France and the US top Robert Parker’s inaugural Top 100 Wine Discoveries List

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 18 November, 2020

France and the US cap off a new list of wines from Robert Parker Wine Advocate, which aims to identify the next big icon wines and trends from around the globe.

Following on from the successful launch of last year’s “top ten wine discoveries” at the New York Matter of Taste event, the review team at US-based Robert Parker Wine Advocate has now taken its hunt for new discoveries one step further by announcing its best newly discovered, under-the-radar wines of the year.

France and the US came out on top, both taking up 20 of the 100 spots on a list which aims to identify “the taste of the new generation”.

Wines were judged against criteria that showed they offered something “outside the mainstream” or are new, with a focus on innovation in the areas of sustainability and terroir.

This included plenty of wineries in Old World regions such as France and Italy, as well as the new. The US has emerged as one of wine’s “most innovative frontiers”, the team said.

A number of lesser-known grape varieties in non-traditional growing regions also feature alongside renowned marques that are making significant innovations in and out of the vineyard.

“The results of our assessment highlighted to us that there are wines that are not necessarily our top-scoring wines, but have compelling stories behind the bottle,” Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Robert Parker Wine Advocate editor-in-chief, said.

“Even if the labels are not at all new, what’s happening behind those famous names and all that regional tradition is occasionally quite innovative. These stories and innovations are what consumers are increasingly motivated by when they seek out new discoveries – hence the creation of what we offer our readers as our Top 100 Wine Discoveries.”

The list was compiled from over 30,000 wines reviewed by 10 wine critics at Robert Parker between October 2019 and October 2020.

Alongside innovation, wines had to demonstrate attributes including value, age-worthiness and sustainability.

The new list complements the 100-point rating system developed by Robert Parker Wine Advocate back in 1978, which became the benchmark for wine judging on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1980s and 1990s.

The full list is included in alphabetical order here:

Country	Region	Wine Name	Vintage
Argentina	Patagonia	Chacra Chardonnay	2018
Australia	Clare Valley	Koerner Gullyview Vineyard Pigato Vermentino	2019
Australia	Margaret River	Evoi Reserve Chardonnay	2018
Australia	McLaren Vale	D'Arenberg The Anthropocene Epoch Mencia	2018
Australia	Swan Valley	Corymbia Chenin Blanc	2019
Australia	Swan Valley	Faber Vineyard Grand Muscat	NV
Austria	Kamptal	Weingut Bründlmayer Riesling Zöbinger Ried Heiligenstein Alte Reben 1ÖTW	2018
Austria	Südsteiermark	Tement Ried Zieregg Sauvignon Blanc Reserve IZ	2015
Austria	Wachau	Prager Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Wachstum Bodenstein	2018
Canada	British Columbia	CheckMate Queen's Advantage Chardonnay	2016
Chile	Limari Valley	Tabalí Talinay Pai Pinot Noir	2018
Chile	Malleco Valley	Baettig Selección de Parcelas Los Primos Chardonnay	2018
China	Hebei	Domaine Franco Chinois Petit Manseng	2014
China	Shandong	Chateau Nine Peaks Qi Chardonnay	2018
Cyprus	Cyprus	Vouni Panayia Woman in the Wine Press	2017
France	Alsace	Valentin Zusslin Pinot Noir Bollenberg Luft	2016
France	Beaujolais	Jean-Marc Burgaud Beaujolais-Villages Les Vignes de Lantignié	2019
France	Bordeaux	Chateau Asphodele	2019
France	Bordeaux, Lalande de Pomerol	Les Champs Libres	2017
France	Bordeaux, Margaux	Chateau Palmer	2017
France	Bordeaux, Pessac-Leognan	Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion	2017
France	Bordeaux, Pomerol	Chateau Séraphine	2017
France	Bordeaux, Saint-Emilion	Chateau La Gaffeliere	2017
France	Burgundy	Domaine Dureuil-Janthial Rully 1er Cru Meix Cadot Vieilles Vignes	2018
France	Burgundy	Domaine Jean-Marc Vincent Santenay 1er Cru Les Gravières	2018
France	Burgundy	Domaine Bruno Lorenzon Mercurey 1er Cru Clos de Champs Martin Cuvée Carline	2018
France	Burgundy	Domaine Lamy-Caillat Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets	2017
France	Burgundy	Aurélien Verdet Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits Le Prieuré	2018
France	Champagne	Champagne Roses de Jeanne (Cédric Bouchard) Blanc de Noirs Côte de Val Vilaine	2017
France	Languedoc	Chateau Montfin Corbières Vincent Sans Sulfites Ajoutés	2018
France	Northern Rhone	Stephane Rousset Crozes Hermitage Marsanne Vieilles Vignes	2017
France	Northern Rhone	Benjamin et David Duclaux Cote Rotie Unnamed Cuvée	2018
France	Roussillon	Oiseau Rebelle Vin de France P'tit Rebelle ClanGrenGris	2017
France	Southern Rhone	Domaine Isabel Ferrando Chateauneuf du Pape F601	2018
France	Vouvray	Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Sec	2019
Germany	Franken	Weingut Rudolf Fürst Spätburgunder Hundsrück GG	2018
Germany	Mosel	Markus Molitor Riesling Erdener Prälat Auslese *** (White Capsule)	2018
Germany	Mosel	Jakob Tennstedt Waldportier	2018
Germany	Mosel	Max Ferd. Richter Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett	2019
Germany	Rheingau	Peter Jakob Kühn Riesling Trocken Landgeflecht Unikat	2015
Germany	Rheingau	Robert Weil Riesling Monte Vacano	2018
Germany	Rheinhessen	Weingut Saalwächter Silvaner Grauer Stein	2018
Greece	Evia	Vriniotis Assyrtiko Sur Lie	2018
Greece	Santorini	Karamolegos Winery Papas	2016
Greece	Drama	Oenops XinomavRaw	2018
Italy	Alto Adige Valle Isarco	Köfererhof Kerner	2018
Italy	Barolo	Arnaldo Rivera Barolo Undicicomuni	2016
Italy	Campania, Roccamonfina	I Cacciagalli Phos	2017
Italy	Colli Tortonesi	Vigne Marina Coppi Colli Tortonesi Timorasso Fausto	2016
Italy	Etna	Tenute Bosco Etna Rosso Pre-phylloxera Vico	2016
Italy	Etna	Tasca d'Almerita Etna Rosso Contrada Sciaranuova V.V.	2016
Italy	Greco di Tufo	Tenute Capaldo Greco di Tufo Goleto	2017
Italy	Langhe Nebbiolo	G.D. Vajra Langhe Nebbiolo Claré J.C.	2019
Italy	Sicily, Terre Siciliane	Tenuta di Castellaro Nero Ossidiana	2016
Italy	Toscana	Duemani G. Punto	2018
Italy	Toscana	Castello dei Rampolla Liù	2018
Italy	Valdaro di Sopra, Tuscany	Petrolo Val d'Arno di Sopra Bòggina C	2018
Lebanon	Lebanon	Ixsir EL	2011
New Zealand	Canterbury	Greystone Vineyard Ferment Pinot Noir	2017
New Zealand	Hawke's Bay	Tony Bish Heartwood Chardonnay	2018
Portugal	Bairrada	Filipa Pato Nossa Missão	2016
Portugal	Douro	Márcio Lopes Proibido Grande Reserva	2017
Portugal	Porto	Kopke White Colheita Port	1940
South Africa	65% Franschhoek & 35% Robertson	Colmant Absolu	NV
South Africa	Bot River	Beaumont Family Wines New Baby	2017
South Africa	Stellenbosch	Natte Valleij Stellenbosch Cinsault	2017
South Africa	Tulbagh	Pasarene Union	2016
Spain	Bierzo	Michelini i Mufatto Post-Crucifixión	2018
Spain	Bierzo	Verónica Ortega VO Cobrana	2018
Spain	Canary Islands	Victoria Torres Pecis Viñas y Vinos Malvasía Aromática Naturalmente Dulce	2017
Spain	Galicia	Fedellos do Couto Bastarda	2018
Spain	Gredos	Soto y Manrique La Mira	2018
Spain	Jerez	Bodegas San Francisco Javier Fino Viña Corrales Pago Balbaína	NV
Spain	Jumilla	Micrit Caliza Micrit	2018
Spain	Manchuela	Ponce Red	2018
Spain	Navarra	Viña Zorzal Wines Punto de Fuga Corral del Mate	2018
Spain	Rias Baixas	Eulogio Pomares Castiñeiro Espadeiro	2018
Spain	Ribera del Duero	Hacienda Solano Finca Peña Lobera	2016
Spain	Valencia	Javi Revert Viticultor Simeta	2018
Switzerland	Valais	Marie-Thérèse Chappaz Grain Arvine de Fully	2018
USA	California	Desperada Sauvignon Blanc Fragment	2018
USA	California, Central Coast	Fingers Crossed Syrah Off the Record	2018
USA	Napa Valley	Hertelendy Cabernet Franc Heavy Metal	2018
USA	Napa Valley	Modus Operandi Antithesis	2018
USA	Napa Valley	Trois Noix Noisette Cuvee	2018
USA	Napa Valley	Cervantes Blacktail Proprietary Red Blend MMXVII	2017
USA	North Fork, Long Island, New York	The Lenz Winery Cuvée RD	2005
USA	Paso Robles	Benom Origin	2017
USA	Paso Robles	Giornata Fiano	2019
USA	Red Mountain	Aquilini Cabernet Sauvignon Red Mountain	2017
USA	San Luis Obispo County, Edna Valley	Lady of the Sunshine Chevey	2019
USA	Santa Cruz Mountains	Sante Arcangeli Pinot Noir Split Rail Vineyard	2018
USA	Sonoma County, Russian River Valley	Bob Cabral Wines Pinot Noir Troubadour	2017
USA	Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast	Vivier Wines Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast	2018
USA	Virginia	Glen Manor Dry Petit Manseng	2019
USA	Walla Walla Valley	Elephant Seven Yellowbird Vineyard Syrah	2017
USA	Walla Walla Valley	Echolands Winery Seven Hills Vineyard Red Wine	2018
USA	Willamette Valley	00 Wines Chardonnay VGW	2018
USA	Willamette Valley	Hundred Suns Pinot Noir Bednarik Vineyard	2018
USA	Yakima	Cairdeas Winery Caislén an Pápa	2017