Future wine legends: Decanter 100-point wines
We've rounded up a selection of wines awarded the full 100 points by our experts. A few older vintages have already featured in our ,, but the rest are all contenders for a future place in , hall of fame.
Since Decanter’s adoption of the 100-point scale for wine reviews – done in the magazine’s buying guide for the first time in 2012 – we’ve seen our experts give maximum marks to several wines, including those in the Rhône, Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Barossa, Tuscany, Burgundy and Champagne.
Below, you can find a selection of wines that have made the grade, plus an explanation from Jane Anson on how tough decisions are made.
Jane Anson on awarding a wine the full 100 points:
‘There is of course no such thing as a truly perfect wine, because they evolve and any tasting is only a snapshot in time, but that doesn’t mean that certain wines don’t deserve to be given 100 points for their achievements.
‘I guess we can all argue over whether individual properties deserve it or not in a particular year, but it is certainly a way to show potential consumers that there is something extremely special going on with this particular wine, and that they should be assured of an amazing experience if they can get hold of a bottle.
‘For me, they have to be technically brilliant in terms of their structure and fruit but also true to their own identity and a reflection of the very best that their terroir can deliver.
‘Such wines must have persistency, balance and ability to age, but also need to deliver something above all of that; where you simply stop and think, ‘I can’t imagine what they could have done better, and I feel so lucky to be trying this wine.’
Decanter 100-point wines
See these other tasting collections, exclusive to Premium members:
How Bordeaux 2008 tastes now
Brunello 2013: Full report and top wines
Tenuta San Guido, Sassicaia, Vino da Tavola, Tuscany, Italy, 1985
Wow, this is practically bursting out of the glass and out of the line-up. Black olive tapenade, salty anchovy tang, rosemary and sage, against the...
1985
Tenuta San GuidoVino da Tavola
Tua Rita, Redigaffi, Toscana, Tuscany, Italy, 2016
The 2016 Redigaffi is a wine of exquisite harmony and balance. It is still a wine I love. For Frascolla, '2016 was very, very good...
2016
Tua RitaToscana
Domaine Jean-Paul Jamet, Côte Brune, Côte-Rôtie, Rhône, France, 2016
Jamet's Côte Brune is a historical oddity rather than the result of following the single vineyard trend. It once represented 50% of production, but as...
2016
Domaine Jean-Paul JametCôte-Rôtie
Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac, 2ème Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 1982
May Eliane de Lencquesaing had been at Pichon since 1978, so four years by the time the 1982 rolled around. The Merlot levels are a...
1982
Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de LalandePauillac
Seppeltsfield, 100 Year Old Para Vintage Tawny, Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia, 1889
In 1878, Benno Seppelt started a tradition which produced Australia’s most revered fortified Tawny - reserving a puncheon of the vintage’s best ‘Port’ for 100...
1889
SeppeltsfieldBarossa Valley
Dunn Vineyards, Trailer Vineyard Cabernet Sauvingon, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain, California, USA, 2013
The Dunns' Trailer Vineyard, perched high on Howell Mountain at around 2,100 ft, was planted in 1972 with a low-yielding selection Cabernet Sauvignon and finally...
2013
Dunn VineyardsNapa Valley
Château Lafleur, Pomerol, Bordeaux, France, 2015
Wonderfully lifted and tropical on the nose, laden with pineapple, tinned peaches, wild strawberries and soft, wild herbs. Insanely complex. Faultless in the mouth with...
2015
Château LafleurPomerol
Philip Togni Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain, California, USA, 2013
Englishman Philip Togni has been quietly producing some of Napa Valley’s most consistently excellent and classically proportioned wines from his estate high on Spring Mountain...
2013
Philip Togni VineyardNapa Valley
M Chapoutier, L'Ermite, Hermitage, Rhône, France, 2017
Harvested on 13 September at a yield of 20 hl/ha, this wine spends 18 months in barriques and demi-muids, 25% new - representing a move...
2017
M ChapoutierHermitage
Château Latour, Pauillac, 1er Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 1982
A sublime wine, unbelievably youthful and vibrant still and one that holds attention from the first sip. Beautiful aromatic complexity on the nose; floral notes,...
1982
Château LatourPauillac
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée-Conti Grand Cru Monopole, Burgundy, France, 2006
Medium-full weight. Very lovely, almost Musigny-like fruit here. Complex, concentrated and intense. Marvelous harmony. Very, very long and multi-dimensional. This is very special.
2006
Domaine de la Romanée-ContiRomanée-Conti Grand Cru Monopole
Château Margaux, Margaux, 1er Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2015
The Hommage à Paul Pontallier bottling: a tribute to the estate's late managing director, who died in March 2016. Other-worldly, intoxicating Margaux perfume of soft...
2015
Château MargauxMargaux
Domaine Armand Rousseau, Chambertin Grand Cru, Burgundy, France, 2009
This is very lovely indeed. Lots of depth and energy. Excellent fruit. A really profound, vigorous and classy wine. Beautiful!
2009
Domaine Armand RousseauChambertin Grand Cru
Château L'Eglise-Clinet, Pomerol, Bordeaux, France, 2015
The things that differentiate the good from the truly great are layers and persistence. And here, Durantou manages not just layers, but new flavours that...
2015
Château L'Eglise-ClinetPomerol
Château Rayas, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2016
On my visit on 9th October, as usual Emmanuel Reynaud still hadn't finished picking his 2017 harvest. He is always one of the latest to...
2016
Château RayasChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Salicutti, Piaggione SV, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy, 2011
Salicutti's Riserva is a true single vineyard bottling of Piaggione with the initials SV distinguishing it from the regular Brunello. Like the latter, the Riserva...
2011
SalicuttiBrunello di Montalcino
Château Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac, 1er Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 2005
A pair of balancing scales - one side depicting the sun, the other rain - is etched into the bottle, with the sun slightly winning...
2005
Château Lafite RothschildPauillac
Krug, Collection, Champagne, France, 1982
Disgorged at the same time as the original Krug Vintage 1982, this is one of the most profoundly complex Champagnes you could dream of encountering....
1982
Krug
Château Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, 1er Cru Classé, Bordeaux, France, 1986
Wonderful, concentrated and still astonishingly young, this has brushes of violet aromatics rising above the tight cassis fruits and rich black truffle, and the classic...
1986
Château Mouton RothschildPauillac
Domaine JL Chave, Hermitage, Rhône, France, 2016
Principally from the lieux-dits of Péléat, Beaume, Les Bessards, L’Ermite and Le Méal, this is fresh and lifted with accessible berry fruits. The oak (10%...
2016
Domaine JL ChaveHermitage
Petrus, Pomerol, Bordeaux, France, 2015
I think the sample we had was slightly oxidised or certainly not showing to its full potential. This bottle had good concentration of red fruit...
2015
PetrusPomerol
