20 Bottles Under $20, for Hunkering Down

So many issues swirl around wine these days. Climate disasters, declining sales, rising prices, potential tariffs, possible health consequences and more.

It’s hard to ignore these concerns, and we shouldn’t. But plenty of great wine is still available, and that should remind us of an important point: good wine makes many people happy. It’s a rare pleasure, and it’s even more satisfying the less you spend.

I recently went shopping for exceptional wines that cost less than $20 each and found these 20 bottles that will be especially good in colder weather. I’ve long held the conviction that if you are looking for distinctive wines that speak of a place and of a culture, the sweet spot is in the $15 to $20 range. Despite the consequences of inflation, it remains true.

For less than $15, wines with rare exception are one-dimensional. They may be enjoyable, but they are rarely interesting. You can of course easily spend more than $20, but I like the ring of 20 under $20.

In the many years that I’ve been making such recommendations, the range of available bottles has shifted entirely. At one time, certain Burgundies and cru Beaujolais were among the great values. Nowadays, hardly ever. Oregon pinot noirs? Chianti Classicos? Rarely.

Other wonderful bottles have taken their places, from unfamiliar regions of France, Italy and Spain, as well as some of the farther reaches of Germany and Austria, Portugal and Greece, New York and California.