Top 100 Wine Lists Don't Age Well

There's something missing in our lists of top wines.

It’s the time of year when we find out which are the best wines of the year. It’s listing time. Wine writer, wine publications and all manner of opinionated folks draw up their lists of the best wines of the year.

I like this practice. I like lists. They focus the mind and they open up conversations. So, anything that includes wine, a list, and discussion is fine by me.

The Wine Spectator is already out with its Top 100 Wines of the Year list. This year the Wine Spectator named the Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville Double Diamond its #1 wine. This is the 12th time in the 35 years the Wine Spectator has been naming names that it gave its #1 wine prize to a Napa Valley wine. Three other California wines have also been given the prize. That’s a great record for the Golden State.

More recently, VinePair released a list of the Top 50 Wines they tasted in 2022. It’s a fascinating list that I recommend you look at (The 2020 Palmeri Monte Rosso Vineyard Old Vine Sémillon is their #1). What sets it apart from the Wine Spectator list of Top 100 wines is that you’ll find a large number of “newer” wines; wines that you are likely not familiar with and are not what you might say represent “institutional greatness” that you find in the Spectator’s list.

Then there are the Wine Enthusiast Magazine lists. Yes, that’s plural. Wine Enthusiast creates a Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2022 (2014 Louis Roederer Cristal Brut is #1) and their Top 100 Best Buys of 2022 (2020 Highlands 41 Black Granite Red—Paso Robles is #1)