Top 100 Value Wines of 2020 (less than $35 per bottle)

Our Top 100 Best Value Wines of 2020 were led by an Australian riesling, and included numerous Argentine, Chilean, Italian and Spanish wines. Scroll down for the full list.

Notwithstanding its obvious challenges, 2020 was a year that highlighted the importance of great value. Wine lovers needed to watch their wallets more than ever. We published nearly 50 articles focusing on the world’s best value wines, sorted by either grape variety or region. These wines were often under or around $35 a bottle, and we found many quality bottles that retail around $15 in price. You can see the full collection of these articles here.

And finding great value wines was probably easier in 2020 than ever before, due to several successful vintages in various countries and the continually improving skills of winemakers that push quality higher while the price remains attractive. This Top 100 Great Value List show how price can nicely unhook from quality. And of course, at JamesSuckling.com, all the samples received are not discriminated by price during tasting, which gives us a better chance to find great wines at great prices.

Unsurprisingly, Italy, Argentina, Spain, and Chile dominate this list. With 21 wines selected, Italy continues to lead with its dazzling diversity of wines of incredible value. Chianti Classico, whites from the northeast of the country (which many neglect), and the unique, lava-drenched Etna Rosso are wines that often deliver great value. Schiopetto Pinot Grigio Collio 2019 (No. 4, 95 points) was the top value for Italy this year, a pinot grigio that shows phenolic texture and intensity that will surely change opinions of those who often overlook this variety.

Already with a reputation for great value, Argentina gave 20 wines to the list. The trio of excellent vintages of 2017, 2018, and 2019 makes the quality-price ratio look effortless. Producers like El Enemigo, Marcelo Pelleriti, BenMarco of Susana Balbo, Mendel, among many others, are the top players who produced top-notch wines. In second place you will find El Enemigo Chardonnay Mendoza 2018 (97 points), a full, creamy and dense chardonnay whose 2016 vintage was our top value wine of 2018.

For 2020, the best value of the year went to an Australian white: Peter Lehmann Riesling Eden Valley Wigan 2015 (98 points), a complex, bottle-matured riesling that develops with a glossy textural quality over the five years in bottle. Among the seven bottles from Australia on the list, five are rieslings, and all received 96 points and up, but the prices remain affordable. Australia can produce outstanding dry riesling at only a fraction of the price of German GG riesling.

>>> See all our Top 100 Wines of the Year reports here
>>> See all our Top 100 Wines of the Year (Regional) here

In 2020, riesling blossomed with 14 wines on the top 100 list, mostly dry and off-dry, including five from Australia, four from Germany, three from Austria, one from France and one from New Zealand.

Another takeaway is how many “Spanish-speaking” wines you can find here — 54 bottles in total, which makes more than half of the list. After Italy, Spain, with 20 wines on the list, ties with Argentina, which is no surprise. In fact, to underscore great value, we weighted price slightly more than scores for the Top 100 wines of Spain 2020, and the top 10 all offered incredible value.  Chile, however, with 13 wines included, did not show as many great deals as we expected. Our 2020 Chile report also pointed out that producers in the country could work a little harder to strive for greatness. Most seem to rest on their laurels as leaders of exceptional value wines rated 90-93 points (a lot of them under $20), but don’t seem to have the will to create wines that score 94 points or up, which is the starting point for our Top 100 Great Value 2020. Australia contributed seven bottles to this list, followed by Germany (five) and France (four), complemented by three wines each from USA, Austria and New Zealand. Bodega Garzón Tannat Garzón Single Vineyard 2018 made it to the list as the only wine picked from Uruguay.

Quality, price, and availability are the primary criteria for this 2020 Top Value list. Wines must receive 94 points or more but sell for $30 (average price) or less. After that, we consider the relative value (yes, once again!) and availability, and rank according to this combination of factors. Reluctantly, we had to exclude some great-value bottles made in a tiny quantity or with only niche availability. And each producer was allowed no more than two wines on the list.

We know that this is a price-sensitive list, and different markets can also affect the definition of “value”. The price difference of an Argentine malbec sold in the domestic market, for example, could be huge when compared with the same wine in Brazil. So, it is not easy to draw an exact line for the price, even we try to only include wines that retail under $30. In this list, we tend to focus on the international average price and the US price, which give a fuller picture of the price listings and availability. In a few cases, especially for the US, our budget is a little looser (still within $10), as finding superb value wines that scored 94 points and up can be challenging in these places. The punitive US taxes on most European wines didn’t help the situation and we strongly oppose them. We hope the change in the US government will help.  However, we did manage to find three chardonnays from three different regions in the US, which also shows how chardonnay is one of the most promising grapes in in the country at all price points. Our top wine of the year from the US was also a chardonnay, showing that chardonnay now represents some of the best wines in America.

As COVID-19 still rages around the world, the global economy is likely to stay unpredictable. This means that value in wines will continue to be a major consideration for 2021, and probably beyond. Our mission to find great value wines also gives us a chance to review these wines as nothing but a drink, whose cork (or screwcap) will sooner or later be removed, the liquid inside ultimately oxidized and digested, and its mission thereby accomplished: to bring laughter and pleasure to the people who consume them.

We hope this curated 2020 Top 100 Value List conveys two messages: for producers, there is little room for making bad or even average wines today; for consumers, you don’t need to spend a lot to sip outstanding, even great wines. More than that, finding value is not just about having a keen eye for a deal, but also about being a little adventurous. Isn’t that what wine is also about—a journey of discovery? We hope you enjoy the ride, get the most out of this list, and get these great value wines when you come across them!

– Zekun Shuai, associate editor