What does “best wine” mean?
What does best wine actually mean?
The best wine is more than just a wine that tastes great. The best wine is a lot more than that. The best wine has pedigree. It has meaning. It has cultural or historical significance.
The best wines are classic styles that winemakers around the world try to emulate. They come from iconic regions that wine experts use as reference points when discussing wine in a broader context.
In other words, the best wines are the wines that help define and shape the world of wine.
Great wine has pedigree
I live near a premium wine-growing region. It’s an expensive place to grow grapes and plenty of money has been poured into building fancy wineries and cellar doors.
The wines are good — some very good — but for any of them to make it onto my bucket list wine list it would have to be a very big bucket or a very narrow one.
The average Chardonnay from this region costs about $70 a bottle. But for the same money I could buy a decent Premier Cru Chablis.
Why would I buy something that is essentially a vanity project for someone with a lot of money when, for the same price, I could buy something with character, class, refinement and pedigree?
That’s the difference between a wine that is merely good and a wine that belongs among the best wines in the world.
New wine regions can produce great wines too
By no means am I saying that new wine regions cannot produce bucket list wines. They absolutely can.
Many famous New World regions are relatively young but already produce wines that deserve a place among the best wines in the world.
But to get there they really have to push the boundaries — in style, innovation, deliciousness, or ideally all three.
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc might be the most obvious example.
Other great examples include Central Otago Pinot Noir, Mendoza Malbec, and California Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.
These wines didn’t become famous simply because they were good. They became famous because they created new benchmarks that the rest of the wine world now pays attention to.
Explore the best wines by style
This site is a guide to the world’s most meaningful wines — classic styles, iconic regions and must-try bottles that every wine lover should experience at least once.
If you're looking for the best wines in the world, start by exploring the major wine styles below.
Each section explores the classic wines that have defined their style and influenced winemakers around the world.
If you’re interested in the philosophy behind this site and the idea of drinking meaningful wines rather than ordinary ones, you may also enjoy reading about Bucket List Wine – wines to try before you die.