Grocery Store Wines Have Come a Long Way. These Bottles Prove it.

• By WineBottleMag
• March 10, 2025
• Bottles Grocery Long Prove Store Wines
• With 0 comments

One of my favorite pastimes is perusing big box grocery stores, neighborhood bodegas, discount stores and anywhere that sells wine to see what they have and how much it costs. 

I’ve been buying wine for high-end Northern California restaurants for the past three decades. The last 18 of which I’ve been the wine director of San Francisco special occasion mainstay One Market Restaurant, where I’ve worked hard to create a list that speaks to everyone who walks through the doors. I feel it’s important to know: What do my customers have access to and is it the same as in the restaurant?  

Some of my interest comes down to business. A restaurant can’t compete with big stores because we don’t purchase nearly as much wine, which means each bottle tends to cost us more to buy.  

The rest comes down to enjoyment. I also love to see what respected brands end up on supermarket shelves—a movement that’s been growing astronomically in recent years. 

It’s now easier than ever to score a great bottle without a special trip to a wine shop. I have seen fantastic selections—my favorites are listed below—in my local California big box stores and many are available in similar outlets all around the country (though liquor sale laws obviously vary state to state).

Yet Another Pandemic Shift

There was a time when you would never think to pop six bottles of wine from your local grocery into your shopping cart. However, the Covid-19 pandemic brought better access to high-quality wines at competitive prices. 

Starting around mid-2020, I would go into my local Bay Area Grocery Outlet, Lucky Foods, Cosco, Trader Joes and Safeway stores to wade through the wine aisles because I did not want to open prized wines from my cellar to drink alone or possibly not finish. 

On one trip to Lucky’s Grocery, an Alberton’s subsidiary, I spotted a 2019 Bodega Garzon Tannat from Uruguay for $19.99. I felt a surge of immense joy. I had only had opportunities to sample it during wine-trade tastings and it’s usually only available in select restaurants. How in the world did that wine end up at my local supermarket? 

In my excitement, I initiated a conversation with another customer browsing the aisle, who also bought a bottle. (Yeah, I am the person who will help anyone pick out a wine anywhere I go. I can’t help it, especially if I see you looking quizzically at what’s on the shelf.) 

While these premium offerings are surging in availability, the quality of lesser-priced, mass-market brands has also improved.

Following in the footsteps of the Old World business model, where wineries sell off completed wines to big brands, American grape growers are increasingly doing the same.

This growing trend includes private label wines for retailers (which hit a record-breaking $271 billion in sales last year), control brands (which are owned, developed and produced by a supplier and sold exclusively to certain stores) and brands that buy completed wine from wineries and sell it under their own labels (like e-commerce Cameron Hughes Wine Club, for example).

Higher Quality for Less Money

While there are so many more options for wine-buyers on a budget due to the shifting market, most of the big name brands you see on supermarket shelves were specifically created with everyday drinking in mind. 

It’s a highly competitive category. To increase market share, brands have been upping the ante, producing better wines for less money. 

A number of factors have made this possible. 

One of the biggest has been the West Coast grape glut—there currently are more wine grapes planted than wineries need—which has decreased the value of the fruit. Mass brands have been able to buy better quality grapes for less money.

Another aspect of production that lowers cost is packaging. And the growing array of alternative packaging has been a boon to wine lovers who are trying to save money.

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A prime example is the improved quality of boxed wines. They cost less per liter to produce and the wine also lasts for several weeks in the fridge, reducing the pressure to polish off an entire bottle in a sitting. (They’re also fantastic by the pool or at the beach.)

Two boxed daytime sippers that immediately spring to mind are Bota Box’s Dry Rosé and Zinfandel from California. The 2023 Rosé is fresh, juicy, dry and ready to enjoy in the sun. The 2022 Zinfandel is a lively, bright, sumptuous example of old vine Zin with dark berries, plum and cardamom spice with medium weight on the palate. Definitely, a no brainer with smoked brisket and barbecue.  

On the other side of the boxed style spectrum, Kirkland Signature’s quaffable 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon, also from California, is an ideal sipper with a meal, like a grilled lamb loin chops with fresh spring vegetables. It reminds me of old-school classic California Cab with dark berries, dried herbs, cocoa and dry supple tannins. It doesn’t saturate the palate—you can keep eating and drinking until you’re satisfied.

Surprising Finds

Scoring these big name brand wines has been eye-opening to me. 

At Wine Enthusiast, we taste everything blind, an essential process that eliminates biases about the producer, the grower and the reviewers’ brand preferences. I’ve had some major surprises, such as the boxed wines mentioned above, in both tasting well-known single regions and less esteemed growing areas across the world.

While exhilarating to me, these surprises have caused other wine professionals to question my palate—and whether my scores are an honest and truthful assessment. 

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The wines in question are several well-known brands that regularly get the prized end cap of the grocery aisle or even their own dedicated stand near the checkout—prime spots for impulse purchases. At a recent tasting, these Tuesday night wines showed real promise and certainly punched well above their weight. 

I would much prefer an affordable bottle that someone could enjoy with family and friends anytime—without stressing about their bank account—than a well-regarded wine of less quality and intention. 

Below are some of my favorites discovered in the wilds of blind tastings from myself and other Wine Enthusiast reviewers.

Readily Available Grocery Store Wines

White and Rosé

Red Wine

Premium Wines on Supermarket Shelves (Sometimes)

Sparklers

Reds

More Affordable Wine Coverage

• Buying wine on a budget? Try these under $20 bottles of red.
• There’s also these affordable bottles of American wine, if you’re seeking a broader selection.
• California also just so happens to be the source of the year’s best affordable Sauvignon Blanc.
• We also rounded up the best Chardonnay for under $20.
• And the best American white wine under $20.

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