malvasia, this is a fresh and zippy white from the Rioja Alavesa has a wonderful green apple feel to it.  A perfect, crispy complement to the warm days ahead. Retails around $14.

Paired with some pungent cheeses, fruits and charcuterie, either of these wines will make for a perfect evening treat.

Curious to try a Douro wine? PALESTRA Douro 2006 is a nice budget-friendly one to start with ­ — dry with a mercifully moderated alcohol level (13%). I served this cheap and lovely wine with a pureed potato, green bean and mint soup along with a roasted chicken rubbed with pimentao and garlic, and stuffed with an onion, pork and pimentao stuffing.

Tasting Notes

Eye: Very saturated purple/garnet color with dark rose at the rim.
Nose: Broad nose of licorice, cherry, red currants, tar, briar and a touch of brown spices.
Palate: Nicely balanced, fresh, but in no way simple. The acidity is right and with a hint of minerals and supple flavors of strawberry preserves.
Finish: Lingering truly “dry” finish.

The price tag of $7-ish makes Palestra Douro 2006 an excellent value!

Wine covers every shade from everyday quaffer through to decadent luxury, but during these dark days most of us are leaning towards the former category. But there’s no need to compromise on quality and drink wines that are more vinegar than Vouvray – if you want to make a deal then liquor stores will be all ears…

The broad rule is: never be afraid to negotiate discount when buying by the case. Cash flow is king in the wine trade. For wine-drinkers many liquor stores have an ageless visual appeal: scuffed timber floors, mosaics of colored labels, rows of dusty Port bottles and stacks of wooden claret crates. But the store owner just sees piles of money sitting on the shelves, money that needs to be freed up to pay bills and to buy more wine. And this need to generate cash means that your local wine merchant may be more open to negotiating prices than you think.

Street-smart wine drinkers look for bin-ends – the last few bottles or cases of certain wines or vintages – to pick up bargains. These wines may once have been wildly popular, but whatever’s left is taking up valuable space that could be used for “The Next Big Thing In Wine” to freshen the store and tempt customers. Bin-end wines usually have good markdowns, but there are three categories where there is extra room for negotiation.

Firstly, wines inappropriate for a coming season. No store wants to be sitting on a pile of heavily tannic red wines when 80 degree weather is just around the corner, and likewise light, crisp whites aren’t too soothing on numbingly cold winter nights; you can bet there’ll be one or two big overstocks at the start of each season. You’ll have to store the wine until the right weather arrives, but there’s a lot of money to be saved.

Secondly, wines that need to be drunk young; whites such as Pinot Grigio and a few reds (for example, some Beaujolais) need to be drunk within two years of bottling otherwise the quality can swiftly decline, or ‘fall off a cliff’ in wine-speak.

Lastly, great wines that are just hard to sell. These will usually be from an obscure producer or made of bizarre grape varieties and haven’t had a rave review from Robert Parker to kickstart sales. Wine merchants are as prone to impulse-buying as the rest of us: a $25 Mourvedre-Carignan blend created on a remote French hill by a mute albino hermit has an evocative story and was sublime at the trade tasting, but it’s hellishly difficult to sell. All liquor stores owners have products that they bought on a whim, slowly regretted and are desperate to sell; there are deep discounts available on these wines.

The key to identifying the wines in each of these categories is simply to ask questions. If there’s a bottle of an unusual wine open for customer tasting and you like it, ask how it’s selling and how many bottles are available – you’ll quickly know how tricky it is to sell, and whether you can make an offer. Similarly, if summer’s heating up, ask which rich, heavy reds are in stock in large quantities for immediate purchase.

Talk to your wine merchant whenever you go in the store. They’re often smart, engaging people, and they have a stack of funny stories – after all, they spend most of their lives surrounded by bottles of wine, and good times usually follow the popping of a cork. The better you know them, the more you’ll get the first chance to buy decent bin-ends, and the more they’ll be amenable to a deal.