Decanter’s Top 50 US wines: Part three – the top 10

Top Wines of the Year lists are far from novel, with most major publications compiling a list of their various takes on a ‘Top 100’ wines tasted in a given year. They may elicit controversy and second-guessing; but you know what they say about opinions, after all.

In my second year in this role, as our US coverage has continued to expand, it felt important to find a way to emphasise our commitment to both the depth and breadth of US wine.

In 2024, we’ve featured vintage reports from both the Sonoma Coast and Sonoma County separately, Oregon’s Willamette Valley and the Columbia Valley that spans both Washington and Oregon.

Of course, we covered Napa, Paso Robles, New York State, and, for the first time, the Anderson Valley on California’s northernmost coast.

Scroll down for scores and reviews of the Decanter Top 50 US Wines: Part three

I made the final ranking decisions, and I’ve personally tasted most, but not all, of these wines, even if I haven’t scored them myself. I recognise that it’s not perfect, but I feel like it’s a great start for us, a very small team on this side of the pond.

My hope is that you may discover a new producer or three and enjoy exploring this list as much as I did putting it together.

These wines I feel are the best wines we tasted all year, I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Our top 10 wines include five from Napa Valley and five from the West Coast, reflecting our selections for Decanter‘s Wines of the Year.

Decanter Top 50 US Wines: Wines 10-6

Tasting notes and scores are below

10: Au Bon Climat, Larmes De Grappe, Sta Rita Hills, Santa Barbara County, California 2021

9: Alban, Reva Syrah, Edna Valley, Central Coast, California 2019

8: Matthiasson, Phoenix Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California 2021

7: Lokoya, Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California 2021

6: Stony Hill, Chardonnay, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain, California 2021

Here are a few wines I’d like to highlight.

8: Matthiasson, Phoenix Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California 2021

Steve Matthiasson is a living winegrowing legend in Napa Valley. He and his wife Jill’s approach to winemaking takes a similar philosophy. His single vineyard, Phoenix Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, is a crystalline interpretation of his farming philosophy in bottle. Pure, precision and unbelievably pretty. This was one of our Napa correspondent Jonathan Cristaldi’s top selections of the 2021 vintage. ‘This is super light and floral-driven,’ Cristaldi claimed, ‘and more like a Nebbiolo. It’s aged in foudre to preserve the fresh fruit quality. Multiple picks ensure ripeness and some are whole cluster pressed. It’s so pretty and pure it’s almost like mineral water that’s been flavoured. The wine has a natural grip and is laser-focused and linear. It is the epitome of elegance.’

6: Stony Hill, Chardonnay, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain, California 2021

In the August issue of Decanter, I wrote a story about a collection of wines that defy the stereotypes about ‘California Chardonnay‘. No wine is better positioned to do so, than the Chardonnay from Stony Hill, a California original. While the Montelena Chardonnay helped put California on the map, the Stony Hill Chardonnay was Napa’s first cult wine. A standard bearer for the region, it’s been a classic forever. This 2021 bottling is ethereal and intense.is an impeccable Chardonnay. Intricate floral aromatics are buoyed by savoury lemon oil and a note of tarragon. The palate shows finesse and focus as filigreed ocean saline minerality frames textures of lemon curd, beeswax and peach skin.

Decanter Top 50 US Wines: Wines 5-1

Tasting notes and scores are below

5: Ovid, Napa Valley, California 2021

4: Corliss Estate, Red Wine, Red Mountain, Washington 2019

3: Occidental, Running Fence Vineyard Cuvée Catherine Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, California 2021

2: Ad Vivum, Sleeping Lady Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Yountville, Napa Valley, California 2021

1: Abbott Claim, Due North Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton, Willamette Valley, Oregon 2021

3: Occidental, Running Fence Vineyard Cuvée Catherine Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, California 2021

A singular, standout wine from my time tasting on the Sonoma Coast.Named for Stephen Kistler’s daughter Catherine, who is the assistant winemaker. This wine was tasted from bottle #C1111. It’s a soulful hedonism in the bottle. The aromas show a real pungency of forest scents and feral wildness of turned earth; smoked sea salt and soy mark the aromas, followed by a smouldering flint minerality. There is a depth to the palate; a smoky richness melds into sappy blackberries and tangy notes of soy and hoisin. This wine dances between the elegance of its florality and earthen mineral core framed by a herbal tone of wild anise and chicory root. It’s truly glorious.

2: Ad Vivum, Sleeping Lady Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Yountville, Napa Valley, California 2021

Our man in Napa, Cristaldi gushed over the Sleeping Lady Vineyard Cabernet from Ad Vivum. He called it ‘an elegant, polished, and seamless Cabernet Sauvignon from longtime Napa Valley winemaker Chris Phelps. It possesses an ethereal quality, an almost weightlessness, but contains multitudes. I tasted it on three separate occasions and one bottle over a three-day period. It was still vibrant and full of life on day three, and that is the mark of a classic.

1: Abbott Claim, Due North Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton, Willamette Valley, Oregon 2021

It’s number one, baby! An Oregon Pinot Noir like no other from the 2021 vintage. In a region that is renowned for wines of elegance and depth, this effort from winemaker Alban Debeaulieu really stood out. Debeaulieu was featured in my feature West Coast: The New Vanguard from our May issue, and he and I tasted this wine together in January at the Yamhill-Carlton estate. I was immediately smitten by its clarity of place, precision and focus.

From Pommard clone vines on a north-facing block cooled by a wind that blows through the site, only about 7% whole-cluster fermentation in an oak vat, followed by 18 months in 70% new French oak barrels. Pungent aromatics of violets and turned earth, gorgeous blue fruits, mushrooms. It’s gloriously charming, and the texture is wholly of elegance and delicacy. Soy and smoked sea salt concentrated wild bramble fruits. The most complete Pinot Noir effort I tasted from the Willamette Valley in 2021.

Top 50 US Wines 2024: How the selections were made

The selections for Decanter’s Top 50 US wines were chosen from the over 3,000 wines tasted and reviewed between January and November of 2024. To be considered, they must be current or soon-to-be-released wines; library wines are not eligible.

They were selected to show a range of styles, places and exciting and emerging winemaking talent. This is not intended to be a list of the top-scoring wines of the year but wines that show the brilliance and diversity of America’s winemaking talents and regions.

Decanter Top 50 US Wines: Part three 10-1

Wines are listed in reverse order from 10 to 1

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