Top 9 Cheap Red Wines

My husband and I drink a lot of red wine. While we don't claim to be experts, my husband is a French native, and I dabble in gourmet cooking; so our wine palates are not mediocre. In our travels, we have sampled the best of the best. We've dined, wined, in the finest places. We are, however - like most now - on a budget, and far from wine snobbery.

Some Sommeliers (credentialed wine experts) will tell you that some of these wines are not fit for your baby lamb you've just flown in from New Zealand. That's probably true. But for the rest of us meatloaf pushers with children and a hefty mortgage, give these a try. Experts are overrated. Go with what tastes good! For you, and your everyday food. Taste is personal. No expert can tell you what tastes good in your mouth - but I think these are definitely worth drinking with good food.

Assuming you have a Trader Joe's or a discount liquor store near you, the wines listed here can be found for under $9 a bottle! I'll change them periodically depending on availability or vintage (can be drastically different from one year to the next). These are GOOD wines for your everyday dinners. No matter what the snobs say.

Napa River Cabernet Sauvignon - Excellent choice for chicken dishes. Fruity and complimentary for most poultry, and I prefer it when we cook French dishes. My opinion: its hard to go wrong with anything from the Napa Valley.

What? Wine from South Africa you ask? This is a great new wine we discovered that holds up excellently with full-flavored, more exotic dishes such as Indian or Mediterranean cuisine. Has bold, interesting flavors that made us want to sip again and again to discern the taste and it's origin.

This is an Australian wine, and it's just our favorite, cheap, non-committal red drinking wine. When we're barbequeing, this is perfect. When we're entertaining, everyone likes it. It comes in a large 1.5 liter bottle, so it's the one we keep on the counter for when we get home from work and want a snack and a glass of wine.

This is my first lens - I hope you like it! Feedback is appreciated, just drop me a "blurb" below. We're also always looking for new wines to try - so if you want to recommend one that's available for under $9, please submit it and we'll give it a go!

Check out my brand new lens, too (http://www.squidoo.com/How-to-Keep-Your-Husband).

If you're a busy parent, a foodie, or want to get more organized at home - you might take a peek at some other stuff I'm doing. There's a new website, (www.onestopmommyshop.com), that is helping me a lot. It's for moms like me, who tend to be preoccupied with being the best mom, the best wife, the best cook, the best... well, whatever. I'm learning- through God's great gift (my children) how to be calmer, how to be more satisfied, more flexible, less stressed, less perfect. I'm taking my other gifts from God, and sharing them with others. That means free recipes, organizational help for your house, and fun ideas for your family. It's easy stuff, so no stress. I have great recipes to share, good principles, and the website is a focus on what's important. So pour yourself a glass of cheap red wine and take a peek a the links!