I'm about to save you a FORTUNE. Next time you're buying wine and you're choosing between a good looking, moderately-priced bottle of wine and the two-gallon jug that costs $9, go for the hobo wine. There's no reason NOT TO.

In 1995, 59% of the wine purchased in the U.S. sold for less than $3-a-bottle, adjusted for inflation. By 2006, that dropped to 29%. It's most likely even lower now. Meanwhile, wines over $14-a-bottle have seen sales go up 400%.

And there's really NO REASON. At that level, there's barely any difference between the cheaper wine and the more expensive wine. Brand and stores are marking up wine because we let them get away with it.

Studies have shown that unless you're a seasoned wine expert, in a blind taste test, most people can't tell the difference. In fact, more people prefer the taste of the CHEAPER wines.

The main reason we praise more expensive wines is a psychological trick that tells us we're supposed to.

Ernest Gallo, who is one of the pioneers of cheap wine in America, used to do a test where he'd have people try two glasses of wine. He told them one wine cost 5 cents and the other cost 10 cents.

People ALWAYS said they preferred the more expensive wine. The only problem . . . both glasses actually contained the exact same thing.

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