I've hunted for a Sancerre, Vouvray, or Samur that compares to the 5 euro bottles I found in the bargain bin of a Carrefour in central France, to no avail. I've also never found Israeli or Greek wines here (the Greek wines can be so-so, but Israeli wine is amazing) and the Spanish choices over here are often disappointing. Trying to find any real sake is even more difficult.
However, I think that if you bargain hunt and don't go for "favorite bottles" you should never have to spend more than $25 for a really good wine. If you divorce yourself from reviews and labels, and pick the wine solely based on region, varietal, grower/producer, and year, there are great wines all over the place, and you end up finding new things you never would have tried before.
However, I think that if you bargain hunt and don't go for "favorite bottles" you should never have to spend more than $25 for a really good wine. If you divorce yourself from reviews and labels, and pick the wine solely based on region, varietal, grower/producer, and year, there are great wines all over the place, and you end up finding new things you never would have tried before.