Old vine Argentinian Malbec is the best bang for austere wine in the world. Buy it, although it’s a hit or miss on rotgut or something world-class it’s worth the crapshoot.
The Carmenere that’s coming out of Chile is pretty spot-on too. I find it’s a little more consistent that the Argentine Malbecs - doesn’t have the extreme highs, but doesn’t have the rotgut lows either.