Favorites Under $30
This picture is proudly on loan from our friends at Wine Enthusiast.
Each of these wines is under $30 and can be considered a Go To, and most are easily obtainable through our affiliates! Please note that we do NOT make recommendations based solely on affiliate inventory. Each of these wines is fully backed by Wine LALA as an excellent choice.
The following is arranged by weight and intensity; lighter and easier styles are on top and graduate toward heavier, bolder styles.
The Whites
Vietti Roero Arneis 2017, Piedmont, Italy : Sometimes you recommend a wine, and sometimes you recommend a producer. In this situation, it’s both. I like this wine a lot - simple, zesty, and unoaked. Those characteristics unto their own can turn out in good and bad ways, but this wine is elegant and the finish is nice. I have certain favorite styles of wine, and this is one of them.
Henri Bourgeois Sancerre Les Baronnes Blanc 2019, Sancerre, France : Lively, with bright lemon curd, gooseberry, thyme and lime pith notes. The bright finish has mouthwatering cut thanks to a light chalky echo.
Gorgessity in a bottle. Photo credit: Les Baronnes
Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2019, Marlborough, NZ : There are a ton of great choices from New Zealand out there, and I’m sure you’re familiar with some of the best examples, such as Kim Crawford and Love Block (both of which I recommend! They are not included individually just because they are SO popular.) Give this one a try too. I often use it in my Wine 101 classes, and I drink it on my own as well! It is simple and straightforward but at the same time *DELICIOUS*. Very easily described as passion fruit, mango, citrus, and herbs. Bright, clean, and unoaked.
Pewsey Vale Dry Riesling 2019, Eden Valley, Australia : Pewsey Vale is a great Riesling if you are into the bone-dry style. Very little residual sugar can be found here, but you will find white flowers and dried herbs, and a clean, zesty, mineral finish. It’s really definitely a take worth checking out if you typically associate Riesling with the excellent but entry level Dr. Loosen 2017 that is considerably sweeter, but finishes away cleanly.
Symphony by Sebastiani 2017, California: This is a super weird (and super wonderful) wine!! The winemaker doesn’t even have any notes available and it is not provided by any of our affiliates!! Again, super weird but super amazing. The name of the grape used to make this wine is ‘Symphony’ and it’s a cross between muscat and grenache gris. The wine takes on the beautiful floral notes of muscat and the citrus of the grenache gris and has the tiniest bit of sweetness. It finishes clean and bright. Definitely give it a try!
Louis Latour was one of the first brands I got to professionally taste. This Marsanny is so solid. Photo credit: Louis Latour
2018 Louis Latour Marsannay Blanc AC Cote-D' Or , Burgundy, France : White Burgundy (Chardonnay) from France. The winemaker mentions notes of jasmine and white flowers, descriptors that could not be more lovely or delicate, and which are a nice compliment to the medium body and tropical fruit notes.
2019 Mario Schiopetto Collio Friuliano DOC, Friulano, Italy: This wine should probably cost more than what it does, even though it’s at the top of the price list. It’s wonderfully bold and complex. You’ll find ripe fruit , no oak, and tropical stone fruit tempered by minerality, salinity, and lots of spices.
The Reds
Adelsheim Pinot Noir 2017, Williamette Valley, OR : There’s a great post in the articles section about a meeting I was lucky enough to get with David Adelsheim, the WINEMAKER at Adelsheim (or he definitely was at the time, since I think ownership has changed hands in the last few years). This is his recipe. Notice some notes that might be important to the pumpkin-spice searcher: “a light touch of nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice.”
Vietti Perbacco Nebbiolo delle Langhe 2018, Piedmont, Italy : Vietti reappears!! Northern Italy is one of the first places I visited after becoming serious about wine, and it is the home of my first wine mentor, so this style is very close to my heart. You’ll find dark fruit, spice, and licorice in this Nebbiolo, which is maturing elegantly after four years in the bottle. Nebbiolo is the base grape for Barolo, and you will not be disappointed in this lovely selection.
Vietti has some of the best labels. You should see what they did on the Arneis! Photo credit: Vietti
Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo 2017, Piedmont, Italy : Another Piedmont wine, but another one that’s worth every single dollar. This bright Nebbiolo (Barbaresco is the region, Nebbiolo is the grape) shows red fruit, white pepper, and anise. Best of all, it pairs extraordinarily well with pizza! This selling point should not be overlooked.
Guigal Cotes du Rhone Rouge 2017, Rhone Valley, France : This is another superstar that probably belongs on our Everyday Gem list (where many of these wines will likely migrate). This wine is medium bodied, but has a great intensity of red cherry and black pepper flavor. It has spicey notes - not enough to make our Pumpkin Spice list, but it demonstrates the black pepper hallmark of Syrah.
2015 Chateau Malescasse Haut Medoc, Bordeaux, France : With notes of black- and blueberries underscored by violet and mint, Ch. Malecasse has some of my favorite harmonies. It has the linearity of Bordeaux with licorice and minerals on the finish that juxtapose against the front notes, indicating amazing complexity. I’m really excited to be able to offer this bottle, especially at this price.
Tres Picos Garnacha 2018, Zaragoza, Spain : This wine shows tons of red fruit along with blackberry, plums, leather, and vanilla. It’s concentrated and not even a little bit shy. Tres Picos has won 'favorite’ many times over in the wine classes I teach. Even though most of the notes are dark, it retains violet and clean acidity that keeps it from becoming overwhelming. Lots of depth of flavor, layers that interplay, and a full, silky texture. Perfect for charred veggies or red meat!!
Marques de Caceres Rioja Reserva 2012, Rioja, Spain : You may recognize this producer from our Pumpkin Spice list. There, we recommended the Crianza, which is a little lighter and a bit more spicy (pumpkin-spicey, as it were), but since this wine spent more time in oak, its flavors have deepened into vanilla and nuttiness underneath blackberry and licorice.
Happy drinking!