Ray Isle (@islewine on Twitter) is Food & Wine's executive wine editor. We trust his every cork pop and decant – and the man can sniff out a bargain to boot. Take it away, Ray.
News broke this week, thanks to a report by a pair of Melbourne, Australia-based Morgan Stanley analysts, that we are on the verge of a global wine shortage of unprecedented proportions. Egad!
Being a wine critic, of course, this prediction chilled me to my very bones. Apparently, despite the fact that the world’s vineyards produce some 2.8 billion cases of wine each year, we want more than that. We’re a wine-crazed bunch, we humans.
But before the riots in the street start, I should also point out that several other financial institutions weighed in just the other day, more or less saying that Morgan Stanley’s report was so much hogwash (if you wash your hogs with wine, that is; not many people do, but it does make them an attractive purple color). These other financial experts note that wine production in 2013 is up, that we used to be swimming in a lake of surplus wine and now we are not (a good thing), and that all this vinous doom and gloom is mighty darn premature.
Not being an economist, I’m not going to tell you who’s right. But just in case a wine-shortage disaster is nigh, here are five great affordable wines to buy by the truckload, right now.
NV Canals Canals Classic Brut Cava ($15)
An affordable Spanish sparkling wine that offers much more complexity than you’d guess, it’s a great buy for holiday entertaining.
2012 Santiago Achaval Recuerdo Torrontés ($14)
An Argentinian white with the scent of peach blossoms and a nice citrusy kick, it’s made by one of the country’s top winemakers.
2012 Tasca d’Almerita Regaleali Bianco ($15)
A Sicilian classic, from one of the island’s oldest wine estates, it’s a crisp blend of three native Sicilian grapes—Inzolia, Catarratto and Grecanico—with a touch of Chardonnay as well.
2012 Antucura Malbec ($15)
From the Vista Flores section of Mendoza, this elegant Malbec has impressive balance and a velvety texture.
2011 Falesco Merlot ($15)
If you gave up on Merlot thanks to the movie Sideways, this lightly spicy red is a fine way to reacquaint yourself with the variety (it’s from the home estate of one of Italy’s star winemaking consultants, Riccardo Cotarella).
More from Food & Wine:
Where to Drink Wine Now
Fantastic Wine Shops
Top Fair Trade Products
Best Napa Wineries to Visit
Superb Riesling Pairings
Previously:
No whine shortage over wine shortage
Thirsty? There's a global wine shortage
5 Ways to Sex Up a Bargain Wine Bottle: Sommelier Belinda Chang
© 2011 American Express Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.
When times are good ppl drink. When times are bad they drink even more!
Only one source, I believe it was the analyst at Morgan Stanley who predicted a shortage. Everyone else in the industry say it is hog wash, there is plenty of wine available. In some areas even surpluses. Relax and pour yourself a glass.
Wine dumping due to low demand
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/australian-winery-to-dump-35m-down-the-drain-1.1354030
Shortage? What a bunch of bull!
I read reports of wineries dumping wine in Australia because of a surplus!
If you gave up on Merlot thanks to the movie Sideways....you're a sheeple fool who should go back to white zin or Gallo or mad dog or whatever. That movie whined (sorry) about how Merlot is "easy" to make – which, even if true, is all the more reason to like it – ie I can get a respectable bottle at a very inexpensive price. That's only bad if you're one of the countless pompous wine snobs of the world. And generally, it's a very good wine to have on hand.
That all said, I agree with those who said this is an odd list of wines to hoard – I'd want heavier, "redder reds," since they tend to age better, and being a confessed skinflint and not exactly rich, $15-20 is the MOST I ever pay for wine, not the least. Again writers here seem out of touch with the real world. Regardless, I'm not too worried about a wine shortage any time soon.
Right on. If anyone has any merlot, particularly Masetto, please feel free to donate to me.
sorry, not a wine connoisseur.but it sounds like one of the more elegant of the wines, especially if cost is of no consequence.but i must know what is the "two buck chuck"? how may i purchase a bottle/ box?
"Two buck chuck" is the nickname for Charles Schwab wines (google for more info). HIs wines initially sold for about $2 as I understand it, hence the nickname. Tend to go for around $4 now, which is still dirt cheap for a bottle of wine that is anything above terrible. His Chardonnay is one of the few Chards I ever cared for, actually, but the others I've tried I thought were not very good.
The name is Charles Shaw wines, not Charles Schwab.
Wine is grape juice – it isn`t necessary for my life – no more than baseball cards, expensive cigars, or slot machines.
I can live without it.
I'm sure we all can live without it, but it is nice to enjoy a glass or two of good wine.
Dear Sparky: wine isn't grape juice any more than barley is beer or flour is bread. I'm sorry you're so desperately fact challenged (and hope someone else is doing your grocery shopping). But thanks for all letting us know you don't like wine, we were all wondering.
Nice chemical burns on the pinot noir grape leaves in image number 3.
Grape leaves turn color in the fall. Like every other deciduous plant on the planet. What gave you the idea it was a chemical burn?
They forgot Maddog 20/20
My Favorite Wine.......is always...... the one in my glass.
Seriously? Hoard those drink-now wines? Zut alors, vous ettes mal a la bec!
Seems like the wine makers are starting to play the Oil game?
meh ... .grape juice
How much of these "hoard'-able wines were put here because of paid advertisement dollars? I get Three Wishes wines from Whole Foods for $3.79 and they're better than most $20 wines easily. That's not to say I can't appreciate a nice bottle when I see it, but "hoardable?" Come on...this is an advertisement, nothing more.
Going to look for this one now, thanks for the (unadvertised) tip...salud!
Two buck Chuck. Enough said...
I WILL DRINK NO WINE BEFORE IT'S TIME.
Not a single one of those wines will age well, and certainly not a single one of them is worth hoarding.
I've got a whole case o' 2 buck chuck–I'm good for November,
2 buck Chuck is our jam. Completely underrated.
If it isn't Boones Farm, it isn't fine wine.
with the transition in global climates, wine growing regions are fragile, a few degrees in a micro climate change and pfffst the grapes are toast. You had better start thinking scarcity thoughts around your favourite vineyards because there is astonishing uncertainty ahead, climate-wise. Especially for the short term wines like Beaujolais, and some fragile white varieties. I'm stashing Sauternes, since too dry or too wet, and they are gone!
Now I have to worry about global climate change impacting my wine. Unless we go into another mini ice age like in the 1700's the vines will be just fine. And if that happens we will do what they did then, go to the hard liquor.
As long as I can still get my hands on Chianti Classico I'll be okay...
Why would you hoard wine that isn't meant to be held for a long period of time? Who am I to judge, hoard all you like, I suppose, but it's up to you to drink it all in a reasonable time frame! If you're going to hoarde for the long term, make sure it's bottles that are meant to be held for a while. Chances are, that's not going to be a mid-teens priced bottle.
Really, we're really worried about a few wines? What a small world you live in if this even registers as a possible inconvenience.
BTW, look up the recipe for "Balloon Wine". Juice, yeast, sugar & water, 21 days and Voila! Wine!
You seem to have confused wine with vomit.
That's funny, but also true..
ummmm... okay, let's suppose there is a shortage and prices are going to get driven higher (not so unlikely)... "hoarding" the wines suggested is a waste of $$$, because they aren't "keepers" better to invest in something one can stash for 5+ years
We have enough wine in Texas to cover ANY Shortage. Even when All the Ports are shutdown because of Obama.
He said wine, not whine
That's what she said...
No one cares. There will always be other wine, there is like a million different brands from all over the world.
Exactly. Sounds like a ploy to up wine prices just as they lied and said one time there was going to be a gas shortage and uped the prices, the gas shortage never came and neither will a wine shortage., what a scam.