wine12 great wines under $20 a bottleDaryna TobeyThey are wines that have a place in every home, though there’s no formal name for their kind: They’re sip-with-pizza-on-a-Tuesday-night quaffs, yet they’re nice enough to bring to a friend’s house for a casual dinner. They are enjoyable right out of the bottle, and it wouldn’t be a travesty if you cooked with them. These wines are, as 90+ Cellars’ vice president and co-founder Brett Vankoski calls them, “soldiers” that protect your cellar’s more treasured bottlings from premature death. I just call these all-purpose, buy-by-the-case bottles our “house” wines.I’ve spent the last month or so evaluating dozens of under-$20 wines for Fortune. Many were “classical, seasonal, versatile and affordable,” all qualities that Colleen Holden, wine director at Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks in Boston, looks for in house wines. I also found that the wines I wanted to reach for again did not have too much acid, oak, tannins, or alcohol.

So how much should you spend on these wines by the case, and what should you buy? Here are our experts’ top tips on how to shop for them, along with a dozen of Fortune’s recommendations for easy-to-find, please-everyone bottles. Stick with newer vintages. Wines meant for casual drinking don’t age particularly well. “If a wine is meant to be drunk fresh,” as are most whites and rosés, says Holden, “it’s important that you’re buying the most recent vintage, or just one year prior.” A $12 2005 rosé, in other words, is no bargain.Be mindful of the alcohol content. If you’re enjoying a glass or two during the week, says Vankoski, “a 15% alcohol wine is not what you want.” Stick to wines in the 12%-to-14% range, which Vankoski likens to “session” ales, if you don’t want to be hurting at work the next day. Get it while the getting is good. Word about a great bottle at a giveaway price can spread like wildfire. Jeff Wooddy, general manager of Rochambeau Wines in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., says that shortly after turning his customers on to a $13 Médoc cru bourgeois, “it was suddenly a wine that only sold by the case …

We had a customer who would drive here from Greenwich and put six cases in the back of his Bentley, and off he went. We must have sold over 200 cases of that wine.” best wine themed giftsThe moral: Buy up a few cases of a favorite now—or cry later. best wine west villageDon’t go too cheap. red wine brands south africaHow much should you spend on a good weeknight wine? best 5 pound wineOur experts all give retail price ranges between $10 and $18, and they say $15 seems to be the “sweet spot” at which you’ll taste a noticeable step up in quality. best wine regions in the world 2015

Fortune’s tastings bear this out. And don’t forget: With a 20% case discount, a $15 wine will only cost you $12.Here are our dozen picks for Fortune’s favorite affordable house wines:Mulderbosch 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé Coastal Region ($14) Dry, with mouthwatering acidity. best wine clubs canadaA fuller-bodied rosé from South Africa, with raspberry and orange/grapefruit flavors.best white wine for afternoon teaAia Vecchia 2014 Vermentino Toscana IGT ($12) Plump, round, and minerally, with pear and melon flavors. wine to buy for a wine loverA drink-anywhere white that's not overly dry or acidic. best red wine to eat with pizzaRelatedwinesThese 5 Can’t Miss Wines Are All Under $50winesThese 5 Can’t Miss Wines Are All Under $50Arnaldo Caprai 2013 Grechetto Colli Martani DOC ($20) Has a clean feel and a sturdy backbone plus pear, mineral, and olive oil flavors.

Versatile enough to be a fine apéritif or a good accompaniment to seafood or poultry.Columbia Crest 2014 H3 Sauvignon Blanc Horse Heaven Hills ($15) The bottle should say “springtime fresh” on the label; shows citrus and stone fruit couched in a clean, pleasing mouthfeel. Will have wide appeal.Dourthe 2013 La Grande Cuvée Bordeaux AOC ($13) A crisp white with herb, mineral, and citrus flavors. Just the thing for the raw bar—or enjoy it on its own.Hanna 2014 Sauvignon Blanc Russian River Valley ($19) A taste of summer: This California white wine has sunny peach and pear flavors, a smooth, river-rock feel, and good length on the finish.Santa Cristina 2014 Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie ($12) Has bright green apple and grapefruit flavors; pretty straightforward but delivers a good, everyday wine at an affordable price.Château Saint-Sulpice 2012 Bordeaux AOC ($15) Approachable but not simple; red fruit has nutty, earthy nuances and a nice mocha note on the finish. One to drink with dinner.

70% Merlot.Enrique Mendoza 2012 La Tremenda Monastrell Alicante ($12) Has pleasing spice and herbal accents to the cherry/blackberry fruit; it’s the easy kind of Spanish wine you’d order by the glass at your favorite tapas bar.La Follette 2013 Pinot Noir North Coast ($20) A forward California style with a soft feel, it’s rife with berry and cherry flavors. More nuanced than a basic Pinot, but still affordable.Masseria Li Veli 2013 Passamante Negroamaro Salice Salentino DOC ($13) Well balanced and easy to drink, with forward but tangy berry-basket flavors. Delivers nice quality at a bargain price. You totally want this with red-sauced Italian fare.Qupé 2012 Syrah Central Coast ($20) California Syrah with an Old World soul: big, juicy, black and purple fruit with earth, clay, smoke/mocha, and fresh herbal nuances.That may be true if you are mass-producing wine, practicing economies of scale in order to efficiently create a specified product with advanced technology. Big Agriculture and fast-food companies operate on similar principles, which is why it is cheaper to buy a sack of burgers at McDonald’s than it is to buy good ingredients to make your own.

I would rather pay more for good food than settle for something cheaper, even if it’s edible. The same applies to wine. Made on a giant scale, wine for the most part is a commodity, sound but uninteresting. Made on a smaller scale, with an eye toward quality, wine becomes a labor of love, with more personality and character than what’s rolled out in the millions of bottles. Is this equation always true? More than a million bottles of the Juvé y Camps cava on my list are produced annually. But it is true more often than not.The sorts of wines I’ve selected, which speak of a place and express a culture, generally cost more. They require more sweat to produce and more investment financially and emotionally. Their value is in the soul they radiate. If you love wine, it’s a price worth paying.Finding these wines requires looking on the margins. You won’t find bottles from the most prestigious regions on this list. But it’s worth departing from the main highways of wine. In wine and in life, the best discoveries are often on the back roads.

Eminence Road Farm Winery Seneca Lake Riesling 2012 $20The Finger Lakes region of New York has become the great American source for fine rieslings. The wines of Eminence Road Farm Winery are practically handmade, unfiltered with as few additions as possible. The 2012 riesling is a bit cloudy and will leave some sediment at the bottom of the glass, but it’s an earthy, gravelly delight, gentle and balanced. Jochen Beurer Württemberg Riesling Trocken 2013 $19Outside of the Rhine and Mosel areas, Americans are largely unfamiliar with other German wine regions, like Württemberg in the southwest, near Stuttgart. In Germany, it’s better known for red wine, but this riesling, grown on limestone soils, is simply beautiful: stony, chalky and floral. (Selection Massale, San Leandro, Calif.) Peter Lauer Saar Riesling ‘Barrel X’ 2013 $18“Barrel X” is the entry-level riesling of Peter Lauer, which has become something of a cult producer. Its wines are precise and jewel-like, and this one is no different, rocky on the palate with an almost razor-like focus and just the most tender touch of residual sugar.

(Vom Boden/T. Elenteny Imports, New York) Geil Rheinhessen Muskateller Trocken 2013 $17Muskateller is German for muscat blanc à petits grains, the classic muscat grape, one of the oldest, most aromatic and least appreciated varieties. This is a perfect little touch of springtime in a glass, lively and floral, well balanced and refreshing. (A Terry Theise Selection/Skurnik Wines, New York)Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie Clos des Briords Cuvée Vieilles Vignes 2013 $20 The dense minerality of this wine is extraordinary. It’s a brilliant Muscadet, full of energy, delicious now but a wine that will age for years. Producers like Pépière are changing minds about Muscadet. If you still think it’s simply a light quaffing wine, try this and reconsider. (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York) Pheasant’s Tears Kakheti Rkatsiteli 2011 $19 This unusual wine, made from the ancient rkatsiteli grape, comes from the republic of Georgia, a cradle of winemaking history.

It is fermented and aged in a qvevri, a traditional clay vessel lined with beeswax and buried in the earth. The result is a deep amber wine with a raspy texture, steely and full-bodied, with aromas and flavors of apples, herbs and nuts. (Terrell Wines, San Francisco)Shinn Estate North Fork of Long Island Sauvignon Blanc ‘First Fruit’ 2013 $18Shinn Estate is one of my favorite Long Island producers. Its wines always seem alive in the glass, energetic and full of pleasure, and this sauvignon blanc is no different. It’s light and tangy, almost succulent, with fresh fruit flavors. It’s called “First Fruit” because its sauvignon blanc grapes are the first to be harvested each year. Birichino Monterey Malvasia Bianca 2012 $18You don’t see much malvasia from California, even though the grape was introduced to the state by Italian immigrants in the 19th century. Malvasia Bianca is actually one of many grapes, not necessarily related, that go by the malvasia name. This one is focused and bold, with bright, bracing, fresh fruit flavors that linger.

Angiolino Maule Rosso del Veneto I.G.T. Masieri 2013 $17Angiolino Maule makes wines almost as naturally as possible. Aside from a minimal amount of sulfur dioxide as a preservative, ingredients include grapes only, mostly merlot with some cabernet sauvignon. It’s the Bordeaux formula, but this wine, from the Veneto, is very different, lively and precise with earthy flavors of red fruit. Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Beaujolais Cuvée Traditionnelle Vieilles Vignes 2013 $17In the old days, before Beaujolais Nouveau became a phenomenon, good Beaujolais was like this: fresh with aromas and flavors of red and black fruits, slightly bitter and entirely refreshing. In a word: joyous. Nowadays, when we have great cru Beaujolais to choose from, I’m glad we also have simply delicious bottles like this. Perfect to drink in a tumbler. Domaine de la Chevalerie Bourgueil ‘Diptyque Dernier Cri’ 2012 $16Wine writers perennially seem to urge consumers to seek great values among the red wines of the Loire Valley, generally to little effect.

Let’s try this: Everybody should avoid this beautifully balanced, energetic wine, full of the aromas and flavors of minerals and dark fruits. Why would anybody want to drink a wine like this? (Fruit of the Vines, New York)Musar Jeune Bekaa Valley of Lebanon 2010 $18 This is not the great, idiosyncratic, long-lived red of Chateau Musar. It’s a less expensive wine made to be drunk young. Even so, it’s really good, spicy and earthy, with a flavor that seems to combine dark fruits and soy. It’s made primarily of cinsault, with some syrah and cabernet sauvignon blended in. Better a taste of Musar that stands well on its own than no Musar at all. (Broadbent Selections, San Francisco) Juvé y Camps Cava Brut Nature Reserva de la Familia 2010 $18 No matter what the season, we must have sparkling wine. Cava, mostly from the Penedès region of northeastern Spain, is made in the same manner as Champagne, but with different grapes. Good versions, like this one from Juvé y Camps, can be great values.

It’s crisp, bone dry, almost cloudlike, with aromas of herbs and anise. Pont de Gassac Pays d’Hérault Selection Guibert 2012 $16This entry-level bottle from Mas de Daumas Gassac, one of the leading producers of the Languedoc, is a superb value. It’s juicy and agile, with a welcome tannic bite and a bit of bitterness that refreshes. The blend is half cabernet sauvignon, 30 percent merlot and 20 percent syrah. (Polaner Selections, Mount Kisco, N.Y.)Bedrock California Shebang Eighth Cuvée $15This modern facsimile of an old-time California field blend, made from multiple vineyards and multiple vintages, is spicy and savory and just plain delicious. Unlike many inexpensive California wines, it’s not sweet, oak-flavored or simple. You could call it an inexpensive adult wine, not especially complex but great for burgers, sausages and pizza. Frontón de Oro Gran Canaria Tinto 2012 $16This red, from Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, is not without tannins. Though its flavors of red fruits and herbs are somewhat restrained, it is robust enough to stand up to a steak.

Made from the listán negro grape. (David Bowler Wine, New York) Cavallotto Langhe Freisa 2011 $20Freisa is a relative of the nebbiolo grape, and it has marked similarities. In fact, you could easily mistake the mouth-coating tannins and aromas and flavors of licorice and flowers for nebbiolo, though it doesn’t have the same depth or complexity. Still, this wine, made by a superb Langhe producer, is a graceful, delicious gem. (Skurnik Wines, New York)Rainoldi Valtellina Superiore Grumello 2010 $18 Valtellina, in the north of Italy near the border of Lombardy and Switzerland, offers an alternative expression of nebbiolo, from the mountains. This version, from the Grumello zone of Valtellina Superiore, offers complex flavors of dried cherries, tobacco, herbs and spices. It’s fresh, well structured, already complex and a great deal. (Skurnik Wines, New York) Gutiérrez Colosía Fino El Puerto de Santa María NV $18The fino sherries of Jerez de la Frontera and Sanlúcar de Barrameda (where they are called manzanilla) are well known.