James Suckling released his Top 100 Wines of 2018 on November 4, 2018 on his website JamesSuckling.com. Interestingly, there are 4 German wines on the list, all dry, all Riesling, all Grand Cru (Grosses Gewächs). German wine guru Stuart Pigott is Contributing Editor.
James Suckling: "....we chose a fascinating array of different wines including a dry riesling from one of Germany’s greatest winemakers, the Dönnhoff family – Dönnhoff Riesling Nahe Dellchen GG 2017 (No. 3). This glorious white highlights Germany‘s continued success with dry white winemaking and the dedication and precision of its top winemakers...."
In addition to Weingut Dönnhoff from the Nahe, you find Weingut Künstler from the Rheingau, Weingut Christmann from the Pfalz and Weingut Wittmann from Rheinhessen on the list. We have visited all of them on one of the recent Germany tours by ombiasy WineTours. I am reposting the text of James Suckling with his list and I am adding pictures of the 4 included German wine estates.
James Suckling: "I knew back in 2016 what would be the JamesSuckling.com Wine of the Year in 2018. Or at least, I had a pretty fair idea. I tasted 800 barrel samples in Bordeaux in March 2016, and I was blown away by the superb quality of the 2015 vintage. It was a superlative year producing classically structured reds with incredible beauty, structure, freshness, and finesse. They were neo-classical wines reminiscent of great young Bordeaux of my career such as 1982 and 1989. I gave potential perfect 100-point ratings to eight wines. About two years later (January this year), I tasted the 2015 Bordeaux again, and I rated 14 wines 100 points. It was the largest number of perfect wines in a single vintage of Bordeaux in my nearly four decades as a wine critic.
My favorite perfect wine of the 2015 vintage has always been St.-Emilion’s Chateau Canon, and that’s why it’s our 2018 Wine of the Year. This blend of cabernet franc and merlot is an exquisite wine showing depth and intensity and superb concentration with balance. It is a wine of a lifetime.
The 2015 Chateau Canon is our wine of the year showing incredible depth, structure and finesse and rated 100 points!
The Canon 2015 was just one of dozens of perfect wines rated by the JamesSuckling.com tasting team this year including myself, my son Jack, Nick Stock and Stuart Pigott. We tasted more than 22,000 wines in 2018 and travelled to dozens of tasting locations around the world from Napa Valley to Barossa Valley to France, Spain, Italy, Austria, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, and the United States – and back again. We visited dozens of wineries and spoke to hundreds of winemakers. We did the due diligence in tasting and reporting on the best wines of this year. And we are proud of all the hard work!
This year’s top 100 is based on the best wines we tasted with a minimum production of about 300 cases. We had some other top scoring wines such as rarified trockenbeerenauslese and tiny single-vineyard production wines, but we decided not to include them in the list since very few people in the world will ever drink them! The score was the most important factor in our ranking for the Top 100 list, but we also arranged the wines in their respective ratings level according to price whereby a wine with the same score with a lower price would be positioned higher in the list. We also only allowed one wine per winery in the list.
Bordeaux dominated the list with almost two dozen wines and rightly so considering the greatness of the 2015. I have written numerous times that “Bordeaux is Back!” with this wonderful vintage. And it is back in strength. Don’t miss buying these wines, particularly from the Right Bank (Pomerol and St. Emilion), which are already delicious to drink but will improve with age for decades ahead.
Besides Bordeaux’s Canon (No. 1), Belair-Monange (No. 2) and Beausejour Duffau-Lagarosse (No. 6) being in the Top 10 of 2018, we chose a fascinating array of different wines including a dry riesling from one of Germany’s greatest winemakers, the Dönnhoff family – Dönnhoff Riesling Nahe Dellchen GG 2017 (No. 3). This glorious white highlights Germany‘s continued success with dry white winemaking and the dedication and precision of its top winemakers. At No. 4 is Taylor’s Vintage Port 2016. Vintage Port is a lifelong favorite (I wrote my only book about it back in 1989) and the Taylor’s is the jewel of this fantastic new vintage for Portugal’s famous fortified wine.
Jack Suckling, Stuart Pigott and myself tasting in Mendoza, Argentina, this year. We found a general movement to finesse and balance from just simply power.
Jack Suckling, Stuart Pigott and myself tasting in Mendoza, Argentina, this year. We found a general movement to finesse and balance from just simply power.
Clos Apalta Valle de Apalta 2015 (No. 5) is the second vintage in a row from this great name of Chile to receive 100 points and it continues to amaze us with its balance, beauty and integrity. It underlines the ever growing movement to produce world class wines in Chile and the uniqueness of the various terroirs of the country. The Ridge Vineyards Santa Cruz Mountains Monte Bello 2015 is equally unique but for its long history of quality winemaking and its adherence to maintaining its character and style in California red winemaking while so many others in the state went to high octane bottlings.
Le Macchiole Bolgheri Scrio 2015 (No. 6) and Marchesi Antinori Toscana Solaia 2015 (No. 7) are equally harmonious and unique as the great California cabernet. They show how amazing the 2015 vintage was in Italy, particularly Tuscany. The pure syrah Scrio was one of dozens of superb wines from the coast of Tuscany while Solaia 2015 is the greatest Solaia in its almost four decades history.
The Tyrrell’s Shiraz Hunter Valley Old Patch 2017 (No. 10) is the second time this Australian icon has been in our Top 100 and we revel in the wine’s uniqueness and history as it is produced from vineyards planted in 1867. This is the greatest old-vine wine in existence.
Yet this year’s list of JamesSuckling.com’s Top 100 Wines of 2018 has so many exceptional wines. They are wines that all of us – me, Jack, Nick and Stuart – dream about drinking again and enjoying a moment with family and friends to taste and savor their greatness. We hope you enjoy this year’s Top 100 too!"
James Suckling's Top 100 Wines 2018
1Château Canon St.-Emilion 2015
2Château Bélair-Monange St.-Emilion 2015
3Dönnhoff Riesling Nahe Dellchen GG 2017
4Taylor’s Vintage Port 2016
5Clos Apalta Valle de Apalta 2015
6Château Beauséjour Duffau-Lagarosse St.-Emilion 2015
7Ridge Vineyards Santa Cruz Mountains Monte Bello 2015
8Le Macchiole Bolgheri Scrio 2015
9Marchesi Antinori Toscana Solaia 2015
10Tyrrell's Shiraz Hunter Valley Old Patch 2017
11Vieux Château Certan Pomerol 2015
12Rippon Pinot Noir Central Otago Tinker's Field 2015
13Château Trottevieille St.-Emilion 2015
14Christmann Riesling Pfalz Idig GG 2017
15F. X. Pichler Riesling Wachau Unendlich Smaragd 2017
16Argentiera Bolgheri Superiore 2015
17Tolpuddle Pinot Noir Coal River Valley Coal River Valley 2017
18Podere Poggio Scalette Alta Valle della Greve Il Carbonaione 2015
19Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2016
20Littorai Pinot Noir Sonoma County Sonoma Valley Sonoma Coast The Haven Vineyard 2016
21Famille Hugel Riesling Alsace Schoelhammer 2009
22Fattoria Le Pupille Maremma Toscana Saffredi 2016
23Trapiche Malbec Cabernet Franc Mendoza Iscay 2013
24Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Private Reserve 2015
25Tenuta Sette Ponti Toscana Oreno 2016
26S.C. Pannell Shiraz McLaren Vale Koomilya JC Block 2015
27Graham’s Vintage Port 2016
28Susana Balbo Wines Valle de Uco Nosotros Single Vineyard 2013
29Ulysses Napa Valley 2016
30Domaine Zind Humbrecht Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Rangen de Thann Clos Saint Urban 2016
31Duemani Syrah Costa Toscana Suisassi 2016
32Muga Rioja Aro 2015
33Hewitt Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Double Plus 2014
34Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Asili Riserva 2014
35Castello di Ama Chianti Classico Vigneto Bellavista Gran Selezione 2015
36Realm Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Oakville To Kalon Vineyard 2015
37Château Pavie St.-Emilion 2015
38Château Trotanoy Pomerol 2015
39Spinifex Shiraz Barossa Valley Single Vineyard Moppa 2016
40Château L'Evangile Pomerol 2015
41Château Pape Clément Pessac-Léognan 2015
42Quinta do Noval Vintage Port Nacional 2016
43Continuum Napa Valley Sage Mountain Vineyard 2015
44Château Clinet Pomerol 2015
45Château La Mission Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan 2015
46Château Péby-Faugères St.-Emilion 2015
47Künstler Riesling Rheingau Hölle GG 2017
48Château Palmer Margaux 2015
49Château Lafleur Pomerol 2015
50Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte Pessac-Léognan 2015
51Cockburn’s Vintage Port 2016
52Château Margaux Margaux 2015
53Château Pétrus Pomerol 2015
54Damilano Barolo Cannubi Riserva 1752 2010
55Château Le Pin Pomerol 2015
56Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Wachau Ried Singerrriedel Smaragd 2017
57Cayuse Vineyards Syrah Walla Walla Valley Bionic Frog 2014
58Escarpment Pinot Noir Martinborough Kupe 2016
59El Enemigo Chardonnay Mendoza 2016
60Montevetrano Colli di Salerno 2016
61Bodega Chacra Pinot Noir Patagonia Treinta y Dos 2016
62Wittmann Riesling Rheinhessen Morstein GG 2017
63Contino Rioja Vina del Oliva 2016
64Castello di Bossi Chianti Classico Berardo Riserva 2015
65Catena Zapata Mendoza White Bones 2016
66Yarra Yering Yarra Valley Dry Red Wine No. 1 2016
67Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier Canberra District 2017
68Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma County Sonoma Coast Freestone 2016
69Shaw + Smith Shiraz Adelaide Hills Balhannah Vineyard 2015
70Albert Mann Pinot Noir Alsace Grand P 2016
71Bilancia Syrah Hawkes Bay La Collina 2016
72Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau 2016
73Mount Mary Yarra Valley Quintet 2015
74Terrazas de los Andes Chardonnay Valle de Uco Espinillo 2017
75Viñedo Chadwick Cabernet Sauvignon Valle de Maipo 2016
76Peter Michael Winery Chardonnay Sonoma County Knights Valley Mon Plaisir 2015
77Tua Rita Toscana Redigaffi 2016
78Colgin Cellars Syrah Napa Valley IX Estate 2015
79Screaming Eagle Napa Valley 2015
80Artadi Alava El Carretil 2015
81Château Larcis-Ducasse St.-Emilion 2015
82Abreu Napa Valley Las Posadas 2015
83Concha y Toro Puente Alto Don Melchor Puente Alto Vineyard 2015
84Foradori Teroldego Vigneti delle Dolomiti Granato 2016
85Gonzalez Byass Jerez Tio Pepe Cuatro Palmas Amontillado
86Bodega Lanzaga Rioja Las Beatas 2015
87Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova 2013
88Bond Napa Valley St. Eden 2014
89Eredi Fuligni Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2012
90Dana Estates Napa Valley Lotus Vineyard 2015
91Château Mouton Rothschild Pauillac 2015
92Newton Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Mt. Veeder 2016
93Château Rieussec Sauternes 2015
94Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Rosé 2008
95Château Pavie-Macquin St.-Emilion 2015
96Joseph Drouhin Montrachet Grand Cru Marquis de Laguiche 2016
97Masseto Toscana 2015
98Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec Margaret River Tom Cullity 2014
99Vega Sicilia Ribera del Duero Reserva Especial Unico
100Château Lafite Rothschild Pauillac 2015
For tasting reviews of these wines go to JamesSuckling.com: James Suckling's Top 100 Wines 2018
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