Some may assume that because we're called "The Rare Wine Co.,"  all we do is sniff out unicorns. But we're just as happy using our unparalleled expertise to hunt down far less expensive wines that wildly exceed expectations. In fact, many of our favorite sub-$50 wines carry impressive pedigrees, coming from best-of-class winemakers, many of whom also produce $300+ blue chips.

Today's curated mixed case is a case in point. These are all wines we not only love to drink; we'd be happy putting them on the same table with bottles costing several times more. Not only do they offer great taste and style; they also have compelling stories, as the descriptions below demonstrate.

The list price of all the wines in the case adds up to $603.50. Yet, you can have it (while supplies last) for just $399.

But you'll need to hurry, as there's a limit to how many of these extraordinary cases we can assemble from our library.

Includes 1 btl each of the following:
2018 Jean-Philippe Fichet Meursault
2019 Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec
Chartogne-Taillet Cuvée Sainte-Anne Champagne
2015 Kiralyudvar Peszgö Henye Sparkling Tokaji
2011 Riojanas Monte Real Rioja Gran Reserva
2015 Julien Cécillon Saint-Joseph Babylone
2017 Louis Boillot Volnay 1er Cru Les Angles
2016 Terres Dorees Morgon Côte du Py
2007 Rudius Emerald Pool Syrah
2018 Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo
NV Calabretta Cala Cala Rosso (Sicily)
RWC New York Malmsey Madeira
All bottles are 750ml.

Notes on the wines:

2018 Jean-Philippe Fichet Meursault
Over the past decade, Jean-Philippe Fichet has emerged as one of the most admired growers in Meursault, producing a range of wines revered for their purity, complexity and expression of soil. While best known for his towering single-site wines, Tesson, Chevalières and Gruyaches, Jean-Philippe’s blended 2018 Meursault villages takes full advantage of the diversity of his holdings, marrying the racy minerality of the village’s upper slope with the depth and richness of the lower to produce a perfectly balanced wine that captures the essence of Meursault.

2019 Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec
No domaine in Vouvray has mastered the art of making great Chenin Blanc at every level of sweetness as Huet has. But every decade or two, a Huet vintage comes along in which one category reigns supreme. In 2019, the dry (sec) cuvées eclipse everything else. And this ideal dry Vouvray year produced a Le Haut-Lieu Sec to rival any made in the domaine’s 92-year history, framing this iconic terroir’s famed richness within the structure to enable it to, in John Gilman’s words, “last a hundred years.” Twin 95-point ratings from The Wine Advocate and from John Gilman’s View from the Cellar.

NV Chartogne-Taillet Cuvée Sainte-Anne Brut
Since taking charge of his family’s 500-year-old estate in 2006, Alexandre Chartogne has become one of grower Champagne’s brightest stars. Based in the far northern part of the Montagne de Reims, Alexandre crafts his Cuvée Sainte-Anne from an equal mix of organically grown Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in sand and clay soils. Exceptionally for a non-vintage cuvée, it is fermented and aged in barrels of varying size, producing a Champagne of pure, precise finesse.

2015 Kiralyudvar Peszgö Henye Sparkling Tokaji
Like its sister estate, Domaine Huet, Tokaji’s Kiralyudvar takes advantage of great terroir and singular methods to fashion a sparkling wine that rivals any number of more expensive Champagnes. The wine is drawn from a single grand cru vineyard, Henye, whose hilltop volcanic slope is one of Tokaji’s greatest. Fermented in 500-liter barrels, aged on the lees in bottle for two years, and dosed with a small portion of 2002 Aszú 6 Puttonyos, it is a uniquely rich and creamy sparkling wine, leavened by bracing acidity and striking minerality. The 2015 received a 92-point rating from Stephan Reinhardt in The Wine Advocate, who called it “rich, intense, full-bodied.”

2011 Riojanas Monte Real Rioja Gran Reserva
Bodegas Riojanas is one of the grand old names of Rioja. Their classic winemaking and fabulous quality is most purely exemplified by the opulent Monte Real Gran Reserva. It is made from fruit from Riojanas’ own vineyards in Cenicero, a prized terroir producing remarkably complete wines. Traditionally long aged in American oak barricas, the 2011 Monte Real Gran Reserva is the definition of old school Rioja. And the provenance of our stock couldn’t be better, a selection received directly from the Riojanas library last year.

2015 Julien Cécillon Saint-Joseph Babylone
The red-hot northern Rhône appellation of Saint-Joseph has drawn a legion of young winemakers eager to put their own stamp on the appellation’s fine Syrah terroirs. One of the best is Julien Cécillon, an eleventh-generation vigneron on the steep granite slopes at Saint-Joseph’s heart. His 2015 Saint-Joseph Babylone is sourced from 115-year-old vines in the Côte de Rivoires lieu-dit. From a powerfully rich vintage, Julien has produced a classic Saint-Joseph, using such time-honored methods as native-yeast, whole-cluster fermentation and aging in neutral barrels.

2017 Louis Boillot Volnay 1er Cru Les Angles
Despite only having been founded in 2002, Domaine Louis Boillot has quietly become one of the most admired small estates in the Côte d’Or. He expertly farms an extensive range of prime old-vine vineyards, and his masterful winemaking, with extended, gentle extractions and little new oak, produces pure, nuanced Old School Burgundies. It’s an approach particularly well suited to the elegance of Volnay and his perfumed, silky 2017 Volnay 1er Cru Les Angles tells you exactly why John Gilman has written that, “after Domaine Lafarge, these are the best Volnays to be found in the village today.”

2016 Terres Dorees Morgon Côte du Py
While many top Beaujolais winemakers practice whole-cluster, semi-carbonic winemaking, some of the best are inspired by the classic methods of Burgundy’s Côte d’Or. Among the leaders of the Côte d’Or-inspired school is Terres Doree’s Jean-Paul Brun. His 2016 Morgon Côte du Py from the Javernières lieu-dit, destemmed, given a long, cool fermentation and aged in neutral small barrels, captures all of the perfumed complexity and structured longevity of its hallowed terroir in a classic vintage.

2007 Rudius Emerald Pool Syrah
Jeff Ames came to Napa Valley 21 years ago, making his name as the winemaker behind the TOR Napa Valley Cabernets. That success allowed him to establish his own eponymous winery with the 2005 vintage and to follow his passion with wines like 2007 Emerald Pool Syrah, from Mendocino’s great Alder Springs Vineyard. We acquired our small parcel on release knowing that this steep, cool climate vineyard and Jeff’s old-school whole-cluster, neutral-barrel winemaking had produced a structured Syrah in need of extended aging. We’ve patiently cellared it, waiting for it to emerge; here it is, in its full spicy, meaty glory.

2018 Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo
Since its founding in 1958, the Produttori del Barbaresco has been the reference point for classic Barbaresco. To this day, many of Barbaresco’s best growers are members, occupying the greatest sites and pooling their fruit, from which the Produttori fashions wines prized for their traditionally-made purity, complexity and longevity. A key to their stunning balance and quality is direttore Aldo Vaca’s willingness to declassify any lots not up to his lofty standards into their Langhe Nebbiolo bottling. Antonio Galloni calls the 2018 Langhe Nebbiolo “especially fine … super-expressive … shows the open-knit style of a radiant year in its alluring, inviting personality and sheer appeal.”

NV Calabretta Cala Cala Rosso
Blessed with ancient, ungrafted Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio vines, the 120-year-old Calabretta estate is one of the few growers on Sicily’s Mount Etna that remains purely traditional, long aging its wines in the same kind of massive oak botti as are used in Barolo and Brunello. One of the estate’s most interesting wines is a blend of lots from multiple vintages, selected for their sheer deliciousness. Called “Cala Cala Rosso,” it is a particularly gulpable expression of Mt. Etna’s singular terroir and indigenous varieties.

The Rare Wine Co. Historic Series New York Malmsey Madeira
Nearly twenty years ago, we teamed with Vinhos Barbeito’s owner, Ricardo Diogo Vasconcelos Freitas, to create a series of affordable Madeiras that reflect the style and complexity of the great vintage wines of the 19th and early 20th centuries. By working with small lots, we are able to include parcels of old wine, with some 60 years old or older. The luxuriously sweet New York Malmsey bottling is the most popular of the series, with its leavening acidity and kaleidoscopic complexity giving it exceptional balance, in a wonderfully harmonious Madeira.