As much as we love the 100% sangiovese Brunello di Montalcino and selected some great value Brunello under $40 a bottle from the fabulous 2015 vintage earlier (see here), we would hate to overlook its little brother – Rosso di Montalcino. Today, as people focus on the merits of drinkability, in the sense that a wine is approachable at an early stage and is tasty enough to turn sips into swigs, brighter wines with clarity and vibrancy like Rosso di Montalcino are receiving the attention they deserve.

Some rossos may start life as Brunellos and then get bottled as Rosso di Montalinco if they don’t quite hit the standards required, but most are either made from specific vineyards or younger vines dedicated to Rosso from scratch. From reliable producers a Rosso is like a baby Brunello that didn’t finish school and got kicked out early to start working, while the parents groom their Brunellos for bigger things. That sounds cruel for these Rossos, but for consumers, they are essentially younger Brunellos on sale.

As sangiovese does not deliver very dark pigments, the name “Rosso” aptly describes what you see in the wine: the lustrously bright red hue often in a semi-transparent intensity. With a minimum of just one year of aging required before bottling, this vibrant ruby color and vivacious red fruit from the pure sangiovese is often the calling card of a benchmark Rosso. The best Rosso di Montalcinos over-deliver here and their intensity can outperform a mediocre Brunello. Given that the wine is less aged, these Rossos shine with more genuine fruit vibes. Savoriness comes as a harmonious supplement. They are bright, focused, and intense but never heavy.

That said, there are also plenty of Rossos out there that are either too light and acidic or too hollow and forcefully tannic. A Chianti or a Vino Nobile di Montepulciano at a similar price are good alternatives despite allowing a fraction of other varieties in the blend.

The list below picks highly drinkable bottles with an average price under $25 from vintages that are widely available. But if you want to disregard price, I would also recommend the Rossos from some of my favorite and arguably most consistent producers like Siro Pacenti and Fuligni as well as worthy names such as Poggio di Sotto and Biondi Santi, though they are often priced at Brunello levels.

This great value flight consists of a trio of vintages. 2016 was a formidable year for sangiovese, offering great value and top quality. 2017 was rather hot, making finesse more challenging. But the Rossos that fared well show good voluptuousness and concentration without any jammy, overripe characters. And after a rather wet spring that proceeded to the early summer, 2018 seemed to have delivered more classic, balanced wines with linear tannin and fresh and juicy fruit.

– Zekun Shuai, associate editor in Beijing