Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2025 i Wine Enthusiast Magazine

Do you remember your very first glass of wine? Unfortunately, I don’t—for many reasons. But I do recall the kinds of wines I was drinking back then. Let’s just say my palate (and I, myself) have evolved quite a bit since those days—and so has the entire wine landscape. Where we stand today, there has never been a better time to find a great bottle at a great price. Whether it’s something to bring to a friend’s house that makes an impression or a bottle to pop open in front of the TV, if you have 20 bucks, you have plenty of options. This year’s Top 100 Best Buys list proves there is value to be found everywhere. I see grocery-store staples climbing the charts more than ever, alongside tucked-away…

Apiña colada with a Filipino accent, this drink gets its saturated purple hue from ube, a purple yam. “I grew up with Filipino as my dominant second culture,” says Ben Rojo, co-owner of No Smoking Bar in Los Angeles. “One of my earliest taste memories is eating halo-halo, and saving all the ube for the end, because it was my favorite part.” Ube (pronounced ooh-bay) adds nutty, earthy sweetness to the parfait-like Filipino dessert made with shaved ice and evaporated milk. The first time he made the Ube Colada, Rojo recalls, he was in “Jersey boy” mode hanging out at the Beachcomber bar down the Jersey Shore, where the slushy Miami Vice was on offer (that’s a frozen piña colada combined with a frozen strawberry daiquiri). “We’d made halo-halo earlier…

Alain Ducasse still has a lot to learn about making cocktails, but you wouldn’t know it from the scene at his Midi-Minuit bar inside Maison Baccarat. That’s where the lauded chef has made his latest mark on the Parisian dining scene following the 2021 closure of his eponymous dining room at the Hôtel Plaza Athénée. There, he maintained three Michelin stars for two decades. At Maison Baccarat, the crystal company’s flagship boutique and museum, Ducasse has found a new way to challenge his customers’ expectations and palates—but he didn’t do it alone. While Ducasse has been running restaurants since 1987, his first-ever bar program was only recently devised by Margot Lecarpentier, 30 years his junior. It’s a change in form for the polymath chef who refused to open his chocolate…

“I just want to be able to try everything,” I said, not wanting to offend. The sommelier seemed momentarily stunned when I asked for half-pours to accompany each of the tasting menu’s seven courses at a recent wine-pairing dinner at Passerine, a high-end Indian restaurant in Manhattan. I was tempted to divulge that seven full glasses would almost certainly kill me, or at least put me in a state unbefitting of a swank place that charges $140 a head and an additional $90 for wine pairings. Instead, I just said, “I’m 38!” The sommelier obliged and brought me half-pours for each pairing. Back in my 20s, the inebriating promise of wine pairings filled me with glee. Intoxication was a feature, not a bug. And it was already clear to me…

What’s your advice for buying wine at a grocery store that doesn’t have a great selection? Look for ‘organic’ on the label. It may cost a few extra bucks, but respecting the planet is priceless.—Aleks Zecevic Go for Portugal. Generally great value. Alentejo for big, stylish reds. Dão for elegance and quality. Vinho Verde (dry style, of course) for freshness throughout the year.—Roger Voss Definitely do not buy older vintages! Instead, buy the most expensive boxed wine they have. At least there’s a lot of it.—Matt Kettmann Always choose Italian wine. It is statistically likely to be the best overall wine at whatever price point you’re comfortable with. Anyone who wants to fight me knows where to find me.—Danielle Callegari I may be biased as WE’s New Zealand reviewer, but…

CABERNET SAUVIGNON 99 Rasa 2021 Naravane Cabernet Sauvignon (Columbia Valley). Inspired by the likes of Harlan and Haut Brion, the elegant Naravane occupies rarefied air space. The wine’s opening salvo of black cherries, cigar box, and bittersweet dark chocolate is followed by wisps of leather, black walnuts, and gardenias. Dried Bing cherry and ripe blackcap raspberry flavors on the palate are balanced by grippy tannins and elevated acidity. That fruit is flanked by an espresso, chocolate, and cardamom combination that may make you crave tiramisu. Naravane spent 36 months in 100% new French oak. Enjoy this one from 2027 through 2045. Cellar Selection. —M.A. abv: 15.1% Price: $800 97 Doubleback 2022 Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Walla Walla Valley). This fullbodied wine whispers promises of a long life together. It opens with cherry-scone…

RED WINES DOURO 98 Quinta do Vale Meão 2022 (Douro). This is a grand wine, its rich tannins, black coffee aroma, and young black fruits a celebration of the Douro. It comes from a great estate in the Douro Superior, the last estate to be created by the legendary Dona Antonia Ferreira in the 19th century and still in the Olazabal family. Drink the wine from 2028. F. Olazabal & Filhos, Lda/Quinta do Vale Meão. Cellar Selection. —R.V. abv: 13.5% Price: $139 96 Quinta do Crasto 2019 Vinha da Ponte (Douro). A powerful wine with intense black fruits and rich tannins, this is impressive and important. It has a dense black coffee aroma that exudes a spicy character to the wine. From a single vineyard, grapes foot trodden in lagars, bottled from…

When I travel, I always like to find a local distillery to visit. More often than not, that distillery makes whiskey. Sometimes it’s easy to forget the whiskeys beyond the biggest categories. No one’s ignoring bourbon or single malt Scotch, to be sure—but when was the last time you thought about New Zealand single malts or bourbon-rye blends? It’s a big world out there: Spin a globe and you’ll find a whiskey—Japan, Ireland, perhaps even your home state. For whiskeys that aren’t bound by specific regional definitions and traditions, experimentation comes easier. Heirloom grains, unusual barrel woods, toasting techniques, cask finishes, or skillful blends might help shape the liquid in the bottle in some way. For example, consider a PX Sherry-soaked Irish whiskey that reads like a big slice of…

Students rule! And so do their wines. Or so I discovered years ago when bottles from Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California, started rocking my blind tastings with 90-plus-point scores, often outperforming wines three times their price. These college kids are doing something very right. Colleges across California have been selling commercially produced wines since Fresno State students started doing it in the 1990s. But it wasn’t until the recent launch of the wine-education hub at UC Davis that the rest of the world discovered my secret. “We’ve probably been making some wine since our inception in 1880,” said Ben Montpetit, the chair of UC Davis’s enology and viticulture department. But back then, their wine had to be dumped down the drain due to laws that prohibited state institutions…

Roman Pelekh’s lightbulb moment came after a near-death experience. While volunteering to defend Ukraine in 2022, he was filling sandbags in a bunker in Tavriiske when a Russian missile nearly landed on his head. The force blew him backwards and made his ears bleed. He suffered a concussion that knocked him out of service and still affects him today. For months afterward, as he recovered physically and emotionally from the attack, he asked himself, “Why did I survive?” The answer, he realized, was alcohol. Not because he had been drinking it, but because he was supposed to make it. “It’s kontabas,” he tells me at his distillery in Brovary, just outside Kyiv, surrounded by stainless steel mash tuns and small oak barrels. “It’s to finish what I started.” Kontabas is…

I was standing in a vineyard in Vergennes, a small town in western Vermont, when I finally figured it all out. I was with Deirdre Heekin, who, more than anyone else, can lay claim to leading the natural wine movement sweeping through New England. She was showing me rows of Marquette, from which her Domaine La Garagista makes a stellar wine called “In a Dark Country Sky.” I asked her if these vines, planted in 2006, were the oldest she had. She informed me that they were, in fact, the oldest Marquette vines anyone has; the variety was only first made commercially available that year. Everything we know about Marquette—a hybrid grape that is largely responsible for viticulture in Vermont—has been gleaned in the last 19 vintages. Frontenac Gris, another…

Products are blind tasted in peer-group flights of 5–8 samples. Reviewers may have general information about a flight to provide context—vintage, variety or appellation—but never the producer or retail price of any given selection. Classic 98–100 The pinnacle of quality. Superb 94–97 A great achievement. Excellent 90–93 Highly recommended. Very Good 87–89 Often good value; well recommended. Good 83–86 Suitable for everyday consumption; often good value. Acceptable 80–82 Can be employed in casual, less-critical circumstances. Products deemed Unacceptable (receiving a rating below 80 points) are not reviewed. Special Designations Editor’s Choice: Products that offer excellent quality at a price above our Best Buy range, or products at any price with unique qualities that merit special attention. Cellar Selections: Products deemed highly collectible and/or requiring time in a temperature-controlled wine cellar…

RED WINES LANGHE 94 G.D. Vajra 2024 Nebbiolo (Langhe). Bright as a just-picked cherry, this Nebbiolo zips across the palate like lightning in a summer storm. Rose petals and almost-ripe raspberries dance with wisps of bay leaf, while tart cherries and red currants build like a wave, letting the savory herbs play between their bright beats. It’s a lesson in how to make a serious wine sing for everyone’s table. G.D. Vajra. Editor’s Choice. —J.P. abv: 13.5% Price: $25 94 G.D. Vajra 2024 Nebbiolo Clarè J.C. (Langhe). A time machine to the old Langhe, before tourism found these hills. This vibrant Nebbiolo leaps with candied cherries and plump raspberries, while fresh-cut wild mint adds an aromatic lift. Its gentle bubbles and supple texture make this dangerously drinkable, so buy it in threes.…

CHENIN BLANC 96 Sadie Family Wines 2022 Mev. Kirsten Chenin Blanc (Stellenbosch). This delightful sample of South African Chenin Blanc hails from Stellenbosch and has multiple layers and a vibrant character. It opens with aromatic notes of white flowers, transitioning into subtle hints of orange zest and golden apple. The wine’s complexity and creamy texture are balanced by vigorous acidity. A blend of cedar, grapefruit, juicy peach, and hints of orange peel fills the delicious palate and lingers. Broadbent Selections. Editor’s Choice. —J.V. abv: 13.5% Price: $190 93 Beaumont 2023 Hope Marguerite Chenin Blanc (Bot River). Aromas of peach and nectarines lure the senses into a tasty palate, offering melon and balancing acidity. This Chenin Blanc comes from a cool-climate vineyard in Walker Bay and features a fresh character. Aged in oak…

MANY VARIETIES OF CLAMS LIVE ALONG THE WORLD’S COASTAL SHORES, from tiny coquina clams and cockles to phallic geoducks and Seussian giant clams (both of which can be over three feet long). With subtle differences, all clams share a mild, briny, and gently sweet flavor that sits somewhere between the buttery sweetness of scallops and the funky seaweed notes of mussels. In the kitchen, think of them as firmer oysters: best purchased live and versatile enough to serve raw, fried, grilled, broiled, steamed, or in chowders. This flexibility invites a range of wine pairings. ♦ RAW CLAMS Fresh, raw clams are delicious on the half shell, or in simple preparations like Mexican ceviche and Filipino kinilaw. Assyrtiko from Greece’s Santorini PDO has the crisp freshness you want with raw seafood,…

EXPERT ADVICE FOR NAVIGATING A WINE AUCTION. Stepping into a wine auction can feel like entering a secret society. Rows of impeccably labeled bottles, auctioneers calling out bids at lightning speed, and an air of excitement mixed with subtle tension—it’s easy to feel over-whelmed. Yet, wine auctions are not just playgrounds for seasoned collectors; they are treasure troves where anyone with a little curiosity can find remarkable bottles, often at competitive prices. Auctions aren’t as intimidating as they seem, and understanding how to navigate them can transform a daunting experience into a thrilling adventure. With a few tips from insiders and a little confidence, you’ll soon find your footing in the auction room. Overcome Auction Intimidation “The most common mistake new bidders make is not taking the plunge sooner,” says…

A few sips of any Red Tail Ridge wine is enough for you to feel like you’ve stumbled across something remarkable. And after a few minutes with Nancy Irelan, its visionary vigneron, you’ll understand why. Irelan took a nontraditional path to wine—no romantic vineyards, wealthy collectors, or mentorship under a famous sommelier. When I ask her about her dreams as a young person, she says, “My whole life I knew I wanted to be a Ph.D. and a scientist.” Having a purpose is not a straight path to success. Early in her career, she worked in a DuPont lab testing experimental pesticides. Irelan knew there had to be a better way to live. At the time, molecular biology and plant genetics were at the forefront of crop improvement. She pursued…

Rip out this page and stuff it in your pocket for when you go to the wine shop next or just search wineenthusiast.com/ratings. FOR THIS ISSUE Wine Enthusiast’s reviewers tasted more than 2,600 wines from around the world. More than 1,800 wines scored 90 points or higher. 143 wines received scores of 95 points or higher; these wines have an average cost of $113. Wines from California, Italy, and France make up the bulk of this issue’s reviews, with 500+ wines from each region receiving scores. Top 5 Best Buys These wines represent the highest quality-to-price ratio at $20 or less. 94 Tenuta di Vaira 2023 Caccia al Palazzo Red Blend (Bolgheri) Price: $20 abv: 14% 93 Pecchenino 2023 San Luigi Dolcetto (Dogliani) Price: $20 abv: 13.5% 93 Jax Vineyards…

CHARDONNAY 96 Domaine Della 2023 Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay (Russian River Valley). Fresh and focused aromas of pineapple, nectarine, sage, and green herbs lift the nose of this charming Chardonnay from a legendary vineyard. The palate brings rich texture with beautifully balanced acidity and flavors of pithy Meyer lemon, Gala apple, cinnamon, and orange blossom before a long and meandering finish with echoes of flowers, minerals, and spice. Editor’s Choice. —T.R.C. abv: 14.3% Price: $90 96 DuMOL 2023 Isobel Charles Heintz Vineyard Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast). This nimble wine brings lively aromas of fresh pear, tart pineapple, Meyer lemon zest, and lemon balm on the nose. The palate delivers a punch of electric acidity, green energy, and flavors of fresh apple, nectarine, and pineapple sage. Salty, pithy lemon echoes all along the finish. Editor’s…

WHITE WINES 96 Le Macchiole 2023 Paleo (Toscana). The nose shimmers with the irresistible smell of cool deep water next to hot stones on a sunny day, with citrus blossoms perfuming the air. The blossoms bear fruit on the palate with lemon, lime, and orange notes, which are joined by more warm stones and a finish that is primarily nutty and salty, but also offers just a hint of creaminess for depth. Le Macchiole. —D.C. abv: 13.5% Price: $120 92 Orma 2024 Bianco di Orma (Toscana). On the nose, aromas of daffodils, raw almonds, and limes bloom around an anchor of crushed rocks. The palate opens with a citrus medley of bright, tart, and sour notes, then those salty, stony notes come through again for contrast and to ground the finish. Orma.…

CHARDONNAY 96 Felton Road 2022 Block 2 Chardonnay (Central Otago). Felton Road may be world renowned for their Pinots, but do not ignore their wonderful Chards. After all, if Pinot thrives in Central’s semiarid, mountainous landscape, so too should Chardonnay. With a few years of bottle age, this is shining. There’s both vibrancy and depth of flavor: roasted cashew, lemon oil, truffle, beeswax, wet stone, and an herbal edge. It’s mid-weight, curvy; a toasty, flinty fringe around pithy, salted lemon fruit concentration to a long finish. Felton Road Wines. Editor’s Choice. —C.P. abv: 14% Price: $60 95 Cloudy Bay 2023 Chardonnay (Marlborough). Flint and cashew aromas get a vibrant lift from the lemon and lime curd aromas on this highly classy-yet-approachable Chard from one of New Zealand’s most famous brands. Similarly,…