Make Cheap Wine Taste Better With An Easy Expert Tip

In the United States it can be hard to find wine that is both affordable and tasty. Most American winemakers charge more because they know American consumers associate higher prices with better wine. Plus wine in America is often forced to be sold through distributors, which tacks on even more.

On top of all of that, in the last few years with the rising costs of labor and supplies it's only become more expensive. However, wine-drinkers-on-a-budget can rejoice! There's a way to make your not-so-great cheap wine taste better and it's a rather tasty hack — drink it with salty food. In a recent interview with Daily Meal, Lexi Stephens, sommelier and owner of ' Lexi's Wine List ' tells us that "pairing wine with salty food can almost always make any wine taste at least a little better.



" It doesn't matter how Trader Joe's wine is so cheap when it pairs well with the saltiest of our favorite Trader Joe's snacks . Why does salt do the trick? So why does cheap wine taste better with a side of french fries or popcorn? "Salt tends to round out the wine's structure, toning down any harshness and overall making it taste smoother and more balanced," Lexi Stephens tells us. This means the tip works best with overly acidic wines, because it lessens our perception of the acidity and the astringency bitterness in the wine.

Parmesan is a great salty cheese to pair with your harsher acidic wines. Try our salty, savory parmesan shortbreads as a snack next time you break open a box of your bottom shelf Chardonnay. Adding a salt crust to your red meat will also help tone down the bitterness in that extra large, magnum-sized bottle of cheap merlot.

If you're just in the mood for sipping? Grab some salty potato chips. However, if you have a wine that needs a little more acidity to round it out, Stephens says "a squeeze of lemon might do the trick." She goes on to explain that "like salt, [added] acidity can generally help the wine taste more balanced.

" So take a sip and then choose which tip you'll use to bring more balance to your cheap wine..