15 wines under $20
The hours of daylight are shrinking, and the nervous tension grows.
These are strange days in which the daily cocktail of pandemic, politics, protest and natural disaster continually challenges the capacity to endure. “When you think that you lost everything, you find out you can always lose a little more,” as Nobel laureate Bob Dylan once put it.
I’m not here to tell you thatwine will make anything better. But good food, good wine and engaging conversation seem as necessary to getting through 2020 as riveting books, bingeworthy shows and walks among the trees. They relieve, heal and restore, because tomorrow will doubtless raise the ante again.
Just recently, shopping online inManhattan retail stores, I found 15 wines, all under $20 a bottle, that surprised, delighted and, yes, fulfilled a restorative role theywere not intended for but which I assigned to them.
These 15 bottles came fromnine different countries, reflecting the rising level of quality just about everywhere. Theywere not merely sound wines that succeed by not offending. Theywere interesting, distinctive, even provocative, meaning that all of them will not be to everybody’s taste.
In pursuit of good wine, that’s a riskworth taking. The reward is bottles that will turn your head and demand your attention.
Here are the wines, in order of price.
DautelWürttemberg WeissburgunderTrocken 2017 $15.99
Dautel, in the up-andcomingWürttemberg region in southwestern Germany, is best known for its spätburgunders, or pinot noirs. And so are itsweissburgunders, or pinot blancs. Some might call a wine like this “neutral,” and they would not bewrong. You won’t get pronounced fruit or floral aromas or flavors. But what it lacks in extravagance it makes up for with delicious, textured creaminess.
Pedro Parra y Familia Secano Interior Itata Vinista País 2018 $15.99
Pedro Parra is a Chilean geologist who consults with wineries around theworld, leaving behind him a trail of freshly dug soil pits he uses to examine the geological underpinning of vineyards. He knows good terroir when he sees it, like this vineyard of old-vine país, better known by its English name, mission, planted on granite and quartz. The wine is fresh and alive, with flavors of red fruits and herbs along with a refreshing bitterness.
FabreMontmayou Mendoza Cabernet Franc Reserva 2019 $16
Methoxypyrazines are the substances in wine that produce the aromas and flavors of bell peppers, which many people dislike. Cabernet franc wines are legendary for them, although they are much rarer today in the era of climate change and improved viticulture. Strangely, though, in cabernet francs fromthe Mendoza region of Argentina, like this one, I’ve sometimes found the aromas of jalapenos, which I find quite attractive, along with earthy flavors of red fruits.
Storm Point Swartland chenin blanc 2019 $16.99
Chenin blanc is the leading white grape of South Africa, although it has not always been easy to find good bottles in theUnited States. The good news is that more have been reaching American shores over the last decade. Thismoderately priced bottle, from Storm Point in Swartland, is dry and crisp, floral and tangy.
ALosViñateros Bravos Itata Pipeño Tinto 2019 1 liter $17.99
Pipeño is the quaffing wine of Chile, made to be consumed young and fresh and, until recently, almost never seen outside the country. This version is made from old-vine cinsault, grown in the Itata region of southern Chile, and it is absolutely delicious, bright and spicywith flavors of earthy red fruit. A Los Viñateros Bravos is a label of Leonardo Erazo, an exceptional Chilean winemaker who has several other projects in Chile.
Trediberri Dogliani BriccoMollea 2019 $17.99
Trediberri is a relatively new producer in the Piedmont region of Italy, although the proprietors, the Oberto family, have been involved in growing grapes and producing wine for generations. Trediberri’s Barolos are excellent, and I especially admire its Dogliani, a fresh, lively wine with awelcome touch of bitter chocolate flavor. Dogliani is considered a prime area for the dolcetto grape. Wines like this demonstratewhy that’s true.
Roca Altxerri GetariakoTxakolina Camino 2019 $18.99
This lightly sparkling wine, made entirely of the local hondarrabi zuri grape, comes fromBasque Country in Spain. It’s delicate but intense, crisp and bracing. As you drink it, you can almost feel the stiff salt breeze blowing in off the Atlantic. It’s just the thing for oysters, clams and other light seafood preparations.
MatthiassonNapa Valley ChardonnayVillage 2019 $18.99
Twenty years ago, Steve and JillMatthiassonwere among those spearheading the movement in California to make more restrained, balanced wines. Back then, theywere little known and practically had to give bottles away. Today, their wines are revered and predictably more expensive. Yet theMatthiassons make an effort to offer a few easily affordable bottles, like their Tendu wines and nowthis Village series. The 2019, the first bottling, is rich yet fresh, lively and unpretentious— simply a good, solid glass ofNapa chardonnay.
BodegasHermanos Peciña Rioja Blanco Señorío de P. Peciña 2018 $19
I remember the first time I tried a traditionally made white Rioja, fromthe producer R. López deHeredia. Itwas thrilling. I had never had a wine like it before, made with the viura grape and aged in barrels of American oak. Demand for López deHeredia has gone up, as have prices. Nonetheless, few Rioja producers make old-school whites. Hermanos Peciña is one of them. This lovely wine is made of organically grown viura and offers rich, spicy, coconut-inflected, earthy apple flavors. It’s a lovely entry-levelwine, not aged nearly as long as a López de Heredia.
BodegasYusteAurora ManzanillaNV500 milliliters $19.99
All seasons are sherry seasons. That goes especially for manzanilla, which by reputation is the lightest, most delicate form of fino sherry. But this example, from Bodegas Yuste, does not fit the stereotype of manzanilla as fragile. It’s amber-colored, scented with sea brine, almonds and chamomile, and richer and more robust than the typical manzanilla. It’s more finoweight, which makes it particularly appropriate for colderweather. It’swonderful, andwould make an excellent aperitif.
Keller Rheinhessen rieslingTrocken 2019 $19.99
Julia and Klaus Peter Keller make sublime rieslings. Their high-end bottles are difficult to find, but this entry-level bottle offers a fine introduction to the precision and minerality that characterize their wines. It’s floral, complex, surprisingly rich for a wine of 11% alcohol, bone dry and a great value.
Aslina byNtsiki Biyela South Africa cabernet sauvignon 2017 $19.99
Ntsiki Biyela is South Africa’s first Black female winemaker. She established her own label, Aslina, named for her grandmother, in 2016. The 2017 cabernet sauvignon is superb, full-bodied, fresh, balanced and complex, with lingering flavors that aremore herbal than fruity. Take a moment to savor this wine and to toast a pioneer. By theway, Aslina also makes an excellent chardonnay.
Casa de Saima Bairrada Baga Bruto 2017 $19.99
The Bairrada region of Portugal has come into its own over the last decade, producing primarily graceful red wines made with the baga grape. It’s also an excellent source for sparkling wines, like this one, made with baga, using the same method as in Champagne. The wine is dry and refreshing, smells like grapefruit and oranges and offers a touch of salinity.
FeudoMontoni Sicilia Nero d’Avola Lagnusa 2017 $19.99
I often findNero d’Avola a tough grape to love. While I have had some great varietal examples, like Arianna Occhipinti’s, too often the wines just seem heavy and thick. But here is another excellent version from FeudoMontoni, which practices organic viticulture at its vineyards in central Sicily and ferments the grapes in concrete. The result is a spicy, herbal, lightly tannic wine that might be nice with eggplant Parmesan.
XavierWeisskopf Le Rocher desViolettesVin de France Chenin 2019 $19.99
Here’s another expression of chenin blanc, quite different fromthe South African bottle. XavierWeisskopf is based onMontlouis, across the Loire from Vouvray, and makes a variety of wines, often fromold vines. This wine, labeled Vin de France, comes from old vines in a section of Montlouis that is scheduled to be reclassified as Touraine next year, so Weisskopf decided to simply call it Vin de France. It’s dry and delicious, with aromas and flavors of lemon, honey and flowers, just right for scallops or other seafood dishes.