Why you should always buy £10 bottles of wine

It'll get you the best quality for the price

(Getty Images)

When it comes to buying wine in the supermarket, a lot of people are stumped.

Does quality always increase in line with price? How much should you spend for a decent bottle?

The answer may be incredibly simple - choose a bottle that costs £10.

According to former Waitrose boss Mark Price, this is the “sweet spot” that gets you the best balance between quality and price.

“A lot of the things you get in a bottle of wine are fixed prices,” he said. “The tax you pay in the UK is the same on every bottle, no matter how expensive.

“The cost of the glass is roughly the same and the transport is probably the same. So if you buy a bottle of wine for £5 the value of the wine inside that bottle is just under 50p. It’s actually 47p.”

His advice is to buy a bottle for a tenner because that means the quality of the wine inside is just under £3 - you’re paying twice as much for wine that’s six times the quality.

“If you go up to £20 a bottle the quality of the wine is about seven or eight pounds. So it is better, but you’re effectively doubled up,” Price says.

A bottle for £10 is the perfect mid-point.

But according to a study by drinks specialist Harpers, only seven per cent of people in the UK are willing to spend a tenner on a bottle of plonk, and over half wouldn’t spend more than £6 at the supermarket.

When it comes to wines costing upwards of £30 a bottle, Price says you’re paying for the chateau and taste.

Last year, top food critic Jay Rayner made headlines by recommending people always order the cheapest wines when dining out because restaurants hike the prices up so much, and you should just enjoy higher quality wines at home.

And when it comes to getting bang for your buck, it seems like £10 may be the ideal amount to spend.