Wine between $10 and $25

If you find yourself at café table in Alto Adige around 6pm on a crisp, mountain, summer night, this is what you drink (well, if you’re not having a spritz). Vinous captures it nicely: The 2023 Kerner is delicately... Read More

Organic/Bio Lower ABV The absolute essence of what we expect from Rias Baixas Albarino - but don't always get in these climate change times. This has attractive stone and tropical fruit aromas and flavors, but it really leans... Read More

The importer Boutinot makes a lot of their own wines, including this one from old-vine Grenache discovered growing down south between Corbieres and the Sea. Done all in steel, it’s dark, gutsy, powerful and a bit wild, with... Read More

Just what you'd hope for in a top California Merlot, including ripe currant and berry fruit, a whiff of wild herb and a soft, supple, finish. Wine Enthusiast describes it well in their 90 point review, Lively lavender aromas... Read More

As the winery writes, Andrew Murray has been singularly and nearly maniacally focused on crafting Syrah for 25 years. His Everyday (in French Syrah “Tous les Jours”) Syrah from Santa Ynez gives you a good idea of how... Read More

Organic/Bio Lower ABV Muscadet is the most under-priced wine in the world for the quality, but even by Muscadet standards, the value for money here is nuts. Fizzing with energy and all kinds of juicy green fruits washed over crushed... Read More

Lower ABV Another winning harvest for Toni Bauer's super-value single-vineyard GV! Aromas and flavors of green pear, crunchy red apple, tangerine, Meyer lemon, and a dash of that white pepper savory note that makes Grüner... Read More

Wicked good dry Riesling here from a fine single vineyard in the heart of Austria's Wagram region. Smells great and tastes even better, with bold notes of just squeezed lime, ripe peach, crushed slate and a nice sprinkling... Read More

A wonderfully dark, rich, Tempranillo nicely spiced with used and new oak to complement the dark fruit. As nice to sip as pair up with anything from burgers to lamb.

South Africa's first black woman winemaker, Ntsiki Biyela is even better known for the benchmark quality of her wines - like this delicious Chardonnay. The texture is lovely, at once dense/rich in feel and vibrantly fresh.... Read More

Easy drinking, check. Sophisticated, check. Wines that hold to the French dogma of site-specific, nuanced wines, check. 80% Pinot Gris and 20% Pinot Blanc, the wines expressive fruit and subtle minerality is a testament to the... Read More

Lower ABV It was only after the Cowley family purchased their 65 acre vineyard in 1998 that they discovered that it had been the site of the first vinifera grape plantings in all of New Zealand. There's even a tiny winery... Read More

Perhaps the benchmark interpretation of Virginia's most important white grape, the 2022 Viognier from Barboursville is ripe and aromatic and finishes dry and fresh. Suckling's 93 point rave for the 2020 still applies:... Read More

A big snoot- and mouth-ful of crushed berries and cherries with some cocoa dust, a touch of acidic/tannic bite, and a “I dare you to stop drinking me” finish that keeps you coming back for more. Like an Italian Chianti... Read More

One of the longest-running high-quality “value” Pinots we know of. As Robert Parker said of the 2013 edition: An authentic tasting Pinot Noir that sells for a song. Aromas of sweet red and black cherry fruit intermixed... Read More

Organic/Bio Until recently, Comando G’s Fernando Garcia’s day job was running this very high-quality estate in Spain’s Sierra de Gredos, one of the most exciting regions for Grenache-based reds in the world today.... Read More

Organic/Bio A bold, gutsy, Spanish red for Cotes du Rhone fans with plenty of rich fruit and a gentle earthy/wild herb edge. It’s 60% Monastrell and 40% Tempranillo aged in oak that adds roundness but not oaky flavors. Delivers... Read More

Lower ABV This is classic Albarino from the seaside region of Ribadumía in the heart of the Salnés valley, bounded on two sides by cold Atlantic Ocean water flowing inland through the estuaries – or “Rias”... Read More

Organic/Bio Lower ABV What starts off as a round, almost creamy, mouth full of sweet and bitter orange, peach and lemon zest flavors get an electric jolt of energy on the finish that grips to squeeze out every last drop of this... Read More

From a California Sparkling wine specialist, this is elegant, nicely textured, Chardonnay of fine freshness and length. In 2023, it’s all Russian River fruit from a vineyard next door to Kistler and Ritchie Vineyards and... Read More

Just what you’d hope for in $20 Prosecco, but for less! This is crisp, clear and very fresh with pretty apple and yellow pear fruit accented by notes of thyme and wild herb. The tiny bubbles give the wine a creamy feel that’s... Read More

The race for best value California Cabernet Sauvignon of the year is over: this is the winner going away. If you love California Cab’s rich blackcurrant and blackberry fruit, dash of chocolate, sweet spice, full body and... Read More

By FAR the best vintage yet of this always wildly over-performing, huge value, oak-aged Rioja Crianza. As always, it's a blend of 90% Temparnillo and 10% Graciano aged 12 months in used American oak casks. More ripe, dark,... Read More

We suspect most of these will hop into shoppers’ bags because they’re just so cute and priced so attractively for impulse giving and stuffing of stockings. That’s fine, but please don’t overlook something... Read More

Lower ABV Christian Bellei is, as Vinous said recently, one of the true Lambrusco di Sorbara masters. A 4th generation Lambrusco maker, Bellei continues his father's innovation of making Lambrusco in the Champagne method -... Read More