The wine has either gone off or you bought a cheap bottle of wine. If your wine is definitely not expired, then there are a lot of different ways that you can give your inexpensive wine a better flavor.
The best way to enjoy wine is chilled, and if you have a bad wine, then just add some ice. This dilutes the wine, removing the strong flavor, and it also cools its temperature.
While many wine drinkers don’t like ice in their wine, it’s a good idea to salvage a bad tasting wine.
For some extra flavor, you can also drop some frozen grapes into your wine.
Mix Bad Wine With Good Wine
Mixing your cheap wine with a good quality wine can definitely improve the taste of the wine.
It’s essential that you put two like wines together, so don’t mix chardonnay with a pinot grigio. Instead, blend a good quality chardonnay with the bad chardonnay.
This applies to all types of wines, including red, white and fortified wines.
Blending wines in this way does not only make your cheap wine taste better but you can also create your own personal wine flavor.
Drink From The Right Sized Glass
When it comes to enjoying your drink in the best way, it’s important that you use the right kind of glass as well as a glass with the right size.
The wine aroma can expand only with a wine glass that is shaped in the right way. For example, big and wide wine glasses are ideal for red wine.
You should make sure that the glass is filled only up to the widest point. This will allow for the best aeration giving you a wonderful aroma of your wine.
White wines should be enjoyed in a slender wine glass with a small rim. This reduces aeration and keeps the white wine flavor at its best.
Saying this, for any type of wine, you should only pour a little bit of wine into the glass. This allows the contents to breathe and you get the ideal wine aroma.
Add A Little Sugar To Acidic Wines
If your wine tastes acidic or a little thin, then you can add some sweetness to it by sprinkling in some sugar.
Only add a little at a time into your glass as you don’t want the wine to be too sweet.
You can use just granulated sugar but also syrup, Stevia and unfermented grape juice work very well.
Pair Your Wine With Cheese
It’s commonly known that cheese is a great companion for wine because it can cover up some of the strong tastes in wine.
Cheese works particularly well with red wine where it harmonizes some of the sharp flavors.
Combine Red Wine With Mushrooms
Protein and fat neutralize rough tannins in wine, so if you have a tannin-heavy red wine, then try pairing it with something fatty, such as cheese or mushrooms.
Mushrooms are said to be particularly good with red wine because they are a great source of protein.
Add Fruit To Your Wine
Fresh fruit contains a lot of natural sugar, so there is no better way to sweeten a bitter wine than adding in some berries, grapes or other fruits.
You can make a tasty sangria with any of your favorite fruit. Especially strawberries and apples can create a nice fruity flavor.
Aerate Your Wine
Although it isn’t always good to expose wine to oxygen, air can help to tiler out the graininess in the wine.
That’s the reason why many people gently move their wine glass a few times before they take a sip.
Budget-friendly wines are usually quite strong, so it can be good to let them breathe for a while.
You can either allow the wine to sit for some time before you serve it or you can decant it into a decanter.
Alternatively, you can also buy a wine aerator but they are more expensive, so they are usually only worth the money if you drink a little more wine.
Add Some Soda
Adding a little fizz or bubbles to your wine can help to reduce the tartness.
Although many wine connoisseurs would not ever think of adding soda to a good wine, it can transform the flavor of a cheap wine.
Plus, adding lemonades and sodas to wine is very common in other countries, such as Spain.
Mull Your Wine
There is nothing better than a glass of comforting mulled wine in the cold winter months.
While you may want to enjoy your wine chilled in the summer, hot wine can add a twist to how you drink your wine.
Add some sugar and spices, and your wine will taste super delicious when hot.
Drop A Copper Coin Into Your Wine
This tip doesn’t work with every cheap budget wine but if your wine smells like rotten eggs, then add a copper coin into the wine glass can help to take the worst flavors away.
The bad smells are created by some sulfur-related compounds, and the copper in the coin resolves them.
Add Wine To Your Chocolate Cake
If you really feel like you cannot drink your wine, then it’s a good idea to add it into your baked goods.
As many cakes contain plenty of sugar, chocolate, whipped cream and other flavors, the wine won’t taste as tangy then.
Plus, with a bit of extra wine, you can add an extra boozy shot to your cake or dessert.
Final Thoughts
There are so many different ways to make a bad wine taste better.
From simply chilling your wine to drinking the wine with the right food, even a bad or cheap wine can taste delicious.
Hi, I’m Rachel Edwards and I enjoy a glass of wine as much as the rest of them. Well, maybe slightly more.
My parents own a vineyard in Napa Valley and were constantly making new wines for the locals to try. Their brand was one of the most popular across the US at one point. My sister and I loved running up and down the vines, picking the grapes for our parents, and even helping with the ideas.
Since moving out of the family home, my love for wine has not waivered - in fact, I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur. I’m always the one to bring the wine to our girly gatherings, family meals, and picnics - let me know what we’re doing, and I’ll supply the goods.
