Good wine by itself?

[Youngin]

Father's birthday tomorrow. My newfound interest in wines has given me the idea for that as a gift. He prefers red wines, and doesn't drink wine with a meal or anything, but will go through a bottle himself while reading at night (or with me if i'm lucky enough, very rare =(. As my last post "How to start?" would show, I know nothing about wine yet. What would be a good wine by itself. I'm looking to spend a decent amount of money, say $50, or 2 $25 bottles. Thanx for any replys in advance =).