7:15pm. “Am I allowed to buy grocery store wine?”

The short answer is obviously yes. Buying wine at the grocery store is quick, easy and less expensive than a trip to the wine store. Plus it’s fun to browse the aisles and pretend to discover some unknown hidden gem. For me, the final decision comes down to the label.

As it turns out affinity for a particular label isn’t the only way to pick out wine at Kroger (or Publix, or Costco for that matter). It turns out that there are experts that have a few guidelines for picking out the right bottle from the grocery store. We picked a few of their suggestions and put them to the test.

$10-$20 is the sweet spot.

Stating the obvious: you aren’t going to find fine wine at most grocery stores, but for everyday drinking, the experts promise that there are lots of options. They suggest that $10- $15 makes sense for an average dinner glass and $15-$20 is something you’d have every so often. Most grocery stores focus on the sub-$20 range we’ve got lots to chose from.

Look for similar looking labels or “copy-cats”.

This was my favorite piece of advice. I had no idea that Decoy and Duckhorn were the same producer. It seems that placing the similar looking bottles next to each other on the shelf, at different price points, is a marketing technique — which I have been falling for. The slightly higher price feels like the better bottle, when there actually may not be that much of a difference. I’d likely be just as happy with the less expensive Decoy.

Pay attention to the way you feel about a label.

It’s Ok to pick wine based on the label. If you have a favorite brand, chances are you’d like other wines with similar looking labels. Labels can be funny, sexual or even brooding. The darker labels like Apothecary try to communicate bold, red flavor. Full body red is a favorite in our house, so gravitating towards these types of labels makes sense.

Don’t skip the private label wines.

Just like generic products at the grocery store, big names make the same wine to be sold as private label. One sommelier we found suggested this specific wine from Costco as a go-to private label Bordeaux. The same can be said for wine at Trader Joe’s for sure.

“Is there a bird on the bottle?”

This was fun advice. Another expert swore by bottles with birds on them. As a rose drinker, this seems like a good recommendation as well!

In the end, for this week we went with the Decoy and the Juggernaut. Based on label (Juggernaut) and Duckhorn alternative (Decoy). Both under $20 and actually available at CVS. Of the two, the Decoy was definitely the winner for me.