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Wine Spectator Top 10 Tasting
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I use this wine key: Forge de Laguiole Ebony
I have used the following glass in this video: Nude Stem Zero Powerful Red
I have tasted the following wines in this Video:
Top 10 - 2022 Ramey Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, USA
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/ramey+chard+russian+river+valley+sonoma+county+north+coast+california+usa/2022?referring_site=KSB
Top 9 - 2020 G. D. Vajra Barolo Albe, Barolo DOCG, Italy
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/g+d+vajra+albet+docg+barolo+piemonte+italy/2020?referring_site=KSB
Top 7 – 2020 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau, Rhone, France
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/dom+du+vieux+telegraphe+chateauneuf+pape+la+crau+rhone+france/2020?referring_site=KSB
Top 6 – 2022 Roserock Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills, USA
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/rose+rock+pinot+noir+eola+amity+hill+willamette+valley+oregon+usa/2022?referring_site=KSB
Top 5 – 2021 Chimney Rock Cabernet Sauvignon Stags, Leap District, USA
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/chimney+rock+cab+sauv+stags+leap+district+napa+valley+county+north+coast+california+usa/2021?referring_site=KSB
Top 3 – 2021 Marchesi Antinori Tignanello Toscana IGT, Tuscany, Italy
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/marchesi+antinori+tignanello+tuscany+igp+italy/2021?referring_site=KSB
Top 1 – 2021 Concha y Toro Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon, Puente Alto, Chile
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/concha+y+toro+don+melchor+cab+sauv+puente+alto+maipo+valley+chile/2021?referring_site=KSB
The 100 Point Scoring System (from www.robertparker.com):
96-100: An extraordinary wine of profound and complex character displaying all the attributes expected of a classic wine of its variety. Wines of this caliber are worth a special effort to find, purchase and consume.
90 - 95: An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines.
80 - 89: A barely above average to very good wine displaying various degrees of finesse and flavor as well as character with no noticeable flaws.
70 - 79: An average wine with little distinction except that it is soundly made. In essence, a straightforward, innocuous wine.
60 - 69: A below-average wine containing noticeable deficiencies, such as excessive acidity and/or tannin, an absence of flavor or possibly dirty aromas or flavors.
50 - 59: A wine deemed to be unacceptable.
It is that time of the year again when the major publications publish their best of 2024 lists, and the Wine Spectator is no exception.
They have made a big deal out of their top 10 wines this year and revealed them across a week to build up excitement for this selection.
So my team purchased most of the Top 10 wines so that I can independently review them and determine whether Wine Spectator has selected the best wines of 2024.
While print wine media is not going through a golden age the Wine Spectator is still standing and keeping up with publishing their top 100 lists. This is the 36th version as it was established in 1988
Their editors select the most “exciting” for that list and they write: In addition, our selection also prioritizes quality (based on score), value (based on price), and availability (based on the number of cases either made or imported into the United States). These criteria are applied to the wines that are rated outstanding (90 points or higher on Wine Spectator’s 100-point scale) each year to determine our Top 100.
My favorite thing about the Top 100 lists is that they are still available on the website so you can go back in time and get a glimpse of what the wine world looked like decades ago.
20 years ago in 2004 they had two Sauternes in the Top ten and the 2001 Rieussec won first place – that is unthinkable today, as demand for Sauternes has dropped significantly.
The 2004 Top 10 was pretty international including a Chilean wine, one from Spain, three from Italy, one from the US, one from Australia, and three from France.
But there was no Pinot, which would be strange today and there was no dry white wine included in the Top 10.