My Top 10 Favorite Wines of 2025
This is not strictly a “top 10” list showcasing the best of the best, but a collection of favorites for different reasons from throughout the year, including objective quality, personal enjoyment, and things that expanded my mind and palate. With that in mind, these were my top 10 favorite wines of 2025:
Krug Vintage Brut 2000
My Champagne journey continued in 2025, during which I tasted numerous excellent bottles. This was not only the top of the category but the most enjoyable wine I had all year. It reaffirmed my preference for an oxidative and autolytic flavor profile over a more crystalline and linear style of Champagne. The richness, depth, and complexity - and sheer opulence - of this wine really made it stand out.
Château d'Yquem Sauternes 2010
My first d’Yquem. What more needs to be said? I now understand why this wine is so legendary. Depth, complexity, perfectly balanced between sweetness and acidity, rich but simultaneously ethereal in the mouth. Hoping to taste more - hopefully some older vintages - in 2026.
Dom Pérignon Brut Champagne 1980
I discovered this bottle standing upright in the back of a friend’s basement closet collecting dust. Apparently it was the last bottle remaining from his parent’s wedding in the 80’s. Its storage since then was clearly questionable. I asked if we could open it that night - we were gathered after an evening of wine and dinner celebrating our 20th high school reunion with a small group of close friends. He questioned whether the wine would still be any good, but I was optimistic despite its maltreatment. I popped it into the fridge for 45 minutes, then popped and poured. Almost no bubbles left but on first sniff I knew the wine still had magic. And boy was I right. It was definitely on the slight decline from peak, but this wine was still glorious, with dried and candied fruit and a stunning roasted mushroom umami that I tasted seemingly for days. Wow!
Antinori Tenuta Guado al Tasso Bolgheri Superiore 2021
My first real foray into Super Tuscans came during the Wine Spectator Grand Tour event I attended in 2025. In the midst of tasting nearly 100 wines in the course of the evening, this wine still stood out with exceptional concentration, vibrance, power and length while still elegant and refined.
Bindi Sergardi Mocenni Numero 89 Gran Selezione Chianti Classico 2019
Sangiovese in its most potent iteration. Pure red fruit bomb with searing acidity and stunning concentration and length. An extraordinary expression of Chianti Classico.
Bodegas Tradición Pedro Ximenez Tradición 20 Years Old Vos NV
The standout of our visit to Jerez and deep dive into Sherry. Unbelievably rich, dark, potent, complex and long. PX at the top of its game.
Penfolds RWT Bin 798 Shiraz 2019
I don’t drink a lot of Australian wine. It’s a big gap in my tasting databank. I’d never tried a Penfolds wine before this one. This is not Grange (will hopefully have a chance to see what the fuss is about sometime soon), but I was taken aback by the opulence and depth of this wine. Fruity, yes. High alcohol, yes. But counterbalanced by substantial floral, earth, spice, and wood notes, and a stunning finish that lasted seemingly for hours. Definitely impressed.
Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve 2021
Another stunner in the Super Tuscan category. A little less elegant than the Guado al Tasso but bigger, rougher — the powerful oak belies a wine that requires significant age before it reveals its true potential. But the signs are there, and even now drinking with fascinating complexity melding rich red and dark fruit, violets, kirsch, camphor, earthy spice and stone. Would love to taste this again in 15-20 years.
Monte Real Gran Reserva 1998
Rioja. Aged Rioja. American oak. Black cherry, red plum, dill pickle, dried orange peel, cocoa powder, mocha, coconut husk. Super complex and inviting. Juicy, red cherry pie filling, ripe black cherry, candied orange peel, stewed prunes, espresso bean, vanilin, toast, nutmeg, cinnamon, date syrup. Just a beautiful wine in perfect harmony of structure, acidity, and flavor. Bring me more aged Rioja!
Viña Vik Winery VIK 2021
My first real exploration of high end Chilean wine. Blew most of the Napa stuff I tasted the same night out of the water. Explosive nose with black plum, black cherry, fig jam, cassis, fruit cocktail, tobacco and spice. Grippy but fine tannins, elegant and velvety, with hits of mocha coming through on the lengthy finish. Expressive, vibrant, and just plain delicious.
Honorable Quenchions(™):
Tenuta San Guido Guidalberto 2022: Very good but not better than the Guado al Tasso or the Flaccianello.
Jacques Selosse Initial Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne Grand Cru 'Avize' NV: Fantastic champagne but not as memorable as the Krug or Dom.
Recaredo Serral del Vell Brut Nature 2018: An outstanding sparkling wine, and something that showcases how beautiful Cava can be. It doesn’t need to be Champagne. But I just love Champagne more.
Tonel No. 5 Cote de Sud NV: Only like 100 bottles of this were made. PX Sherry in style but spicier and more floral. Impossible to find outside Jerez or at least outside of Spain. Really special to try, but the Bodegas Tradicion PX was just tastier to my palate.
Château Rieussec Sauternes 1989: Old sauternes is so good. But the d’Yquem was better.
R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Reserva 2001: Again, aged Rioja is something special. And this bottle was an absolute banger from one of my favorite producers. But the ‘98 Monte Real was better.
Clos du Val Yettalil 2021: I have never been impressed by Napa Valley wines. Generally overrated, over-oaked, and lacking character. But this bottle was eye opening - Napa power but in a restrained, old world style. I will continue to pull this thread…