Top 25 Wines of 2020

This might be the weirdest year in wine reviews, but I was still able to taste and review over 2500 wines this year.  My tasting group met via zoom most of the time, but we made it work! We tasted, smelled, and swished a boatload of wines, so to come up with our “own” Top 25 wines that are “the greatest” is not easy. But as always, we try to do our best! My tasting group of 16 wine swishers, wine smellers, wine “evaluators”, and my friends of Bacchus carefully assessed the wines and came up with the following final list!

We do have a tie for FIRST place: Bevan & Cattleya
 

Congrats to everyone!

1  – (Tied) Bevan 2018 Ontogeny Proprietary Red, Napa Valley
~ 99 Points ~

1 –  (Tied) Cattleya 2018 Pinot Noir “Belly of the Whale” Petaluma Gap, Sonoma
~ 97 Points ~

3 – DuMol 2018 Pinot Noir Estate Vineyard
~ 98 Points ~

4 – Carte Blanche 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon
~ 97 Points ~

5 – Paul Lato 2017 Syrah “Cinematique” Larner Vineyard, Santa Ynez
~ 99 Points ~

6 –  Shared Notes 2019 Sauvignon Blanc Les Leçons des Maîtres, Russian River Valley
~ 96 Points ~

7 – Aperture 2018 Bordeaux Blend, Alexander Valley
~ 96+ Points ~

8 – The Hilt Estate 2017 Chardonnay  “Vanguard”Santa Rita Hills
~ 97 Points ~

9 – Hobel 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon  “The Burl”  Napa Valley
~ INAUGURAL RELEASE ~

10 – Cattleya 2018 Syrah “INITIATION” Santa Lucia Highlands
~ 97 Points ~

11 – DuMol 2018 Chardonnay “Chloe” Ritchie Vineyard
~ 96 Points ~

12 – Roar 2018 Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands
~ 95 Points ~

13 – Keplinger Lithic 2018 Lithic GSM “Shake Ridge Vineyard”
~ 97 Points ~

14 – DuMol 2018 Chardonnay “Wester Reach” Russian River Valley
~ 95 Points ~

15 – Patrimony 2016 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
~ 98 Points ~

16 –  Bevan 2018 Tench EE Red (Cabernet Blend) Napa Valley
~ 100 Points ~

17 – Paul Lato 2018 Chardonnay “Souvenir” Sierra Madre Vineyard
~ 97 Points ~

18 – Dragonette Cellars 2018 “Grimm’s Bluff” Sauvignon Blanc
~ 95 Points ~

19 – Kamen 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate, Sonoma
~ 96 Points ~

20–  Arbe Garbe 2018 Proprietary White, Russian River Valley
~ 94 Points ~

21 – Halcon 2018 Petite Sirah “Tierra” Theopolis Vineyard
~ 95 Points ~

22 – Walter Hansel 2018 Pinot Noir “North Slope” Russian River Valley
~95 Points ~

23 – Melis Family 2019 Rose of Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills
~ 94 Points ~

24 – Caterwaul 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
~ 95 Points ~

25 – Riverain 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon, Tench Vineyard, Napa Valley
~ 95 Points ~
 

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