Overlooking the Delaware River and just minutes from the bridge, Pennsville Township hosted its annual wine festival on Saturday, May 21 from 12 to 5 p.m. at the Riverview Beach Park. More than a dozen local wineries serviced attendees to sample the various wines.

Those in attendance who took advantage of the warm weather also purchased from different small businesses, like Skin Intimacy and Crystal Things Heal. Live music and food from Carolina Blue Smokehouse and Taproom were also available.

The event continues tomorrow, May 22, for attendees to enjoy the festivities again.

Because wine is – frankly, one of my favorite beverages – I sought out to find the very best of the best for under $25. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised with what I found and ended up buying, but I will let you read below to see what wines check the boxes of exquisitely “ballin’ on a budget.”

Honorable Mention: DiMatteo’s Vineyards: Chocolate Raz

I did not get the price of this wine, but honestly I still think it deserves to be on this list. I tried this wine earlier after being intrigued by the word “chocolate” just in the name. After hearing mixed opinions about chocolate-infused alcoholic beverages, I wanted to see what the chatter was about.

This wine was really good! It is a dessert wine that has a semi-sweet blend of concord and raspberry wine with a hint of chocolate. As described online, it tastes like a Tootsie-Pop, and I have to agree.

After doing a quick Google search, it seems as though this wine is around the $10-15 range. It wasn’t my particular favorite of the day, but for being a chocolate wine, it had to make the list.

Share these three wines from Villari Vineyards at your next party.

I’m a very easygoing person, I love a lot of things in this world. Chocolate (see above), wine and a good sale. When I came across the One Nation booth and after having a few samples of their incredible assortment of wines, the workers let us know that we could buy any three wines for $33. What was I supposed to do? Say no?

So I bought three wines for $33. I know that’s over the budget of $25, but technically, each bottle adds up to about $11. I’ll describe each of them below, but the ones that I bought were: Pink Lemonade, Passion and White.

The Pink Lemonade wine has a blend of strawberry, watermelon, lemon and apple wines. It is a crisp, refreshing wine just in time for summer.

The Passion wine (my favorite of the trio) is a blend of passion fruit, strawberry and apple wines. This tropical wine also has hints of papaya and guava.

Lastly, the White wine, a Top 5 rated fruit wine in the U.S. 2016, by the World Wine Championships, has white grapes and peaches. It is balanced with nuances of apples as well.

These fizzy wines from Valenzano are perfect for a rainy afternoon.

I’m partial to lighter alcohols, like a White Claw, so when I saw this four-pack of carbonated wines, I knew I wouldn’t be let down. They run at $15.99 per pack, which means, essentially, one bottle would be that much.

I bought the White Sangria pack, a lighter fruity flavor that is perfect for casual sips while having a movie marathon on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

These Fizz packs of wine come in two other flavors, Shamong Red and Red, White and Blueberry Sangria. No matter what one you choose, you can’t go wrong with trying something different and trying a carbonated wine.

Try “Trinity” from Terra Nonno Winery on your next date night.

If you like a dry red wine, and I mean “like like” a dry red wine, this one is for you. This wine is a triple blended dry wine with a smooth, silky finish
with medium tannins. It is also aged in french oak barrels. At just $23, it’s the perfect date night kind of wine.

I’ll be honest, I am a huge fan of dry red wines, but I was taken back by this one. It is really dry, but it’s still just really good. I feel like this is the type of wine to pair with pizza, even though most reds make that good pairing, too.

Take your tastebuds on an island getaway with this sangria from Plagido’s Winery

Last, and certainly not least, I want to talk about the first wine I tried at the festival. This wine smelled so good I would absolutely use it for a perfume, and it tasted heavenly. This sangria is made from purple grapes and infused with pineapple. It was really one of the highlights of my tasting.

When we bought the sangria, it came in a pouch, which means that it holds two bottles of wine. For $27, that’s definitely not a bad deal (and definitely did not go over my budget.) I enjoyed it so much I went back later for seconds. To me, this sangria feels more like a juice than an alcoholic drink.

No matter the occasion, if you’re in the Greater Philadelphia region, these wines are worth checking out.