We know, we know. You have just spent a month or more drinking breaking the bank drinking fine wine, and your checking account needs a break. At the beginning of every January, we therefore make a point of highlighting the very best value wines we can offer. This is your red wine option.

Unfortunately, far too often in the wine world, less expensive wine means industrial. Grapes are mass-farmed with chemicals, and then turned into wine in factory-like facilities. That’s how most cheap wine is made.

Today’s wine is the opposite. It is grown biodynamically and sustainably. Wine-making is in a small cellar where every vat and every barrel can be carefully tended to. Sure, this is common stuff when it comes to the wines we offer that cost $40, but it remains very rare – nearly economically impossible – when we talk about wine for under $25.

Today’s wine is from Rasteau, an interesting corner of France that has spent a century fighting for recognition as one of the “special” corners of the Cotes du Rhone. At first, they had to label themselves as simple Cotes du Rhone. Then in 1966, they could add the word “Rasteau”. In 1999, they could add “Villages Rasteau” – a step up, apparently. Finally, in 2010, Rasteau was recognized as an AOC in its own right. Victory!

The Domaine de Trapadis makes one of our favorite Rasteaus, as they produce wines that are pure-fruited, chiseled, and possess none of the heaviness that you get from some Rhones. Their wines are delicious cooler-weather wine, offering fruit that is generous and warming but never over-powering.

Fortunately for us, this victory for Rasteau’s wine-growers has not – yet – resulted in a pop in prices. This is a great red wine for a more modest New Years budget:

Domaine du Trapadis Rasteau Rouge Les Cras 2019 - $23.99