Wine Spectator recently released its acclaimed annual list of the Top 100 Wines from around the world. This year, five Sonoma and Napa county wines were named among the top 10. More than a dozen other local bottlings made the list amid renowned wineries from France to Chile.

The list, first compiled in 1988, is made up of the top 100 wines out of the thousands Wine Spectator editors review throughout the year.

Editors base the selection on quality, price value and availability of wines that ranked 90 points or higher on Wine Spectator’s 100-point scale.

Among the local wines featured in the top 10 are Beaulieu Vineyard’s Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (No. 2); Faust’s Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (No. 4); Chimney Rock’s Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon (No. 5); Williams Selyem’s Eastside Road Neighbors Pinot Noir (No. 8); and Ramey Wine Cellar’s Russian River Valley Chardonnay (No. 10).

Top 10 wines

Beaulieu Vineyard

Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, No. 2

Wine Spectator noted this 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is “packed with dark, winey flavors of black currant and blackberry paste underscored with alder, sweet tobacco, warm paving stone and black licorice notes, while a violet accent fills the background.” The winery sourced grapes from the Rutherford AVA in Napa Valley, from Cabernet Sauvignon vines originally planted by Georges de Latour in the early 1900s. 7,289 cases made. Score of 95. $170 per bottle.

1960 St. Helena Highway, Rutherford, 707-257-5749, bvwines.com

Faust Wines

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, No. 4

This 2021 Cab features a blend of fruit from the winery’s Coombsville vineyard in Napa as well as from cooler sites in the valley, lending to a natural balance of mature tannins and lively acidity levels. “Packed and broad in feel, with a ganache note draped over black currant, blackberry and steeped cherry,” noted Wine Spectator. “Licorice root and alder smoke flavors check in on the finish as the fruit pumps through, ending with a flash of violet.” 50,000 cases made. Score of 94. $65 per bottle.

2867 St. Helena Highway St., Helena, 707-200-2560, faustwines.com

Chimney Rock

Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon, No. 5

“Super lush and polished in feel, with creamy-textured açaí, mulberry and cassis notes gliding through slowly,” Wine Spectator stated about this 2021 Cab. The wine also features hints of iris, violet and anise with a licorice note on the finish. It’s sourced from the Stags Leap District AVA in Napa. 13,363 cases made. Score of 94. $110 per bottle.

5350 Silverado Trail, Napa, 707-257-2641, chimneyrock.com

Williams Selyem

Eastside Road Neighbors Pinot Noir, No. 8

Made in the Russian River Valley, this 2022 Pinot features “juicy and delicious mulberry, blackberry and cherry pâte de fruit notes that ripple with energy,” Wine Spectator noted, “while rose hip, rooibos tea and licorice snap accents fuel the finish.” Woodsy cedar aromas add a compelling texture. 2,151 cases made. Score of 95. $72 per bottle.

7227 Westside Road, Healdsburg, 707-433-6425, williamsselyem.com

Ramey Wine Cellar

Russian River Valley Chardonnay, No. 10

This 2022 Chardonnay features a blend of fruits from cool vineyard sites in the Russian River Valley, providing depth of flavor and a crisp mouthfeel. Wine Spectator noted the white wine offers a “mix of perfectly ripe peach, mango and lemon bar flavors, with fresh herbal accents of lemon verbena and vetiver.” There are also accents of fresh ginger, tangerine and sea salt on the finish. 7,442 cases made. Score of 94. $50 per bottle.

25 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-433-0870, rameywine.com

Other winning wines

Just over a dozen other wines from Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties are scattered throughout the Top 100 list.

Among the winning Sonoma County wines are a Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc from Merry Edwards Winery in Sebastopol (No. 16); a Russian River Valley ‘Papera Ranch’ Zinfandel from Carlisle Winery in Windsor (No. 21); a Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir from Patz & Hall in Sonoma (No. 31); a Sonoma Coast Chardonnay from Flowers Vineyards & Winery in Healdsburg (N0. 43); a Cuvee Natalie Pinot Noir from Kistler Vineyards in Forestville (No. 54); and Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir from Ferren Wines in west county (No. 96).

The featured Napa wines include the Napa Valley Merlot from Rutherford Hill Winery in Rutherford (No. 25); Dollarhide Estate Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc from St. Supéry Estate in Rutherford (No. 27); Cask 23 Cabernet Sauvignon from Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in Napa (No. 57); Annia, a white blend from Massican Cellars in St. Helena (No. 72); Promiscua Cabernet Sauvignon from Burgess Cellars in Napa (No. 73); Coeur de Vigne Cabernet Sauvignon from Sullivan Rutherford Estate in St. Helena (No. 75); a Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon from Almacerro winery in Angwin (No. 94); VHR Cabernet Sauvignon from Vine Hill Ranch in Napa (No. 97); and Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Annulus Cellars in St. Helena (No. 99).

The lone Mendocino County wine to make the list was Roederer Estate Brut from Anderson Valley, which ranked at No. 20.

Topping the list as “Wine of the Year” is Viña Don Melchor’s Puente Alto Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile. See the full list of Top 100 wines here.

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As has been the tradition for the past twenty years, Wine Spectator has unveiled its Top 100 list just in time for the holidays. The list is a carefully curated selection of wines from around the world, picked by magazine editors from the thousands of wines they have tasted and reviewed throughout the year. Oenophiles keep the list in their back pocket (and now smartphones) as a guide to must-try bottles.

This year, a handful of homegrown Sonoma County wines and producers made the top 100 cut, including a field blend of Zinfandel, Carignane, Mourvèdre, Syrah, and Alicante Bouschet from Sonoma’s Bedrock Wine Co., which was named among the 10 best wines of 2018. 

Wine Spectator’s senior editor Tim Fish, a Sonoma local, praised Bedrock Wine Co.’s 2016 Bedrock Heritage Sonoma Valley, and called it “a knockout red, focused and well-built but loaded with personality.” The wine is produced from 120 year-old vines by the family of publisher William Randolph Hearst.

“We are stoked that a wine so rich in Sonoma Valley history received such an honor,” said winemaker Morgan Twain-Peterson, who inherited his passion for working with historic vineyards from his father, Joel Peterson of Ravenswood Winery fame.

Twain-Peterson knows the Bedrock vineyard like the back of his hand, having mapped and identified each of the 16,279 vines that reside on the 152-acre Glen Ellen vineyard.

“It is wonderful recognition for the few remaining ancient, genetically diverse, and richly storied old vineyards of California,” says Twain-Peterson, “that a field-blend of 27 different varieties stands alongside some of the greatest wines of the world is a real thrill for those of us who work every day to rehabilitate and preserve these increasingly scarce sites.”

Click through the above gallery to see which other Sonoma County wines made the Wine Spectator’s Top 100 List. 

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