Wines of the Year 2020: Top scorers

To create Decanter’s Wines of the Year 2020 ranking, we asked our staff, key contributors and Decanter World Wine Awards Regional Chairs to nominate their standout bottles across three categories:

• Classic (a premium, benchmark wine style);
• Offbeat (unusual grape, winemaking method, region or unearthed gem);
• Value (£25 or under).

The wines were then tasted and scored by an expert panel – Beth Willard, Andy Howard MW and Ronan Sayburn MS – to help ensure objectivity.

Prices were not revealed to the judges at the time of tasting and the panel did not know which of the three categories (cited above) a wine had been nominated for.

The list brings together a kaleidoscope of backgrounds, perspectives and palates, all supported by outstanding knowledge on specific areas. It therefore provides a fantastic insight into exciting things, old and new, happening in different parts of the wine world.

‘This is all about experts – who really understand the varieties and wine styles of their regions – choosing wines they love, and that makes it a unique tasting,’ said Willard.

Scroll down to see our Wines of the Year 2020 top scorers

See more of our top wines of 2020

More about the wines 

‘We’ve had an incredibly broad range across two days of tasting: some classics, some unusual varieties, and some varieties from regions where you wouldn’t expect to find them,’ said Willard.

‘And in general, all of these Wines of the Year, at all price points, have broad appeal.’

She added, ‘Hopefully, in us selecting a hierarchy among what are all excellent wines, we can encourage people who might normally buy something quite safe to try something a little bit different.’

The list of top scorers below covers red, white, rosé, sweet and fortified, and includes the wines with the highest ratings in our Wines of the Year 2020 panel tasting.

There is plenty of scope for new discoveries among the lesser-known producers and regions highlighted, and some of these may challenge your assumptions. You could even discover a ‘new classic’ of the future.

However, the list is also a testament to the constancy and quality of some of the wine world’s best-known names.

You’ll find a Tasmanian fizz at the top of the sparkling wines ranking, while many readers may not have tried a solera-aged, fortified Verdejo or a Trousseau Gris (and certainly not one from California).

These wines rank alongside classics like beautiful Margaret River Chardonnay, a Barbaresco and an Oregon Pinot Noir.

Others listed may fly under-the-radar but can also be considered classics in their own right – see the Vidiano-Assyrtiko blend or the Colares Malvasia – once you’ve had a chance to discover their background and history.

The red wines in the tasting, and the top scorers in particular, are perhaps a bit more conservative and adhered more closely to expectations. Yet that is to take nothing away from the high quality of those listed.

It’s worth perusing the nominations for great value options, too. Even among the top scorers, there are fantastic, memorable wines that can be found on the shelves for less than £20-a-bottle.

If there’s one thing we all learned in 2020 it’s that the small pleasures in life should not be taken for granted. For many of us, one of the few such pleasures is opening a good bottle of wine. So be daring and explore the delicious bottles nominated by Decanter’s experts.

Introduction copy by Ines Salpico. Tasting notes from Beth Willard, Andy Howard MW and Ronan Sayburn MS.

Decanter Wines of the Year 2020: The top scorers

This list represents red, white, rosé, sparkling, sweet and fortified wines from the tasting. 

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