There are in the pages of the Essential Guide 2025 510 wines that have the “thumbs up”. It is our symbol for the excellent relationship between wine quality and selling price: basically the wines to buy to drink well at very affordable prices. From these, we have chosen the 10 that have the best value for money.

To make this final list of the 10 wines with the best quality/price ratio, we selected those that had a score above 90/100 and a cost within 8.00 euros. Contrary to what you might think (and what happened, for example, last year), these are not all white wines, but there are also several reds and a rosé, basically there is something for everyone.

Our champion this year proves to be the Bianchello del Metauro Gazza 2023 Di Sante, a very modern Marche white, fresh, fragrant and with low alcohol content. It reports an excellent tasting score (93/100) and costs decidedly little: € 7.

Then we have, in second place (almost an ex aequo), an Abruzzese, a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo from a producer who “frequents” this ranking often and who in the 2016 edition of the Guide won this award, Illuminati.

We then find three Tuscan wines: a Rosso di Montepulciano, a Chianti and a Vernaccia di San Gimignano: three historic and important appellations.

So here is a Bonarda dell’Oltrepò Pavese (Lombardy), a Bardolino Chiaretto (Veneto) and a Bombino Bianco (Puglia). Last but not least two Umbrian wines, both from the Trasimeno area. This demonstrates that in Italy it is still possible to drink very well while spending little almost everywhere, you just need to know how to look.

Here is the list:

Bianchello del Metauro Gazza 2023 Di Sante (Marche) 93/100 – €7…but can be found for less
Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Riparosso 2023 Illuminati (Abruzzo) 93/100 – € 7
Rosso di Montepulciano 2023 Vecchia Cantina di Montepulciano (Tuscany) 92/100 – € 7
Chianti San Lorenzo 2023 Fattorie Melini (Tuscany) 90/100 – €7
Vernaccia di San Gimignano 2023 Tenuta La Vigna (Tuscany) 93/100 – € 8
Bonarda dell’Oltrepò Pavese 2023 Il Molino di Rovescala (Lombardy) 93/100 – €8
Bardolino Chiaretto 2023 Albino Piona (Veneto) 92/100 – € 8
Puglia Bombino Bianco 2023 D’Alfonso del Sordo (Puglia) 91/100 – € 8
Colli del Trasimeno Grechetto Nuricante 2023 Duca della Corgna (Umbria) 91/100 – €8
Trasimeno Rosso Riserva Sant’Anna di Pucciarella 2021 Terre del Fondo (Umbria) 91/100 – € 8