We have been very blessed to try a lot of different wines over the past 12 months. These are our favorites that stood out to us as not only delicious wines, but wines that punch above their weight. We recommend trying these wines if you are looking for a great deal. Many of these we tried with our family and friends and many we had more than once to get a more rounded opinion and rating.
We tried to provide several different types of wine in the list as well. The best value of 2023 goes to Roberts + Rogers Louer Family Cabernet Sauvignon 2017. For only $39 that wine is absolutely fantastic! Check back each year as we’ll continually update this list of great values (and probably have a list longer than just 20).
Read below the chart for more information on each wine. And be sure to look for the “Vino Critic Best Value” seal on bottles of wine at the wine store or supermarket!
| Wine List | Points | Avg Price |
| Budget Friendly (<$20) | ||
| Campo Viejo Art Series Reserva Rioja 2015 | 88 | $13 |
| Fetzer Gewurztraminer 2022 | 88 | $9 |
| Sideshow The Charmer No. 3 Shiraz 2019 | 86 | $7 |
| Wairau River Sauvignon Blanc 2020 | 90 | $16 |
| Brassfield Eruption 2017 | 90 | $19 |
| Mid Range ($20-$50) | ||
| Beaulieu Vineyard (BV) Tapestry Napa Valley Reserve 2016 | 93 | $30 |
| Quest by Austin Hope Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 | 91 | $23 |
| Clos La Coutale Cahors Malbec 2017 | 91 | $21 |
| Tobin James James Gang Reserve Zinfandel 2017 | 93 | $33 |
| Domaine de la Chanteleuserie Cabernet Franc Bourgueil 2019 | 93 | $19 |
| Vina Robles Fore Estate Reserve Blend 2017 | 92 | $28 |
| Porter & Plot Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 | 92 | $23 |
| Cecilia Beretta Amarone della Valpolicella 2017 | 92 | $22 |
| Roberts + Rogers Louer Family Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 | 95 | $39 |
| High End ($50+) | ||
| Nickel & Nickel Bear Flat Merlot 2016 | 94 | $77 |
| Penner-Ash Pinot Noir 2015 | 93 | $68 |
| Rutherford Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 | 94 | $54 |
| Trujillo Madelyne Cuvée Red 2014 | 93 | $50 |
| Siro Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino 2003 | 95 | $138 |
| Patz & Hall Dutton Ranch Chardonnay 2018 | 92 | $53 |
Budget Friendly Wines (<$20)
Campo Viejo Art Series Reserva Rioja 2015
We got this on clearance for around $8 and drank it with some tacos. Would definitely get this wine again, even at normal price of around $13.
Fetzer Gewurztraminer 2022
This was a fantastic bottle for under $10. We paired it with hot wings, which was a fantastic combination. Great fragrance of roses and pears and wasn’t overpowered by the hot wings either.
Sideshow The Charmer No. 3 Shiraz 2019
We were skeptical because it was a bottom shelf wine, but we both really enjoyed it and would certainly buy more for this price for a table wine or to share with friends just getting into wine.
Wairau River Sauvignon Blanc 2020
Fantastic Sauvignon Blanc from one of our favorite regions in Marlborough. We drink this quite often on hot summer days. And it comes at a great price point too, which helps.
Brassfield Eruption 2017
Drank this with family at Christmas. Very smooth red wine with bold flavors and a fantastic price point. We purchased this from Costco for around $17.
Value Mid Range Wines ($20-$50)
Beaulieu Vineyard (BV) Tapestry Napa Valley Reserve 2016
We’ve had more expensive versions from this winery that we’ve really enjoyed as well. This series is also very very good but at a fraction of the price. We purchased this from Costco for around $30, and we now look for it every time we go there to buy more.
Quest by Austin Hope Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
Austin Hope is a wildly accessible wine to find across the United States at restaurants and most wine stores. However, one of their little known brands is called Quest, and is a fantastic deal for anyone who cannot afford their top of the line wine (which is very delicious). Quest is much harder to find, but it’s typically around $25-$30 a bottle, and a fantastic deal for that price point.
Clos La Coutale Cahors Malbec 2017
We had this malbec for Christmas with the family and was one of the wines everyone liked the most out of our lineup that day. And for the price point, it’s a great value.
Tobin James James Gang Reserve Zinfandel 2017
We had this at the winery and are members of their club. But we feel like this is one of their better deals (although we like most of their wine and most of their wine is at a very affordable price point). Get anything from Tobin and you won’t be disappointed, but this Zinfandel will knock your socks off. Drink it with some BBQ ribs or brisket and you are guaranteed a good night.
Domaine de la Chanteleuserie Cabernet Franc Bourgueil 2019
Had this at a local French restaurant with some family members. It was our favorite wine of the night. Very smooth and silky wine with complex flavors throughout. Certainly worth the price point of around $20.
Vina Robles Fore Estate Reserve Blend 2017
Compared to the other wines in the same price point we had that night, we enjoyed this one much more. Has distinct notes of spice that really stood out, but in a good way.
Porter & Plot Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
We drank this with a bunch of friends with a lot of other bottles from Paso Robles (was the theme for the night). This one was a favorite of the crowd and even better was one of the cheaper bottles we tried that night at around $17.
Cecilia Beretta Amarone della Valpolicella 2017
Purchased this from Trader Joe’s, and it was fantastic. It’s hard to find an Amarone at this price point of around $25, and this one drinks above it’s price for sure. We’ll be purchasing more for our home to share with friends for sure.
Roberts + Rogers Louer Family Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
This cab certain stood out from the pack of a night were we were drinking $50-$100 bottles of wine together. Great oak flavors of vanilla and spice with a subtle smokey flavor. Vivino has this priced at around $40 too, which is a complete steal.
Value High End Wines ($50+)
Nickel & Nickel Bear Flat Merlot 2016
Drank this at Flemings at the recommendation of their sommelier. It was one of our favorites of the night and reasonably priced for a high end wine.
Penner-Ash Pinot Noir 2015
One of our friends introduced this wine to us at dinner with them. We ended up ordering 3 bottles between the 4 of us at dinner because we all enjoyed it so much. One of the best Pinots out there, especially at the $50-$60 price point.
Rutherford Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
Drank this wine at a fantastic French restaurant with some friends. By far our favorite of the night, and if we didn’t need to drive home we would have ordered another bottle for sure. For the price point of around $50, this drinks much closer to a $100-$150 bottle of wine for sure. Very smooth texture with oak notes of vanilla made this an easy to drink wine that most everyone would really enjoy.
Trujillo Madelyne Cuvée Red 2014
Was recommended at the wine bar we were visiting instead of going to our trusted Austin Hope. We really enjoyed this and were glad we tried something new. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to compare the two side by side, but we both agreed that we would order this again. This is quite a bit harder to find though. We paired this with a charcuterie board and made for an delightful date night.
Siro Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino 2003
Had this at a work Christmas dinner from our boss’s cellar. We decided after this bottle that we need to drink wine with him and his wife more often. We consider this a value wine even though it’s quite expensive because it compares to a lot of much more expensive wines we were lucky enough to try in the past 12 months.
Patz & Hall Dutton Ranch Chardonnay 2018
We had this during a tasting for Master The World, which send samples to your house and have a youtube video to do an online tasting with the wines they send out. We both really enjoyed this Chardonnay, which is rare for us. This was also much older of a white wine than we typically will drink.
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