The perfect gift for red wine lovers for around $50
It's rare that you can score this level of quality for under $50.
Château Mont-Redon Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône Valley, France
$49.99
14.5% alcohol
PLCB Item #7278
Sale price through Jan. 5; regularly $51.99
Wine makes a terrific gift since you can pick virtually any budget and treat someone to a small luxury they might not otherwise indulge in themselves. Fifty dollars may not go that far these days in other types of goods, but can still get you a lovely bottle of wine. There are so many options out there though that the challenge is how to pick the right one. There are plenty of well-made wines available for less than $25, like those we feature in this column each week. However, gifting is a circumstance where spending more makes perfect sense, so we make an exception once per year to recommend something at a higher price point.
Chateauneuf-du-Pape is a truly unique wine appellation in the south of France that produces the richest and most luxurious wines of the southern Rhône Valley. It is also a winter wine in every way — a dense red that pairs best with slow-cooked meats, rich stews, and aged sheep’s milk cheeses. The Southern Rhône is famous for red blends that are almost invariably dominated by the grenache noir grape. Here, entry-level wines carry the name of the larger region, Côtes-du-Rhône, while the top wines are named for smaller villages that have earned a reputation for producing superior wines, where Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the granddaddy of them all. This is because this subregion’s vines grow in uncommonly rocky and windy terrain that produces very high quality fruit at unusually high degrees of ripeness for a European region. The resulting wines like this one feature flavors of dried and brandied fruit like figs and cherries, with a distinctive layer of herbs like rosemary and spices like white pepper that are a heart-warming treat on the coldest nights of the year.
Also available at:
Total Wine & More in Cherry Hill, $51.99