Wines Like 19 Crimes: Bold Value Reds to Try
If you love 19 Crimes, what you actually love is a bold, dark, ripe red that costs almost nothing and tastes like more — the talking-label gimmick is just the wrapper. The good news: that bold-for-cheap profile is everywhere if you know which bottles to grab, and several do it without the candied sweetness 19 Crimes leans on. Below are six reds we carry in New Jersey that hit the same big-flavor, easy-money mark: dark fruit, soft body, a little spice, nothing intimidating. They run from an $8.99 everyday bottle up to a $15.99 step-up. Same job your 19 Crimes does on a Tuesday. In most cases, a better-made wine for about the same spend.
The short answer: The closest value-red swap for 19 Crimes we carry is Bogle Essential Red ($8.99) — bold, dark, smooth, and a genuinely better-built wine for the same money. For a fruit-forward Aussie-style hit, grab 14 Hands Hot to Trot ($9.99) or Line 39 Red Blend ($9.99). Want a touch more depth? Joel Gott Red Blend ($13.99) and Bogle Phantom ($14.99) bring real structure.
| Pick | Region | Price | Why it's like 19 Crimes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bogle Essential Red | California | $8.99 | Bold, dark, smooth — better-built for the same money |
| Line 39 Red Blend | California | $9.99 | Ripe black fruit, round and easy, less sugary |
| 14 Hands Hot to Trot | Washington | $9.99 | Juicy, fruit-forward, soft — the Aussie-style hit |
| Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel | California | $15.99 | Big, jammy, spicy dark fruit — the bold-and-cheap king |
| Joel Gott Red Blend | California | $13.99 | Bold blackberry and spice with a cleaner finish |
| Bogle Phantom | California | $14.99 | The step-up — dark, brooding, structured |
What 19 Crimes Is Really Selling You
Let's be straight about it: 19 Crimes won on marketing. The convict-mugshot labels, the augmented-reality app, the Snoop Dogg bottling — that's a genuinely clever package, and it put a bold Australian red in a lot of hands that might not have grabbed one otherwise. Credit where it's due. In the glass, the wine itself is a ripe, dark, soft red — blackberry and dark cherry, a hit of vanilla and spice, a round body, and a faintly sweet finish that makes it go down easy. It does the job. It's a perfectly fine Tuesday-night pour.
Here's the thing worth knowing. None of what you taste — the bold dark fruit, the soft sweetness, the everyday-easy body — is exclusive to that label, and you're paying a little extra for the gimmick. That style is the bread and butter of the value-red aisle, and the better-made bottles in that aisle keep the boldness while trading the candied finish for a cleaner one. You get the same big-flavor, low-cost glass — and in most cases a wine that's simply put together with more care. The fun part is finding the one you'd have walked right past because it didn't have a mugshot on the front.
A note on who's telling you this: we're Cambridge Wines, a three-location New Jersey wine shop that ships out of state. Every bottle here is one we carry. We pulled them because they do the 19 Crimes job, and our buyers would put any of them in your hand across the counter.
The Value Lane: Three Bold Reds Under $14
This is the heart of it. If you came here to spend the same or less and pour something just as bold on a random weeknight, start here. Three bottles, all under $14, all in the big-dark-fruit-and-soft-body family that makes 19 Crimes an easy grab.
Bogle Essential Red — California — $8.99
Start here, because this is the most direct "same money, better wine" swap on the list. Bogle Essential Red is a California blend of old-vine Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, and Cabernet — soft blackberry and black cherry, vanilla and pepper, a round, easy body. Bogle is family-run and has quietly been one of the best value names in California for years, and it shows: where 19 Crimes leans sweet, Bogle finishes clean and dry, which is what makes it the better second glass. At $8.99 it's the bold everyday red done right.
Line 39 Red Blend — California — $9.99
The party bottle, and the one to buy by the handful. Line 39 pours ripe and round — black cherry, plum, a touch of cocoa — with a soft, approachable body that asks nothing of you. It carries less residual sweetness than 19 Crimes, so it reads as fruit instead of candy, but it keeps every bit of the easy, dark, crowd-pleasing character. If you're stocking the rack for a casual dinner or a backyard crowd, this is the reliable one nobody complains about.
14 Hands Hot to Trot — Washington — $9.99
The fruit-forward pick, and the closest in spirit to 19 Crimes' juicy Aussie style. 14 Hands Hot to Trot comes out of Washington State, where the fruit gets good and ripe but keeps a touch more freshness. You get juicy blackberry and dark cherry with a soft, food-friendly finish — the same bold, easy-drinking profile with a little more life underneath it. At $9.99 it's the easy weeknight call when you want the 19 Crimes mood without the sugar.
If you want the full price-sorted range, our red blend collection lays the whole lineup out by region and price.
The Step-Up Lane: Same Boldness, More Wine
Not everyone wants to stay at the bottom shelf. Some of you want the same big, dark style but better — more depth, more grip, a bottle for the dinner that matters rather than the Tuesday that doesn't. These three stay bold and dark but give you more underneath.
Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel — California — $15.99
The bold-and-cheap king, and the bottle for anyone who loves the jammy side of 19 Crimes. Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel is big, ripe, and spicy — blackberry jam, raspberry, black pepper, and a warm, peppery finish from old Contra Costa vines. Zinfandel is California's answer to a bold Aussie Shiraz, and this is the value benchmark for it: huge flavor, soft tannins, easy to love, under $20. If your 19 Crimes love is really a love of big, jammy, peppery dark fruit, this is the upgrade.
Joel Gott Red Blend — California — $13.99
The clean, modern step-up. Joel Gott Red Blend is a bold California blend — blackberry, dark cherry, a little mocha and spice — built with a firmer hand than the bottom-shelf bottles. It keeps the dark, ripe profile you want but finishes drier and longer, so it drinks like a more serious wine while still being the easy crowd-pleaser. At $13.99 it's the bottle for the dinner where you want bold without the gimmick.
Bogle Phantom — California — $14.99
The full step-up, and the closest thing here to "19 Crimes, but grown up." Bogle Phantom is a dark, dense blend of old-vine Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, and Mourvèdre — blackberry, dark chocolate, baking spice, a smoky edge — that wraps the bold dark fruit you love around real structure and a long finish. It drinks like a genuinely serious wine and still feels like a value at $14.99. Both of these step-up bottles, plus everything in between, sit in our red blend collection.
If You Love 19 Crimes, Should You Just Keep Buying It?
Honest answer: if the label makes you smile and the wine makes you happy, there's nothing wrong with it. 19 Crimes is a perfectly decent value red and the marketing is genuinely fun. We're not here to ruin the bit.
But here's the case for branching out. 19 Crimes runs around $9-11 on most shelves, right at the value end of this list. For the same money or a dollar or two more, Bogle Essential Red ($8.99) and Line 39 ($9.99) give you the same bold, dark style from producers who put the money into the wine instead of the wrapper. Step up to Cline Ancient Vines Zin ($15.99) and you get a genuinely bigger, more characterful version of what you already love. The point of finding wines like 19 Crimes isn't to spend more — it's to discover the bottle that does the same easy job and quietly does it better. That's the fun part.
People Also Ask
What wine is similar to 19 Crimes?
The closest value-red swap we carry is Bogle Essential Red ($8.99) — a bold, dark, smooth California blend that's better-built than 19 Crimes for the same money. For the same fruit-forward, easy style, Line 39 Red Blend ($9.99) and 14 Hands Hot to Trot ($9.99) both deliver the dark fruit and soft body 19 Crimes fans love, with a cleaner finish.
Is 19 Crimes a good wine or just good marketing?
A bit of both, honestly. The convict-label package and the augmented-reality app are clever marketing that put a bold red in a lot of hands. The wine itself is a perfectly decent, ripe, soft value red — nothing wrong with it, but nothing special either. You're paying a small premium for the gimmick, which is why better-made value reds like Bogle Essential Red or Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel often out-drink it for about the same money.
What is a bold red wine under $20?
For a bold, dark red under $20, two of our favorites are Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel ($15.99), a big, jammy, peppery old-vine Zin, and Joel Gott Red Blend ($13.99), a clean, modern California blend with blackberry and spice. Both bring serious flavor for the money.
What's a good cheap red wine that isn't sweet?
For a dark, bold red that finishes dry instead of sweet, Bogle Essential Red ($8.99) is the standout value — a smooth Zinfandel-led blend that delivers ripe dark fruit and a clean, dry finish. Line 39 ($9.99) is right behind it. Both give you the bold style of 19 Crimes without the candied edge.
Browse Cambridge's Red Blend Selection
Every bottle named here is one we carry — our buyers picked them because they do what 19 Crimes does, several of them better for the same money. The fastest path is the quick-picks table up top: pick your price, click through, done. If you'd rather browse the whole range by region and price, our red blend collection is the place to start, and our buyers' selections collect the bottles we'd hand you across the counter.
If you're after the same easy, dark comfort in a different mood, our wines like Apothic Red guide covers the smoother end of the value-blend world, and our wines like The Prisoner guide covers the bigger, splashier blends. And if you'd rather we just build you a mixed box, The Case is our hand-picked discovery selection.