(Manfred Klimek / WELT am SONNTAG)
Red wine is under immense pressure. The reason for this: young people, often and misleadingly referred to as Generation Z, have less to do with wine than the generations before them – and the many hip, genuinely new wine bars emerging all over the world cannot disguise that. One thing is clear: the successful narrative of wine culture, which also embraced fashionable aspects over the past 40 years, will not be able to continue through these times of upheaval. While white wines worldwide remain relatively stable and rosé wines have even recorded enormous gains for around five years, especially among women, red wines are currently completely out. This is also down to the narrative of red-wine culture being coded as masculine and high in alcohol. Yet the crisis in red wines, still the premier class of wine culture, also has its advantages: this year, very great, highly sought-after red wines such as those on our list cost significantly less than in previous years. Could luxury red wines become affordable again? Here is our selection of Christmas red wines for 2025.
Ramon Bilbao Rioja Crianza 2022: an uncomplicated Rioja that will not overwhelm anyone at Christmas and will leave everyone satisfied. And one we are happy to drink an extra bottle of. Crianza means the young category. In the Spanish red-wine-making tradition, however, it means at least two years of ageing in the cellar – six months obligatorily in oak barrels, usually used barriques. Clean cherry fruit, gentle vanilla from the toasting, a hint of coconut and soft tannins. Fresh enough for turkey or duck, spicy enough for roulades. A modern classic with a reliable signature and surprisingly good structure for this price category. A wine that shows why Rioja is repeatedly regarded as a safe bet: rounded, warm, approachable – and more than just Christmas folklore. A wine for every season.
Ramon Bilbao: Rioja Crianza 2022, for €8.35 at www.conderwines.de
Max Ferdinand Richter Pinot Noir 2023: the first of two remarkable Mosel Pinot Noirs, made with a delicate touch and impressive clarity. The winemaker exports a large quantity of the estate’s relatively few bottles, compared with Riesling, to the USA, where this Burgundy is currently replacing many more expensive, simple Burgundies from France as a respectable glass of red wine in fine dining. The red fruit is crystal-clear, absolutely Burgundian in its aromatics, but with that Mosel lightness in the tannins that makes it dangerously easy to drink. Delicate, precise, unassuming – an ideal partner for festive starters and light meat dishes. This Pinot Noir shows that Constantin Richter is not only capable of making perfect Riesling, but can also conceive red wine with surprising finesse. Always present: a delicious piece of salt from the slate terroir.
Max Ferdinand Richter: Pinot Noir 2023, for €18.50 at www.maxferdrichter.de
López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Cubillo Crianza 2017 is Rioja and Tempranillo as only Heredia makes it: a Crianza that, like all Tondonia wines, was allowed to mature for many years in bottle in the winery’s cellar. This is almost a unique selling point in the wine world and also indicates that the traditional house has enough capital to be able to afford storing these bottles. Cubillo is, of course, traditionally made, never an experiment, finely oxidative and full of noble patina. Ripe red fruit, leather, black tea, slight smoke, a hint of cedarwood, and almost perfect, appetite-whetting acidity – a wine seemingly out of time, but in the best possible way. Cubillo is the entry point into the Tondonia world, and even here the grandeur of the house is already apparent. Perfect with roasts, game or goose. A Rioja with soul and, at this price, astonishing festive elegance. Needs an hour of air before drinking.
Lopez de Heredia: Vina Tondonia Cubillo Tinto Crianza 2017, for 19.90 at www.gute-weine.de
Lungarotti Montefalco Sagrantino 2020 presents Umbria’s largely unknown and actually perfect red-wine variety, Sagrantino, as a statement wine: dark, massive, driven by a tannic structure capable of putting even Piedmontese Barolos in the shade. Lungarotti restrains the variety just enough to allow drinkability without smoothing out its power. Black berries, graphite, dark chocolate – a powerful Christmas wine for large plates. Those who know and understand Sagrantino love it for precisely this uncompromising nature.
Lungarotti: Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG 2020, for €34.99 at www.wir-winzer.de
Paul Achs Pinot Noir Reserve Selektion P 2022 is one of the most elegant Pinot Noirs of Burgenland. This is also down to the winemaker and his love of red Burgundian varieties, which he was already cultivating when the variety was still regarded as a difficult-to-market exotic in Burgenland. Fine cherry fruit, cool minerality, silky length. Nothing loud, nothing over-extracted, everything precisely placed. The P selection carries French ambitions, but with an unmistakably warm, Pannonian signature. Festive, noble, a Pinot for the quiet, concentrated moments on Christmas Eve. Needs two hours of air in the decanter.
Paul Achs: Pinot Noir Reserve Selektion P 2022, for €47.90 at www.bremer-weinkolleg.de
Markus Molitor Pinot Noir*** Graacher Himmelreich 2019 is the second interesting Pinot Noir, better known here as Spätburgunder, from the Mosel, and is the 100-Parker-point winemaker Molitor’s substantial and successful experiment in making great red wines in this explicitly white-wine region: an aristocratic, profound Pinot, cool and structured, with fine oak spice and already dramatic length on the palate. Molitor vinifies Pinot Noir with the same pedantic precision as all his white wines, and you can taste it: clarity, depth, calm. A wine for grand Christmas evenings and, at the same time, a collector’s wine with a future. Needs at least two hours of air.
Markus Molitor: Pinot Noir Graacher Himmelreich 2019, for €128.00 at www.ludwig-von-kapff.de
Château Le Gay 2001 in a magnum bottle (1.5 l) shows Pomerol in perfectly mature perfection and inner calm from a completely underrated vintage that reliably guarantees great, elegant mature wines: velvety structure, warm dark fruit, truffle, cedarwood, and also a slight damp horse saddle on the nose, for which older, traditional Bordeaux wines are particularly known. In magnum, the wine is especially harmonious and astonishingly young. Le Gay 2001 shows how beautifully Merlot can age: dignified, deep, without the slightest weariness. A great Christmas wine that speaks of elegance, time and long bottle ageing. Act quickly: there are only a few bottles. Important: do not decant; pour from the bottle, which should be opened 30 minutes beforehand.
Chateau Le Gay 2001, magnum bottle, for €220.00 at www.trinkreif.at
Les Forts de Latour 2005 is very close in taste to the first wine, Château Latour. The reason is the perfect and now perfectly approachable 2005 vintage: immense structure, enormous precision and typical Latour dignity. Blackcurrant, graphite, tobacco leaves, great, immense elegance. Pauillac in its serious, majestic form. Great in the glass, serious at the table, yet an immense source of pleasure. A Christmas wine for those who understand Bordeaux as the supreme discipline. Needs two hours of air. Affordable luxury.
Château Latour: Les Forts de Latour 2005, for €245.00 at www.vintage-grapes.com
Leroy Bourgogne Rouge 2018 possesses an intensity rarely found in this category. No wonder: Leroy is one of those venerable cult producers of Burgundy whose bottles are allocated to merchants. This Bourgogne Rouge is one of the simplest wines of the house – and yet is almost too great for words. Darkly spicy, concentrated, yet silky, rich in extract and full of tension. A Pinot Noir that makes other red wines from the region, even those from famous sites, seem like supporting actors. Pure concentration, aristocratic aromatics: a festive wine that needs no great site to deliver greatness. Needs two hours of air.
Leroy Borgogne Rouge 2018, for €294.00 at www.bottle-hero.de
Joseph Drouhin Grands Échezeaux Grand Cru 2021 is the embodiment of Pinot elegance and legend. One of the finest, most distinguished and greatest red wines in the world: fine red fruit, cool Morello cherry, a little bay leaf, chiselled acidity and a length that turns the moment into a devotional experience. 2021 appears lean, classical, purist – a vintage that places terroir above power. A Christmas wine for the pinnacle of the celebration: sublime, concentrated, unforgettable. Open at midday and put it in the decanter.
Joseph Drouhin: Grands Echezeaux Grand Cru 2021, for €882.57 at www.perbaccowine.de