Ferrer Bobet Priorat Vinyes Velles

Flor de Rejon

100% Tempranillo, this is from Bodegas Tridente in Castilla y Leon, and they’ve been producing remarkable values for the last couple of decades. This is their top wine, however, so it ain’t going for cheap. Most of the vines were planted in the 19th century, so yields are minimal and the flavors are both complex and concentrated. It spends 20 months in oak barrels, and you needn’t be in a hurry to drink it.

Giuliano Rosati Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

Okay, we’ll admit it, Italian wine is confusing. Montepulciano is a town but it's also a grape not grown in that town. When that grape is grown in the Abruzzo region, it’s rich, plush, fun and juicy as hell. And it’s also not respected enough by the Italians to charge you a lot of money. I think they’re confused too.

Grandes Arenes Rouge

Syrah and Grenache is more or less in equal proportions here, and this exhibits what makes Costieres de Nimes an increasingly popular and important sub-region of the Rhone Valley. It benefits from the same Mediterranean sun and breezes, and the same limestone soils, as any other southern Rhone appellation. Maybe best of all, unlike so much Chateauneuf-duPape, this stuff is affordable!

Granicus Red

We like to shop in the Languedoc-Roussillon; it’s a place in Mediterranean France that has been important for more than a century but, despite the noise about inexpensive Bordeaux wines, remains the place to shop for value. When they are growing on chalky-clay terroirs, and when they apply Bordeaux techniques to it (fancy stainless steel, new French oak, minute temperature control and the like), they make a fascinating wine.

Guillemain Pinot Noir

Burgundy is scarcely affordable anymore and those of us who like to drink it have fewer options. So we’ve gone out into the wild to find options that please us and that, we hope, will please you too. This is lighter in style than American Pinot and built on charm and grace, not power. Since the de la Farge family are such leaders in this part of the world, yet so few know about their reds, we think we’re letting you in on a happy little secret.

Highland Falls

"Mountain-grown, it’s the richest kind,” as coffee commercials used to say, but it’s also true of Cabernet. Foley Family's pedigree doesn’t hurt either: the guys who bring you Merus, Chalone and Chalk Hill Wines are behind the powerhouse Highland Falls lineup too.

Histoire De Grains Marselan

Throughout the expansive Roussillon-Languedoc are some of the more adventurous French grapes with which you might not be familiar – Marselan is at the top of the heap. It’s a crossing of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache, far lighter than Cabernet but with some of its strengths and backbone. Bordeaux has just recently chosen it as a newly approved grape there, which is no small feat!

Julien de L'Embisque Suze la Rousse

Domaine Julien de l'Embisque, which has been organically farmed for many years, owns a diversity of terroirs throughout the southern Rhône Valley. They grow most of the diverse grape varieties of the valley too: Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Marselan and a little known grape called Couston for the reds. This rich wine is built from 50% Grenache, 40% Syrah and 10% Carignan.

Kingstree Cabernet

This is a tasty little gem unearthed by the pros at Banshee Wines. Banshee, started by three guys who just happened to like wine and wanted an excuse to be out west, hasn't been around long but they sure have kicked off righteously during their short career. They’ve always been focused upon cooler climate sites, especially with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and at the prices they offer their wines, it’s no surprise that things have gone swimmingly well.