Reds Under $50

wines

Shimmering ruby-red. High-pitched red and blue fruit, floral and exotic spice scents, along with hints of earth and botanical herbs. Juicy and penetrating on the palate, offering intense boysenberry, black raspberry, spicecake and lavender flavors that turn sweeter through the back half. Shows excellent clarity and floral lift on the impressively long, blue-fruit-driven finish, which is framed by talc-y, even tannins.Vinous Media | 94 VMBrianne Day’s 2019 pinot noir from the Momtazi Vineyard is a fine young bottle. The wine tips the scales at 13.2 percent alcohol in this vintage and offers up a deep, complex and promising young bouquet of black plums, dark berries, balsam bough, cola, a beautiful base of soil, woodsmoke, a touch of sweet stems and a suave framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and youthful, with a lovely core of black fruit, excellent soil signature, ripe tannins, good acids and a long, focused and beautifully balanced finish. There is just a whisper of natural wine wildness that hovers in the background of the finish here, but it only adds to the complexity. Pinot from Momtazi Vineyard is always quite black fruity in personality to my palate, but loaded with other nuances, and this is emphatically the case with the lovely 2019 from Brianne Day. (Drink between 2029 - 2075)John Gilman | 92+ JG

This bold but light-bodied wine wraps phenomenal fruitiness and freshness in lively acidity and fine-grained tannins for a rare mix of vibrancy and concentration. It stops short of full ripeness and lures with red cherry, sour cherry and rhubarb flavors that are intense and long. Best from 2024.Wine Enthusiast | 95 WEThe 2019 Pinot Noir Faîte de Mer Farm is the most elegant and complete of the Mendocino wines in this range. It is distinguished by layers of bright, red-toned fruit and soaring aromatics. Bright acids support a core of crushed raspberry fruit, wild flowers, mint, spice and crushed rocks. I very much like the vibrancy and cut here. The Faîte de Mer Farm is simply gorgeous.Antonio Galloni | 94 AG

This has a swathe of fresh, spicy French oak, making an impressively complex impression on the nose with plenty of fragrant, red florals and cherries. The palate has a very succulent feel with attractively fresh fruit pop. Special 150th anniversary edition. Drink or hold.James Suckling | 92 JSThe 2019 Pinot Noir Max Edición Aniversario from Aconcagua spent 11 months in French barrels, 15% of them new. Cherry red in hue. The nose features notes of cherry and rose plus wood and a hint of undergrowth. In the mouth this reverberates with taut acidity, a terse, linear texture and concentrated flavor.Vinous Media | 90 VM

A full-bodied, richly textured example thanks to the richer soils on the estate’s southern borders. You can expect attractive aromas of violets, herbs and red cherries. There’s a sumptuous veil of fine-grained tannins that coat the mouth and add sinew and a sense of purpose on the medium-length finish. If you were feeling intrepid, you could approach this now with a decent hunk of meat, but leave it for a couple of years to enjoy its evolution of flavor and tannin.Vinous Media | 91 VMExuberant, offering juicy cherry, blood orange and fresh herb accents, with spice, green tea and dried lavender notes on a supple, vibrant frame. Drink now through 2035. 1,800 cases made, 448 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 91 WSThis is on the dense, rich side by Pinot standards, but is balanced and food friendly. It leads with supple black cherry, plum, chocolate, medicinal herbs, black pepper and warm tarmac aromas. A zing of acidity buoys the succulent fruit. Spicy tannins keep a firm grip right to the finish. Drink now with protein until 2029.Wine Enthusiast | 90 WE