Wines under $15 that actually deliver are increasingly rare these days. Not impossible — just rare. This week’s column includes five that make the cut, including a low-alcohol Chardonnay, two sub-$10 wonders and a couple of smart finds from Portugal. A $20 red that drinks like a $40 bottle rounds out the list.
2025 Yellow Tail Light and Bright Chardonnay, South Australia, Australia
Yellow Tail built its reputation on approachable, well-made wines. This new release fits that mould. Designed for easy drinking, it’s low in alcohol but high in flavour, tasting pure-fruited and zippy. Breezy lemon-curd aromas lead to sleek, clean flavours of mixed citrus, pineapple and peach before a touch of vanilla emerges on the finish. With enough concentration to take an ice cube or two — without losing its character — this refresher is sure to beat the heat. Look for the familiar critter on the label. (8.9% alc., 11 g/L sugar)
2023 Senza Tempo Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOP, Italy
This bottle offers outstanding value, with more concentration, complexity and length than most wines at this price point. There is a rusticity here, but it reads as character, not a flaw. The fragrance is pure Italy — damsons and dusty cherries with a touch of black olive. The palate follows suit, with a red plum lift, a grippy structure and a slow finish of black pepper and graphite. This honest, Old World Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is well-suited to pizza, pasta or mid-week meat loaf. (13% alc., 7 g/L sugar)
2025 San Pedro Gato Negro Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile
(LCBO 280719, $17.95/1.5L)
At $17.95 per magnum — about $9 per 750 mL — this wine makes a smart stand-in for entry-level Californian Cabernet. Blackcurrant leads the way on the nose, opening into a velvety crush of bright berry fruit, threaded with sultanas, spice cake and hazelnut. Meanwhile, the hallmark juiciness often associated with Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon cuts the richness and ratchets up the refreshment factor. This party-sized red is well-suited to summer entertaining. It’s one to pour with abandon by the barbecue, on the deck or around the campfire. Expect lots of top-ups. (13% alc., 6 g/L sugar)
2024 Terras Lusas Vinho Regional Alentajano Vinho Branco, Portugal
If you love that bracing snap of Alvarinho — or Albariño, as it’s known in Spain — but balk at the $20-plus these wines now usually command, reach for this bottle instead. Introduced last year, it’s an electrifying blend of three Portuguese grapes — Roupeiro, Fernão Pires and Arinto. The nose is shy, but the palate is vivid and racy, loaded with citrusy fruit that’s bright but balanced, quenching and quaffable. Salty underpinnings emerge on the finish and linger, making it extra food-friendly. Fabulous with fish fritters or spicy ceviche. (12.5% alc., 2 g/L sugar)
2024 Bacalhôa JP Azeitão Syrah Castelão Aragonez, Peninsula de Setúbal, Portugal
While this label is always quite good, the current vintage is a cut above — and drinking beautifully. The ruby liquid swirls with irresistible aromas of oven-fresh raspberry tart — suddenly you’re in Grandma’s kitchen. The entry is round and smooth, ripe and generous with a clean expression of ripe berries, layered with red meat, cocoa powder and black earth. This blend of Syrah, Castelão and Aragonez comes together with perfect harmony and is just the bottle to pour with sweet sausages, pan-fried or grilled. (13.5% alc., 10 g/L sugar)
2023 Domaine Lafage Tessellae Old Vines Grenache Syrah Mourvèdre Côtes du Roussillon AOP, France
(Vintages Essential 343517, $19.95)
For a red that drinks like a $40 bottle, buy it now — then go back for another bottle before it disappears. It’s that good. The fragrance is slow and deliberate, dark and heady, hinting at grilled meat, muddled blackberry and cool slate. What follows is a flood of vinosity that’s full-bodied but not heavy, just immediately captivating. The fruit-rich centre is nicely nuanced with blackberry, iron, coffee and dried herbs. Then, a note of bitter chocolate comes to the fore on the persistent finish. Such a stirring red. (14.5% alc., 4 g/L sugar)
