The 7 Best Wines Under $50 to Gift This Holiday
From traveling across the country for family visits to splurging on decadent meals, holiday-season expenses can add up quickly. And while wine can feel like an easy go-to gesture to pick up for your holiday host, the usual gifting suspects (Champagne, Napa Cab) are generally pretty pricey.
Gifting wine doesn’t always need to be an expensive endeavor. Though it can be tempting to just go for the widely recognizable, heavy-bottled brand, there are plenty of wines that will still deliver on flavor (and even on wow-factor) at a much more approachable price. It’s just a matter of finding the right bottles.
Here, we compiled a list of seven wines under $50 that can fit a range of holiday gifting scenarios. These hidden gems might not come from the most prestigious appellations, but they’re accessible, delicious finds that would be welcome additions to any holiday table.
Domaine La Grange Tiphaine Trinqu’âmes 2024
Sauvignon Blanc is usually a safe bet when it comes to white wines, and this expressive bottle from the Loire Valley overdelivers on flavor and complexity for its around-$20 price tag. This expertly balanced Sauvignon Blanc is sourced from 40-year-old vines planted in clay and limestone soils in the Touraine appellation. It brings vibrant fruit notes that range from grapefruit to passion fruit and pineapple as well as the variety’s classic herbaceous, mineral notes like wet rocks and grass.
Average price: $21
Rating: 93
Bisol Crede Brut Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore 2024
Bubbles are a clear option for holiday gifting (the more bottles on hand to pop for festive moments, the better), but Champagne and other esteemed sparklers can quickly reach above the $75 or even $100 mark. Prosecco, on the other hand, is a much more reasonably priced way to spread holiday cheer. Within the region that produces this approachable Italian bubbly, there are several villages recognized for their outstanding quality. The most revered of these is Valdobbiadene, known for its rolling hills, steep slopes, and distinct soils. Proseccos from Valdobbiadene have a crisp, elegant structure and delicate fruit. This bottling from Bisol offers notes of green apple, lemon zest, and minerals with lively bubbles. Plus its stunning, gold-accented bottle design makes it feel like more than an average bottle of Prosecco — all for under $25.
Average price: $22
Rating: 92
Bedrock Wine Co. Old Vine Zinfandel 2023
Pricey bottles of Napa Cabernet and Merlot are popular for the winter months for their full-bodied, bold flavor profiles, but California’s underdog grape, Zinfandel, can deliver these rich fruit notes without the hefty price tag. Bedrock Wine Co. works with historic vineyard sites across California to produce this Old Vine Zinfandel. The old vines (with an average age of 80 years old) produce grapes with highly concentrated flavor, leading to a wine full of blackberry, strawberry, and plum notes. The fruit is accented by soft vanilla and baking spice character from some time aging in oak.
Average price: $28
Rating: 93
Las Pedreras Los Arroyuelos Garnacha 2023
Sometimes if you want to save money on a stellar bottle of wine, the answer is to check out a region you maybe haven’t even heard of. Well, if you’re unfamiliar with the wines of Spain’s Sierra de Gredos region, this is a great time to discover its underrated Garnachas. Just outside Madrid, this mountainous winemaking area is filled with old Garnacha vines on rocky, granite soils. This unique terroir leads to a lifted, refined expression of Garnacha that would impress any fan of elegant, lighter-bodied Pinot Noirs. This bottling from Las Pedreras is brimming with notes of wild strawberries, black raspberries, and white pepper. The palate has fine tannins, bright acidity, and a mineral-driven finish.
Average price: $32
Rating: 93
Pali Wine Co. ‘Huntington’ Pinot Noir 2022
Finding value in Pinot Noir can be tough, but California’s ocean-influenced Santa Barbara region consistently delivers expressive, balanced Pinots for a fraction of the price of similar-quality bottles from Sonoma or the Willamette Valley. Pali Wine Co.’s Huntington bottling is made with 100 percent estate- grown fruit from the winery’s plantings in the Sta. Rita Hills of Santa Barbara County. The nose is welcoming with bright aromas of black cherry, vanilla, and earth. The palate is wonderfully silky with pops of juicy red fruit and spice.
Average price: $35
Rating: 93
Karthäuserhof Schieferkristall Riesling 2021
German Riesling is one of the wine world’s best value propositions, with impressive, age-worthy bottles from esteemed, historic producers available for well under the $50 mark. This bottle from Karthäuserhof is a great example. The historic estate, located between the Ruwer and Mosel rivers, dates back to at least 1335. Karthäuserhof produces a range of expressions at different quality levels, and this one feels like a steal for under $40. It opens with perfumed aromas of jasmine flowers, lime zest, and green mango. Its bright acidity, and low, 11 percent ABV, also make it wonderfully food-friendly.
Average price: $39
Rating: 94
Big Table Farm Yamhill-Carlton Chardonnay 2022
Big Table Farm is a 70-acre estate in Oregon’s Willamette Valley that’s home to seasonal vegetables, free-range hens, pasture-raised pigs, grass-fed cows, bee hives, and, of course, vineyards. Partners Brian Marcy and Clare Carver run the property together, with Marcy focusing on the winemaking and Carver farming the land and designing each of the wine’s artisanal labels. It can feel difficult to find a bottle under $50 that shares a story and a sense of place, but the wines from Big Table Farm certainly deliver. We’re big fans of the winery’s crisp Chardonnay that brings bright notes of green apples, honeysuckle, and minerals with a creamy, complex finish.
Average price: $48
Rating: 94
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