The easiest red wines to drink are Gamay (sold as Beaujolais), Pinot Noir and soft, fruit-forward Merlot, because their tannin stays gentle and their fruit does most of the talking. Our first pick is a bottle labelled Beaujolais-Villages, served slightly cool. If you'd rather start with a shelf you already know, Mark West Pinot Noir and Bogle Merlot are both easy to find and both priced for a weeknight.
We think "easy drinking" gets used too loosely, since a red can feel easy for three very different reasons. It might be low in tannin, it might have rounder tannin, or it might simply have sugar in it. Knowing which one you're buying is how you avoid the bottle that tastes great at the first sip and heavy by the second glass.
What are the easiest red wines to drink?
Gamay and Pinot Noir are the easiest red wines to drink, with Merlot and Grenache close behind for anyone who wants more fruit and weight. The grid below uses the taste profiles Wine Folly publishes for Gamay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Grenache, and the bottle column is our own suggestion for where to start.
| Grape | Body | Tannin | Acidity | Serve at | Bottle to try |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamay | Medium-light | Listed as none | Medium-high | 55 to 60°F | Any Beaujolais-Villages |
| Pinot Noir | Medium | Low | Medium-high | 55 to 60°F | Mark West or Bogle |
| Merlot | Medium-full | Medium-high | Medium | 60 to 68°F | Bogle or Decoy |
| Grenache | Medium-full | Medium | Medium | 60 to 68°F | Borsao Tres Picos |
Read that table from top to bottom and the wines get bigger as you go. If you've ever been put off by a red that dried out your mouth, stay in the top two rows, and our guide to spotting low-tannin red wine will help you find more of them. If thin, bright reds leave you wanting more, the bottom two rows are where you'll probably be happiest.
Which easy drinking red bottles should you buy first?
Buy a Beaujolais-Villages first, then Mark West Pinot Noir and Bogle Merlot, since those three cover light, medium and rounder styles without much spending. Beaujolais-Villages is the label to look for rather than one specific producer, and it's made from Gamay. Georges Duboeuf, one of the region's best-known names, suggests serving its Domaine des Côtes du Berchoux bottling at 13 to 14°C, which is about 55 to 57°F and a good deal cooler than most people pour red.
Mark West bills itself as America's #1 Pinot Noir under $15, a claim its site footnotes to IRI volume sales, so that's a statement about popularity from the winery itself and a useful guide to price. Pinot Noir is where we'd go next if you liked the Beaujolais and want something a little more savory. Our comparison of Gamay and Pinot Noir goes further on telling them apart.
Bogle Merlot is the easy bottle for a bigger appetite. The winery describes Bing cherries and supple red fruit, and its own page places the wine in the $8 to $11.99 domestic Merlot bracket, using Nielsen data from 2022, so check today's shelf price before you plan around it. For a step up, Decoy California Merlot lists at $25 for the 2023 vintage and the winery describes its tannins as silky. If you're torn between the two grapes, we've compared Merlot and Pinot Noir side by side.
Darker fruit lovers can look at Malbec too. Alamos Malbec quotes a review on its own page that calls the wine juicy and vibrant with soft tannins on a medium-bodied palate, which is a fair description of what makes Mendoza Malbec so popular with people who think Cabernet is too much.
Why does Merlot feel smooth if it isn't low in tannin?
Merlot feels smooth because its tannin is softer in texture, even though Wine Folly still rates the amount as medium-high. Wine Folly puts that velvety feel down to thinner skins and fewer seeds than Cabernet Sauvignon, its half-sibling, and it describes Merlot as less astringent than Cabernet.
This matters when you're shopping, because plenty of lists file Merlot beside Gamay as if they were the same kind of easy, and they aren't. Gamay is easy because there's very little grip in it at all, and Merlot is easy because the grip it has feels rounded. Someone who finds tannin unpleasant in any form will be happier with Beaujolais, while someone who wants a red that feels like a proper red, only friendlier, will probably prefer the Merlot. Our piece on what makes a red wine smooth covers the rest of the science, including why smooth and sweet aren't the same thing.
Why can an easy drinking red still feel heavy?
Grenache is the usual reason, because its soft, ripe fruit can hide a lot of alcohol. Wine Folly lists Grenache at over 15% alcohol, and Borsao Tres Picos, a Garnacha from Spain, is listed by its producer at 15%. The same producer describes sweet tannin along with blackberry and plum, and that's why it drinks so gently and why the second glass can catch up with you.
We still love Garnacha, and our guide to how Grenache tastes shows how much range it has. It's just worth reading the alcohol figure on the back label before you decide it's your light option for a Tuesday. Borsao suggests serving Tres Picos at 17°C, which is around 63°F, and that small chill does a lot to keep the warmth in check.
Why do some supermarket reds taste so easy?
Some supermarket reds taste easy because they contain noticeable sugar, even when they read as dry, and Meiomi Pinot Noir is a well-documented example. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on lab tests commissioned by a rival winemaker, Adam Lee, which measured 18.3 grams of residual sugar per liter in the 2022 Meiomi. The same article says drinkers can typically perceive sugar above 2 or 3 grams per liter, and that it isn't unusual to find dry wines on supermarket shelves with up to 10.
We don't think that makes those bottles bad. If you love Meiomi, you've learned something useful about your taste, since a touch of sweetness may be exactly what makes a red feel easy to you, and our list of wines like Meiomi starts from there. It does explain why someone can enjoy a supermarket Pinot and then find a dry Burgundy thin or sour, even though both say Pinot Noir on the label. Our breakdown of whether Pinot Noir is sweet has the numbers on the wider category.
Which easy red should you open with dinner?
Open Gamay with roast chicken or a charcuterie board, Pinot Noir with salmon or mushrooms, and Merlot with burgers or tomato pasta. Those matches come down to weight, with a lighter red staying out of the way of a lighter plate and a rounder red having enough body to meet something richer.
Grenache and Garnacha suit pizza and barbecue, where a little ripe fruit and warmth are welcome rather than distracting. Borsao's own pairing note for Tres Picos names rice, pasta and barbecue meats, which is about as weeknight as a producer's tasting sheet ever gets. When the food is spicy, though, we'd pick Gamay over Grenache, because high alcohol tends to turn up the heat of a chili-laden dish.
The label won't tell you much of this directly, but the grape and the region usually will, and our walkthrough on how to read wine labels shows where to find both.
Frequently asked questions
What is the smoothest easy drinking red wine?
Merlot is the smoothest easy drinking red for most people, since its tannin feels rounded and its fruit is ripe and plummy. Gamay feels lighter rather than smoother, so try both if you aren't sure which one you're after.
What is the best red wine for a beginner to try?
Beaujolais-Villages is the best red for a beginner to try, because it's light and fruity with very little of the drying feel that puts people off red wine. Our wider list of the best wines for beginners includes whites, sparkling and sweeter options as well.
What is the best red wine for daily drinking?
Bogle Merlot and Mark West Pinot Noir are our picks for daily drinking, because both sit at the affordable end of the shelf and both are widely stocked. If you open one on a Monday, it should stay pleasant for a couple of days with the cork back in and the bottle in the fridge.
What is the smoothest tasting red wine?
Merlot, Grenache and warm-climate Malbec are the reds people most often describe as smooth. Grenache brings a lot of alcohol along with that softness, so check the back label if you'd like something lighter.
Should you chill an easy drinking red wine?
Yes, you should chill Gamay and Pinot Noir, since Wine Folly suggests 55 to 60°F for both, and about 20 minutes in the fridge is enough to get close. Merlot and Grenache only need a shorter chill, because Wine Folly's range for them is 60 to 68°F. Our guide to chilling wine fast helps if you've left it late.
Is easy drinking red wine the same as sweet red wine?
No, most easy drinking reds are dry, and they feel soft because of gentle tannin and ripe fruit. A few popular bottles do carry noticeable sugar, as the Meiomi lab results above show, so the label can't always settle the question.
How do you find the next easy red you'll like?
Start with the Beaujolais-Villages, try the Merlot next, and notice which one you finish without thinking about it. That single comparison tells you whether you prefer low tannin or round tannin, which is more useful than any list, including this one. Once you've got a bottle you like, Find Similar in Sommy starts from that wine and looks for others with the same grape, region or character, so your next pick begins with something you already enjoy.
