Reds Under $50

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Delicate aromas recalling scorched earth and truffle mingle with mocha and botanical herb on this 100% Sangiovese. Elegant and enveloping, the supple palate features fleshy plum, orange zest and baking spice before an espresso finish. Soft tannins offer supple support. Drink through 2024. Kerin O’Keefe | 94 KODelicate aromas recalling scorched earth and truffle mingle with mocha and botanical herbs on this 100% Sangiovese. Elegant and enveloping, the supple palate features fleshy plum, orange zest and baking spice before an espresso finish. Soft tannins offer supple support. Drink through 2024. Wine Enthusiast | 94 WEThe 2019 Chianti Classico is fresh, vibrant and so expressive. Aromatic and expansive, with terrific nuance, the 2019 is one of the most elegant Chianti Classicos I have tasted at Fontodi. Crushed flowers, red/purplish fruit, spice, lavender and pipe tobacco build into the delineated, vibrant finish.Vinous Media | 93+ VMThis succulent red is hallmarked by very pure expressions of cherry, raspberry, violet and mineral. Firmly built, with energy and a persistence that extends the fruit, tobacco and mineral elements on the finish. Drink now through 2030. 10,000 cases made, 3,000 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 93 WSThis benchmark Panzano estate is still in the hands of long-time owner, Giovanni Manetti, but the new generation is very much in evidence: Manetti’s son Bernardo, daughter Margherita and nephew Costa now play fundamental roles as the estate continues to grow. Fontodi’s 2019 is striking and pronounced in fragrance. Liquorice and black cherry are offset by coffee, char and tobacco. Vigorous tannins yield slowly but surely as this makes its way across the palate. Its structure is well-proportioned with the ripe black fruit, substantial but never heavy or imposing, underscored by some tanginess. As always, it soars above its category.Decanter | 93 DECSweet berry and cherry aromas with plenty of flowers on the nose and palate. Medium body. Fresh finish. From organically grown grapes. Delicious now.James Suckling | 93 JSOffering a clear snapshot of the vintage, the 2019 Chianti Classico draws its organic fruit only from Panzano from estate vineyards and a few leased parcels in the Conca d’Oro. The bouquet opens to fresh cherry, bright rose and other floral nuances. The mineral signature in this wine is strong and serves to give focus and linearity. It offers good flavor intensity to the palate, with elegant tannins to finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 92 RPThis 2019 Fontodi Chianti Classico shows an attractive bright mid-deep youthful purple ruby color. The nose remains reticent on standing with notes of spice, pepper and mineral aromas of flint and iron, not especially fruity, but with some light cooked red fruits underneath. The palate is medium full bodied, mouth-filling with long savory, salty, spicy tannins, but a little lacking in depth of flavor in the middle. Nevertheless it is a serious style Chianti Classico meant to be paired with food.The Wine Independent | 92 TWI

This ripe style is fresh and harmonious, delivering plum, cherry and boysenberry fruit, with accents of earth, iron and eucalyptus. Supple in texture, with a beautifully integrated structure and long, complex aftertaste. Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2026 through 2043. 29,667 cases made, 5,833 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 95 WSThis is one of the big surprises of this tasting and ultimately represents one of the best buys in the entire extended Marchesi Antinori portfolio. The 2021 Chianti Classico Riserva Tenuta Tignanello Marchese Antinori shares the DNA of Tignanello. It is Sangiovese kissed with small parts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Of course, the wine is more accessible and open compared to Tignanello, and spiritually, this wine is a Chianti Classico. By that I mean that the elegant minerality of these soils and the sunny flavors of its environs are the determining characteristics. You get wildflower, iris, tart fruit and plum. The wine’s enhanced mineral character, with dusty white rock, is what adds lasting complexity and depth.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94+ RPThe 2021 Chianti Classico Riserva Marchese Antinori is particularly strong this year. Red cherry, plum, blood orange and pomegranate infuse the 2021 with notable depth. French oak is better integrated than in the past. There’s less extraction today and quite a bit more finesse. This is a terrific showing from Antinori.Vinous Media | 93 VMAmong this estate’s 130 hectares of vines in San Casciano Val di Pesa are the Tignanello and Solaia vineyards. This Riserva is fermented in stainless steel, undergoing a spontaneous malolactic fermentation and ageing in French and Hungarian oak barriques for 12 months before bottling. An old vintage, 2010, impressed us all in 2023 by topping the leaderboard at our ‘Ageing Chianti Classico’ panel tasting, and this 2021 equally has plenty of potential. It oozes with menthol, fresh hedgerow berries and some baked currants. There’s plenty of fruit intensity, backed by well integrated wood structure, and it keeps quite a vertical profile in the mouth which helps to belie its density. Powdery tannins coat the cheeks, balanced by fresh acidity, while the inherent juiciness of the fruit waits to be unlocked with time.Decanter | 93 DECAromas of cassis, French oak and violet lead the nose on the polished 2021 Chianti Classico Tignanello Riserva. On the structured, polished palate, tightly woven, fine-grained tannins support Morello cherry, red currant and licorice. It’s balanced, with fresh acidity. Drink 2025–2031. Abv: 14.5% Kerin O’Keefe | 92 KO