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PREMIUM

Decanter’s top panel tasting wines of 2019

It's been an amazing year for Decanter's panel tastings. Below, we have listed all 64 wines that were awarded 95 points and above in our famous blind tastings over the last 12 months...

2019’s panel tastings have seen high scoring wines aplenty. In the last year our experts have covered topics as diverse as 2010 California Cabernet, Premium 2010 Rioja and Champagne magnums vs bottles.

In total, 1,672 wines were tasted, but just 64 (or 3.8%) of wines entered achieved an Outstanding (95-97 points) or Exceptional (98-100 points) award. You can see all 64 of Decanter’s top panel tasting wines below, arranged in order of panel tastings, starting with the 2010 California Cabernet in the February 2019 issue.

The largest panel tasting of 2019 was December’s California Cabernet 2015 tasting, with a mammoth 197 wines entered, of which 10 achieved 95+ points.

The panel tasting with the biggest proportion of Outstanding and Exceptional wines was February’s Western Australia Chardonnay tasting, with 3 Exceptional and 4 Outstanding wines out of the 60 tasted.

May’s Chianti Classico 2010 Riserva & Gran Selezione tasting wasn’t too far behind, with 7 of the 75 wines entered achieving 95+ points.

What is a panel tasting?

Three world-class wine experts in their field review flights of wines on a set theme. Each expert writes a tasting note and score for each wine, and every score is then averaged to provide a final score, given in the context of the selected tasting theme.

See all of Decanter’s panel tastings


Decanter’s top panel tasting wines 2019:

All wines below achieved scores of 95 and above, covering both the Outstanding and Exceptional award categories.

Wines ordered by month of panel tasting, beginning with February 2019. 


See all of Decanter’s 2019 panel tastings:

Californian Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 – February 2019

Western Australian Chardonnay – February 2019

Quality Rioja 2010 – March 2019

Top Spanish Mencía – March 2019

Picpoul de Pinet – April 2019

Chilean Carmenère – April 2019

Amarone: Riserva, single-vineyard and special-selection – May 2019

Chianti Classico 2010 Riserva & Gran Selezione – May 2019

Premium Californian Chardonnay – June 2019

Premium South American red blends – June 2019

New Zealand oaked Sauvignon Blanc – July 2019

Good value Douro reds for under £20 / $25 – July 2019

Côtes de Provence rosé – August 2019

Rosso di Montalcino 2016 & 2017 – September 2019

Global Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine – September 2019

Chilean Pinot Noir – October 2019

Australian Pinot Noir – November 2019

Priorat reds – November 2019

California Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 – December 2019

Champagne: Magnum Vs Bottle – December 2019

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