Best Cheap Wine: 8 Critic-Rated Bottles Under $15

The best cheap wine doesn’t have to taste cheap. Plenty of bottles under $15 earn 88 to 91 points from professional critics, the same scores many $30 wines get. Our top picks are Hahn Cabernet Sauvignon 2024 (91 points, about $13 to $14) and Borsao Garnacha 2024 (90 points, about $9 to $11) for red, and Chateau Ste. Michelle’s 2024 Columbia Valley Sauvignon Blanc (90 points, about $11 to $15) for white. Below you’ll find eight bottles across the main styles, and the simple checks we use to separate good cheap wine from the rest.

How we picked

We don’t taste the wines ourselves. Every bottle on this page has a published professional score for the vintage we name and a typical US shelf price that we checked at two or more retailers in October 2026. We then applied the thresholds in our Blue Book Value method:

Critic score	Great Value at	Good Value at
90 to 92	$20 or less	$30 or less
88 to 89	$15 or less	$20 or less
85 to 87	$10 or less	$14 or less

For this page we added one more rule: the wine has to sell for about $15 or less at the stores we checked. Every pick below clears its threshold, so all eight are Great Values. All scores come from Wine Enthusiast, which says it tastes every wine in its Buying Guide blind, and, except for the Casal Garcia, each wine has only this one professional score that we could confirm for its vintage.

The best cheap wine at a glance

Wine	Style	Critic score	Typical price (Oct 2026)	Verdict
Hahn Cabernet Sauvignon 2024 (California)	Full red	91	about $13–$14	Great Value
Borsao Garnacha 2024 (Campo de Borja, Spain)	Juicy red	90	about $9–$11	Great Value
Bogle Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 (California)	Full red	90	about $9–$10	Great Value
Mark West Pinot Noir 2024 (California)	Light red	90	about $11–$13	Great Value
Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2024	Crisp white	90	about $11–$15	Great Value
Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling 2024 (Columbia Valley)	Aromatic white	89	about $11–$14	Great Value
Robert Mondavi Private Selection Chardonnay 2024 (California)	Rich white	88	about $8–$10	Great Value
Casal Garcia Vinho Verde NV (Portugal)	Light, slightly fizzy white	87 and 85 (median 86)	about $9–$10	Great Value

Scores are Wine Enthusiast’s, on a 100-point scale. NV means non-vintage, a blend of more than one year.

Best cheap red wine

Hahn Cabernet Sauvignon 2024

• Score: 91 points, Wine Enthusiast (July 2026 issue).
• Price: about $13 to $14, checked October 2026 ($13.33 at Lisa’s Liquor Barn and $12.99 at Marketview Liquor, both for the 2024; $13.99 at Binny’s).
• Verdict: Great Value.

Wine Enthusiast’s reviewer describes an opulent Cabernet with baked strawberry, raspberry and spice, then cherry and pomegranate with grippy tannins (the drying, mouth-coating feel that comes from grape skins). Our pick for the best cheap wine overall: it has the highest score on this page and still costs well under $15. Serve it with burgers, steak or a mushroom pizza.

Borsao Garnacha 2024

• Score: 90 points, Wine Enthusiast (April 2026 issue), listed there as the Selección Garnacha.
• Price: about $9 to $11, checked October 2026 ($8.99 at Marketview Liquor for the 2024, $10.99 list price at Wine Library for the 2024, $9.99 regular price at Binny’s).
• Verdict: Great Value.

The reviewer found a fruit-forward, juicy Spanish Garnacha (Grenache) with spiced red cherry and bramble, and fine-grained tannins. It is softer than the Cabernets here and easy to drink on its own. We’d keep a few bottles around for pizza, tacos and weeknight pasta.

Bogle Cabernet Sauvignon 2023

• Score: 90 points, Wine Enthusiast (May 2026 issue).
• Price: about $9 to $10, checked October 2026 ($9.99 at Lisa’s Liquor Barn for the 2023, $8.99 regular price at Binny’s).
• Verdict: Great Value.

The reviewer describes black plum, licorice and vanilla, followed by blackberry, dried herbs and bittersweet chocolate. It is a full, ripe red at 14.5% alcohol and one of the cheapest 90-point Cabernets we found. Try it with barbecue ribs or meatloaf. For more bottles under $10, see our best wine under $10.

Mark West Pinot Noir 2024

• Score: 90 points, Wine Enthusiast (October 2026 issue).
• Price: about $11 to $13, checked October 2026 ($10.79 at PJ Wine and $12.95 regular price at BuyWinesOnline, both for the 2024; $11.99 regular price at Binny’s).
• Verdict: Great Value.

Pinot Noir is lighter in body and tannin than Cabernet, which makes it the red to choose for fish and poultry. Wine Enthusiast’s reviewer found Bing cherry, ripe plum, citrus peel and sweet oak, then plum, pomegranate, strawberry and spice with smooth tannins. Pour it with salmon, roast chicken or turkey. Our best Pinot Noir under $20 list has three more.

Best cheap white wine

Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2024

• Score: 90 points, Wine Enthusiast (July 2026 issue).
• Price: about $11 to $15, checked October 2026 ($14.95 at BuyWinesOnline for the 2024, $10.99 at Binny’s). One online shop asks $18.95, so compare before you buy.
• Verdict: Great Value.

The reviewer calls it another excellent white value from the producer’s 2024 vintage, with passion fruit, a nutty macadamia note, ginger and lemon. It is dry and crisp. Our pick for white: chill it well and serve it with goat cheese, fish tacos or a big salad.

Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling 2024

• Score: 89 points, Wine Enthusiast (December 2025 issue).
• Price: about $11 to $14, checked October 2026 ($13.95 regular price at BuyWinesOnline for the 2024, $10.99 at Binny’s).
• Verdict: Great Value.

The reviewer compares the aroma to lemon-drop candy, with dried mango alongside. Riesling is an aromatic white grape with naturally fresh acidity, which makes it a strong match for spicy food: Thai curry, Sichuan takeout or hot wings. At 12% alcohol it is also lighter than most whites. If you want a clearly dry style, Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Dry Riesling 2024 scored 88 from Wine Enthusiast and costs about $11.

Robert Mondavi Private Selection Chardonnay 2024

• Score: 88 points, Wine Enthusiast (May 2026 issue).
• Price: about $8 to $10, checked October 2026 ($9.49 at Marketview Liquor for the 2024, $7.99 at Binny’s). Wine On Sale asks $12.95 for the 2024.
• Verdict: Great Value.

Chardonnay is the go-to for people who like a fuller white. The reviewer found green apple, lemon, toasty oak and honeysuckle, then white peach, nectarine and grapefruit zest. Note that the brand’s “Buttery Chardonnay” is a different wine, scored 87 from Wine Enthusiast. This one suits roast chicken, creamy pasta and grilled shrimp.

Casal Garcia Vinho Verde NV

• Scores: 87 points, Wine Enthusiast (July 2026 issue), and 85 points in an older Wine Enthusiast review quoted by Wine Library. Median: 86, so the 85 to 87 band applies.
• Price: about $9 to $10, checked October 2026 ($8.99 list price at Wine Library, $9.99 regular price at Binny’s).
• Verdict: Great Value.

Vinho Verde is a light, often slightly sparkling white from Portugal. Wine Enthusiast’s reviewer calls this one fun and easy, with kiwi, peach, citrus, apple and white flowers. At 9.5% alcohol it is the lightest wine on the page. In our view it is the best cheap wine for a hot afternoon, a picnic or a pitcher of white sangria.

Note: We didn’t find a sparkling wine that met our score threshold and sold for $15 or less at two stores in October 2026. The closest was Gruet Brut from New Mexico (89 points, about $17 to $18), which is in our best wine under $20 list.

Where cheap wine gives the best value

Some regions consistently give more score per dollar than others. These are the regions and styles where we see the most well-rated bottles under $15:

Region or style	What to expect	Example on this page
Spanish Garnacha (Campo de Borja)	Juicy red fruit, soft tannins	Borsao Garnacha 2024
California “California” or Central Coast appellations	Ripe, round reds and creamy whites	Hahn, Bogle, Mark West, Mondavi
Washington’s Columbia Valley	Bright whites and well-priced reds	Chateau Ste. Michelle
Portugal’s Vinho Verde	Light, zesty, low-alcohol whites	Casal Garcia
Argentine Malbec	Plush, dark-fruited reds	See our guide to Malbec wine

Famous names such as Napa Valley, Burgundy, Barolo and Champagne rarely appear at this price. In our view, when they do, you’re usually paying for the name on the label rather than for what’s in the bottle.

How to read the score on a shelf tag

Stores love to post scores, and they are useful if you read them carefully:

1. Find the publication. “90 points” with no source name is not much help. Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, James Suckling and Wine Advocate are the names you’ll see most.
2. Check the vintage. A score is for one vintage only. Tags often stay up after the next year’s wine arrives, and the new one can score very differently.
3. Compare with the price. Use the table above: 90 points at $14 is a much better deal than 90 points at $28.
4. Read the note, not only the number. The tasting note tells you if a wine is light or bold, dry or a little sweet, which matters more for your dinner than a point or two.

Our guide to wine ratings explains the 100-point scale and why critics sometimes disagree.

How to find more good-value wine

Buy widely distributed wines from value regions, check the vintage against the score, and compare prices between a liquor superstore, a grocery store and an online shop, since the same bottle can differ by several dollars. We recheck the prices on this page at least every three months and replace any pick that goes out of stock or past its threshold.