The 18 Best Wines, From Krug Rosé Champagne to Cardinale Cabernet Sauvignon
The Big Idea: A Tale of Two Markets
Wine seems to be in a very confusing place right now. If you follow news at all, you’ve probably read plenty of gloomy assessments: Young consumers are drinking less alcohol than previous generations, and those who do are favoring spirits, ready-to-drink cocktails, hard seltzers—that is to say, almost anything other than fermented grapes. Such headlines might make you think the end is near for the wine industry, which is stuck in a doom loop and fervently hoping that the older members of Gen Z suddenly develop a taste for fine Bordeaux and Burgundy.
And yet the top of the market is soaring. In 2023, Sotheby’s Fine Wine and Spirits division had its best year ever, taking in a record $159 million—a million more than in 2022 and representing 73 percent growth in just three years. Nick Pegna, Sotheby’s global head of wine and spirits, says that lower prices due to cyclical course correction in the secondary market created more opportunities for buyers to purchase at auction and that he expects to see strong sales through the end of 2025. “There is definitely more confidence in the market at present than we saw at the end of 2023 and signs of more market activity,” he notes.
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Also buffering the industry are a rash of exciting new releases aimed at collectors and the high end of the market. Take Pierre and Hélène Seillan, the father-daughter duo behind Vérité, in Sonoma, Calif., who just launched new wines under the Connaissance label, which focuses on micro-crus within Vérité’s vineyards and will be limited to just 1,500 bottles per variety. Meanwhile, renowned Napa Valley winemaker Chris Carpenter has ventured north, to Walla Walla, Wash., and is coming out with the first bottlings of Jett, which include a single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. And wunderkind Sonoma winemaker Jesse Katz has teamed up with Marc and Jake Taub, of Taub Family Vineyards, on the premiere release of Sign of the Dove, which offers two single-designate wines from a pair of Napa’s most sought-after plots that will be sold in three-packs on allocation only.
Another glimmer of hope: In contrast to years of data indicating that younger people are avoiding wine, a new study from the Wine Market Council shows that millennials, especially those over 30, are actually drinking more of it—and more expensive bottles than previously believed. After almost a decade of hand- wringing, it seems that maybe the kids (and the wine market that needs them) are all right.
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Wine of the Year: Domaine des Lambrays 2020 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru
Made in the first year that the vineyards were converted to biodynamic farming, this Pinot Noir is the second vintage produced from the estate’s walled clos by legendary winemaker Jacques Devauges. Despite a summer heat wave and a harvest that was the earliest in 30 years, Devauges tells Robb Report that 2020 is noted for its freshness and credits the complexity of the vineyard soils for this wine’s “three-dimensional” aromas of fruits, spices, dry herbs, tobacco, and flowers. Twenty months of barrel aging have added polished tannins and notes of butterscotch and cocoa powder to Mission-fig and black-cherry flavors.
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Rosé Champagne: Champagne Krug Rosé 27ème Édition
This 27th release of Krug’s multi-vintage rosé Champagne is made with 38 wines from nine harvest years from 2005 through 2015. Cellar master Julie Cavil calls this the most difficult Champagne to make at Krug, explaining, “It must reconcile the finesse, freshness, and lightness of a Champagne with the aromas and structure of a red wine.” The majority of the cuvée is from 2015, including 10 percent traditionally macerated Pinot Noir, which adds spiciness, color, and texture. Flavors of tangerine, apricot, and raspberry mingle with notes of lemon zest and toasted almond that dissolve into a baking-spice-scented finish.
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White Champagne: Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2015
House founder Madame Clicquot was fond of saying, “Our black grapes give the finest white wines,” and this vintage Champagne made with 90 percent Pinot Noir is no exception. As chef de cave Didier Mariotti points out, “The acidity at the beginning whets your palate, while the bitterness at the end helps to create a long finish.” La Grande Dame is made only in exceptional years, and Mariotti describes 2015 as a “beautiful” vintage in Champagne, “all about tension and elegance.” A cuvée sourced from eight grand-cru appellations, LGD 2015 offers a bold expression of orchard fruit and a precise, mineral-driven finish.
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American White Wine: Pahlmeyer 2021 Chardonnay
The first vintage produced in Pahlmeyer’s new winery on Atlas Peak Road—the previous facility burned in 2020’s Glass Fire—this Chardonnay was made with high-elevation grapes that grow above the fog line, where they can grab much-needed extra sunlight each day. Head winemaker Katie Vogt credits the season’s low yields and tight clusters for 2021’s structure, concentration, acidity, and ageability, suggesting that its peak drinking window is within the next two to four years. Full textured, it offers Bartlett-pear, bergamot, butterscotch, and slivered-almond flavors with gorgeous mouthfeel and an enduring finish.
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American Pinot Noir: Emeritus Vineyards 2019 La Combette Pinot Noir
Named for a softly inclined triangular block on the estate’s Hallberg Ranch, La Combette is made only in outstanding years. The 20th anniversary of Emeritus’s founding by Brice Cutrer Jones, 2019 also marks the year he retired and passed the torch to his daughter, Mari. To concentrate flavors and textures, Jones and her team “dropped” half of the grapes early in the season so that Combette yielded half the quantity of her other vineyard blocks. Eleven months in used French barrels created a wine with layered flavors of pomegranate, Oolong tea, and dried Mediterranean herbs, along with lush tannins and dazzling acidity.
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American Cabernet Sauvignon: Cardinale 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon
A multi-appellation Napa Valley cuvée focusing on high-elevation mountain fruit, Cardinale 2019 is mainly Cabernet Sauvignon with 9 percent Merlot. The first vintage in which new winemaking partner Gianna Ghilarducci worked alongside winemaker Chris Carpenter, it was also one with a very long growing season that, as Carpenter explains, allowed the fruit to hang on the vine and accumulate flavor as opposed to just sugar. Its velvety tannins and complex layers of black-cherry, blackberry, clove, and dark-chocolate flavors are perfect to enjoy now after decanting, but this will lay down beautifully for up to 25 years.
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Bordeaux: Chateau Cos D’Estournel 2020 Saint-Estèphe
In honor of proprietor Michel Reybier’s 20th year leading the storied Saint-Estèphe estate, the engraved bottle of Cos d’Estournel 2020 reads C’etait Cos sinon rien, or “It was Cos, otherwise nothing,” a very fitting phrase for this sublime release. While the hot and dry summer led to one of the earliest harvests ever, neither finesse nor freshness was sacrificed in pursuit of full flavor. This Cabernet Sauvignon–Merlot blend offers incredible balance and complexity, with layers of blackberry, raspberry, mocha, black-tea, and nutmeg flavors wrapped in powerful tannins that will mellow to perfect drinkability while lovingly stored in your cellar.
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Rosé: Gérard Bertrand 2022 Clos du Temple
The rare rosé that’s designed to age, Clos du Temple will continue to evolve for up to 25 years, according to winemaker and owner Gérard Bertrand. Five grape varieties from 11 plots filled with limestone and schist known as écailles de Cabrières were grown using biodynamic principles and aged in new oak for six months. The bottle itself is a work of art; its square base and rounded shoulders were crafted using the golden ratio. Pale pink to the eye, it features flavors of passionfruit, nectarine, Turkish delight, and a hint of sage leaf that lingers on the palate.
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Aromatic White: Zind Humbrecht 2020 Rangen de Thann Clos Saint Urbain Riesling
From a walled vineyard in the Rangen de Thann grand cru in Alsace, this dry Riesling has an exhilarating bouquet of Anjou pear, white peach, sliced ginger, orange blossom, and smoke. The first full vintage made by Pierre-Emile Humbrecht, from the 13th generation of the founding family, the 2020 showcases the beauty of its volcanic terroir and a season that is said to have offered perfect weather. It delights on the palate as well, offering sumptuous viscosity, brilliant acidity, and vivid nectarine, apricot, jasmine, and beeswax flavors with intense salinity on the finish. Perfect now, it will also age impeccably for another two decades.
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White Burgundy: Domaine Bertagna 2021 Vougeot Premier Cru Les Cras Blanc
Proprietor and winemaker Eva Reh tells Robb Report that 2021 was the most difficult vintage she has encountered since joining her family’s winery in 1988. Freezing spring temperatures, hail in springtime and July, and summertime rain could have destroyed the entire crop, but Reh, vineyard manager Arnaud Lecoeur, and newly promoted cellar master Franck Ambeis were able to make 970 bottles, far less than Domaine Bertagna’s usual 2,200. This white Burgundy is a rare treat even in normal years, as Vougeot is known mostly for its reds, but the 2021 in particular offers luscious flavors of peach and Bartlett pear with soft notes of beeswax and oyster shell on the long, silky finish.
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Italy: Bruno Giacosa 2019 Falletto Vigna Le Rocche
Bruna Giacosa took over her venerated father’s winery in 2006 and continues to be a steadfast presence in Barolo today. Her 2019 Falletto Vigna Le Rocche has flavors of cherry and black raspberry that dance on your tongue. It’s drinking beautifully right now, but don’t hesitate to enjoy it through 2045.
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New Zealand: Felton Road 2021 MacMuir Pinot Noir
Grapes for this enticing cool-climate Pinot Noir are grown in the MacMuir vineyard, known for its high vine density, multiple Pinot Noir clones, and deep, heavy soils. Brilliant garnet in the glass, it offers aromas of freshly picked cherry, red raspberry, and tobacco leaf that transition seamlessly on the palate.
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United Kingdom: Gusbourne 2014 Fifty-One Degrees North Sparkling Wine
With vineyards sitting at a latitude of, yes, 51 degrees North, Gusbourne released just 2,500 bottles of this sparkling wine, coinciding with the winery’s 10th anniversary. Vivacious with fine and seemingly endless bubbles, it has flavors of apple, pear, and freshly baked brioche, with crisp acidity in the mid-palate.
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Chile: Lapostolle 2020 La Parcelle 8 Cabernet Sauvignon
Crafted from grapes grown on Pied Franc vines planted in 1907, this enchanting Cab has flavors of blueberry, black currant, dried savory herbs, and graphite. The elegant tannins and balanced acidity come courtesy of winemaker Andrea Leon’s nimble decision to begin the harvest early due to warm conditions in 2020.
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Argentina: Alta Vista 2019 Alto
Patrick d’Aulan’s family has been involved in Champagne for nearly 250 years, but in 1998 he assembled a dream team of Argentine and French winemakers and growers to express the high-altitude terroirs of Mendoza. Malbec grapes are sourced from 100-year-old vines endowing this captivating wine with flavors of blackberry, black plum, and cassis that explode in the mouth.
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Australia: Penfolds 2018 St. Henri Shiraz
Wine lovers and collectors know Grange, but Syrah lovers love St. Henri. Only 284 cases are imported to the U.S., so if you have the chance to enjoy its ethereal flavors of black raspberry and mocha, take it. Winemaker Peter Gago tells Robb Report that it should “drink well over the next half century.”
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Portugal: Quinta do Vallado 50 Year Tawny Port
A blend of wines ranging from 30 to 136 years old, this ambrosial wine (with an average age of 50 years) is the best in the 50-year category recently approved by the Port wine governing body. It has aromas and flavors of honey and sweet, candied orange peel, with vibrant acidity in the finish.
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Spain: Valduero 2004 Gran Reserva 12 Años
Crafted by one of Ribera del Duero’s premier female winemakers, this Tempranillo is made only by hand and never touched by machines. Aged for four years in the barrel and 16 years in bottle, it’s drinking perfectly now, with ripe red- and black-fruit flavors, but will continue to improve over the next decade.
