Preston Market pop-up bottle shop selling white wine for 99c a bottle

YOU can’t whine if this bottle of plonk doesn’t live up to grape expectations — its price is so ridiculously low, it could well be the cheapest drop in Melbourne.

Sam Bongiovanni with his super-cheap wine. Picture: David Smith

COULD this be the cheapest bottle of wine in Melbourne?

At 99c a pop, FirstCape’s crisp and fruity white wine is flying off the shelves at Preston pop-up shop Cheapa Wines.

Owner Sam Bongiovanni sells up to 1000 bottles a week of the 5.5 per cent wine.

“It’s such a saving. And it’s low alcohol, so I think I’m doing a good service to the community,” he said.

Cheapa Wines opened at Preston Market last year, selling Australian wine and beer for $1 to $10.

Typically pricey Rekorderlig cider sells for $3.99, with Merlots and Cab Savs priced around the $4 mark.

But it’s the FirstCape white that keeps customers coming back for more.

A Leader blind taste test carried out on Wednesday afternoon compared the 99c bottle with a $14 bottle of Koa Cove Sav Blanc.

Six out of seven tasters preferred the Koa Cove, with the one holdout claiming the cheaper wine tasted “fruity and light”.

One tester said she would drink the FirstCape “with her morning breakfast cereal”.

Whatever the reviews, Mr Bongiovanni is in no danger of running out of FirstCape, with an order of 46,000 bottles.

He said the key to success in the tough world of retail was simple — stick to what you do best.

“Small independents, unless they specialise in certain products, are not going to survive,” he said.