Tannic Panic! Issue #41: Tuscan Gold - Best Wines Under $15
This week, take our crash course in cheap winemaking, and learn that extreme value cometh in the form of Tuscan Sangiovese.
TOP OF THE MORNING TO YOU, YOU RAVENOUS LITTLE WINOS.
Brace yourselves, because we’re coming in hot with one less reason to weep into your flimsy little wallets this week: a swath of value wines so good, you'll be scratching your perfect heads wondering how they cost so little.
How do they cost so little? We’re scratching our heads too.
As avid imbibers of the purple stuff, few things get us joyously jumping our of our jimmies quicker than discovering a good quality wine in the $10-15 range. Why?
BECAUSE SO MANY BOTTLES IN THAT PRICE RANGE SUFFER FROM BEING TERRIBLE (LIKE ME!)
So that begs the question…
WHY ARE INEXPENSIVE WINES OFTEN LOWER QUALITY?
The answer is simple: in order to get the cost of a bottle down for the consumer, it has to go down for the producer (IT IS A “BUSINESS,” AFTER ALL).
In order to fully understand how producers reduce production cost, it’s important to understand what they can’t do.
They can’t reduce the cost of the land that their vineyards exist on. That means that in places where cost of the land is higher, wines will inherently be higher priced, and YOU, dearest wino, should be especially wary of the cheap wines coming from these places (eyes on you, California).
They can’t control the weather (SURPRISE!) so vintages are something to keep in mind when buying lower priced wine. A great vintage can improve the quality level at all price points in a region, and the reverse is true for a bad vintage.
…SO WHAT CAN THEY DO TO REDUCE COSTS?
Use cheaper fruit
What makes fruit cheaper? It may be sourced from lower quality vineyard sites where it’s nearly if not outright impossible to grow grapes of sufficient quality for great wine. This may mean overly fertile soils (rapid growth can reduce flavor concentration in the fruit), or unfavorable sun exposure (underripe fruit with vegetal flavors and bitter or minimal tannin, or too rapidly ripened fruit that lacks acidity). Alternatively, the fruit may be from the same vineyard sites as a producer’s higher quality bottlings, but that simply didn’t meet the quality standards for those wines. This will typically mean issues with ripeness, disease, or damage to the berries.
Cut labor costs
What makes labor cheaper? Well, LESS OF IT. By increasing or relying entirely on mechanization for harvest and cutting back on quality control, labor costs can be greatly reduced. But what that means for the wine is that the grapes are not carefully selected for their quality, (rotten, diseased, or underripe berries are not removed), more matter other than grapes will remain in the mix, and grapes are much more likely to be damaged before crushing which adversely affects flavors.
Cut production costs
We’ve talked about labor costs, which are part of production, but tactics used in the winery are also important. A simple rule of thumb is that if you want to make a cheap wine, you can’t use expensive wine making techniques. For example, in the winery, one of the most expensive aspects of red wine production can be the use of oak barrels, particularly new oak barrels. They are costly, and they have a limited number of uses before they become inert and stop imparting the characteristic oak flavors into the wines stored within. Minimizing these more costly choices is necessary for the production of very low cost wines.
SO… those are some of the most viable ways to reduce costs, and the basic economics of the industry make cuts in those areas, at least to some extent, a necessity of low cost wine production. The best producers can still find ways to make wines of surprising quality at lower price points, but the task is clearly more challenging (LIKE ME!).
This is especially true when the driver of lower cost production is a surplus of low quality fruit. Instead of tossing that fruit, producers will often search for ways to repurpose it so as to maximize profitability in an otherwise difficult business.
But if the fruit is of low enough quality, the resulting wines can be so bad that no consumer in their right mind would consume them. What this unfortunately means is that low-cost additives that attempt to mask the shortcomings (e.g. megapurple/concentrated grape juice, oak chips, sweeteners) are fairly common in wines at the $15 and under price point.
LET’S TALK ABOUT ABOUT THE TUSCANY IN THE ROOM
At the core of Tuscan winemaking is the humble Sangiovese grape, responsible for some of the world's most “esteemed” red wines like Chianti Classico and Brunello di Montalcino.
But the climate itself and regional style lend themselves to extremely good value, so you don’t need to take a hammer to your precious little piggy bank to find something you’ll love.
Sangiovese flourishes in Tuscany thanks to the warm, sunny days and cool nights in the region, resulting in a large “diurnal range.” These conditions facilitate gradual ripening during the growing season, essential for the development of Sangiovese's unique high acidity, well-structured tannins, complex flavors, and balanced sugar levels.
Tuscan Sangiovese is typically medium to full bodied with flavors and aromas of cherry and plum, along with dried herbs, leather, earthy notes and oak spice, but the diverse “terroir” of Tuscany, ranging from coastal plains to hillside vineyards, allows for a broad spectrum of Sangiovese styles and expressions.
The price of Tuscan Sangiovese wines is influenced by factors like terroir, grape yields, winemaking techniques, aging requirements, and region of origin. Prestigious appellations like Brunello di Montalcino generally command higher prices due to their reputation, strict quality standards and winemaking laws.
Wines labeled as "riserva" (stricter aging & oak requirements) or bearing more specific regional designations (e.g. Chianti Classico vs. Chianti) also tend to command a more “premium” price.
The broadest designation, Toscana IGT, covers the entire region of Tuscany and is subject to the least regulations. For this reason, the wines tend to be cheaper, and are often (though by no means always) of lower quality than those from more specific DOC and DOCG.
DID YOU KNOW… “Old world” regions can sometimes offer better value at lower price points, because many estates don’t face the same land-cost dilemmas that new world producers grapple with. They’ve owned large swaths of land with widespread plantings for generations, and therefore have a lower overhead cost to deal with in production.
Learn more about the wines of Tuscany in our last post about the region:
Tannic Panic! Issue #11: Tuscan Value Fiasco
What’s new, you pack of rabid winosceroses? This week we’re headed back to Italy for another round of value hunting, but while our last “visit” to the proverbial land of tomato sauce and olive trees had us wandering aimlessly around Barolo in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy, now we are heading a wee bit south, to the mythical land of Tuscany.
… AND NOW FOR THE REVIEWS (IN ORDER OF PRICE):
2022 Vasco Sasseti “Il Ginepro” Rosso Toscano IGT / 90 Points / $12
Profile: Plum, cherry, vanilla, rosemary, spice
Palate: Dry, high acid, high tannin, medium+ body, medium finish
Lots of fresh red fruit on the nose, with fresh rosemary and vanilla. Really delicious, absolutely no signs of recipe winemaking or egregiously low quality fruit. You’d never guess the price point tasting this blind. Ridiculously good bottle for the price.
90 points.
2021 DaVinci Chianti / 89 Points / $14
Profile: Strawberry, plum, cherry, dried oregano, clove, copper penny (THE RUSTY KIND), cocoa powder.
Palate: Dry, high acid, medium tannin, medium body, medium finish
A solid and well balanced (albeit somewhat simple) rustic dry red wine. This has all of the basic essentials of a classic Chianti without any of the “recipe winemaking” flavors that you often find in California red wines at this price point.
89 points.
2021 Banfi Chianti Classico / 91+ Points / $14*
Profile: Sour cherry, violets, roses, leather, earth, dried herbs, band aid (brett), black pepper, chocolate.
Palate: Dry, high acid, medium+ tannin, medium body, long finish
A beautiful, elegant and rustic style of Chianti Classico at a bargain price point from a well respected producer. This wine is balanced, complex and well-structured with ample floral, spice and herbaceous notes. BRAVISSIMO Mr. Banfi!
91+ Points.
*Note on the price: we found this for under $15 from a local store, though the Total Wine link lists it at $16.50 (or $14.80 if you buy any 6 bottles). FORGIVE US!
2020 Renzo Masi Chianti Riserva Rufina / 93+ Points / $15 [VALUE PICK!]
Profile: Black plum, black cherry, dried blueberry, sundried tomato, leather, earth, licorice, violets, wet stone, black pepper, dark chocolate.
Palate: Dry, medium+ acid, medium+ tannin, full body, long finish
Exceptionally concentrated, complex and well balanced Chianti Rufina at a nearly pedestrian price for this UNREAL level of quality. The style of this wine is riper and more concentrated than the other wines we’ve tasted, but maintains a good backbone of acidity, tannic structure and complexity. It’s worth noting that the higher altitude vineyards in Chianti Rufina (a subzone of Chianti), reaching up to 2,150 feet, likely played a significant role in shaping the style of this wine. Higher altitude grape growing impacts temperature, sunlight exposure, and soil drainage, influencing the unique characteristics of resulting wines. Cooler temperatures at higher altitudes lead to longer growing seasons and slower grape ripening, yielding wines with more complex flavors and greater depth. Increased sun exposure at higher altitudes results in grapes with thicker skins, contributing to higher tannin levels and deep color intensity in the wine.
Buy this by the bucketload if you can find it! [NOTE: while our link on Wine Searcher only shows a handful of sellers, this can be found at many wine retailers around the U.S., so keep your beady little eyes peeled]
93+ points.
We’ll spare you the full reviews on our “don’t bothers” from this week’s tastings, but here is our short and sweet on a few bottles we’d probably skip next time you hit the store (if for no other reason than the above options exist):
2019 Pietra Merana Sangiovese Toscana IGT
Baked plum, wilted violet, red licorice, mocha. 84 points. $11
2020 Campo al Mora Sangiovese Toscana IGT
Chocolate, plum, wet stone, brine, band-aid, tar. 83 points. $13
2021 Bellini Sangiovese Toscana IGT
Mocha, bad breath, tar, red fruit. Bitter and unpleasant to drink. 79 points. $12
“Nestled” like a fuzzy little kitten in the “picturesque” “hills” of Tuscany, Italy, lies a treasure trove of red wines renowned for their elegance, charming rusticity, complexity, and unparalleled value.
Yeehaw! Now go on and git some.
Until next time, HAPPY DRINKING PEOPLE.
Cheers!
Isaac & Zach
Very enlightening!