2022 was a challenging year in many ways. One of the most important for us here at JamesSuckling.com was the economic toll of inflation and the impact it had on some wine prices, underlining the importance of doing as much research as possible in trying to find the best value bottles.
We managed to taste a record 33,000-plus wines during the year, hitting the road and touching base with scores of wine producers in multiple countries and regions in our quest to find the very best of the best, as well as the greatest values in a sector that often touts premium prices over great budget buys. And we found a lot of the latter. We did up the ante this year by setting our price limit at $40 rather than $35, adding more than a few 98- and 99-pointers to the overall list as a result. As a value reference, we used Wine Searcher, but the price-score metric was not the only one we used – production volume and global availability were also considered.
White wines dominated our value list this year, with 56 in the top 100, and there were 43 reds and one dessert wine. As far as standout countries for great-value offerings, Australia was the big winner. In fact, one of our most exciting tasting trips over the past year was to Australia, with a four-person tasting team, led by James, spending a few weeks traversing the county’s wine regions and tapping into thousands of bottles.
And it wasn’t just the quality of Australian wines that impressed us – their overall purity, finesse and drinkability are clear. But with 19 Aussie wines in this Top 100 list and seven in the top 25, Australia showed its strength in the quality plus value game, with Claire Valley and Eden Valley especially notable for churning out rieslings that push the boundaries of what is possible on the spectrum. Two of them were the 2022 vintage of our No. 1 value wine from last year, the breathtaking joyful Pewsey Vale Riesling Eden Valley, which finished at No. 6 this year, and the elegant Mitchell Riesling Clare Valley Watervale 2022, which came in at No. 11.
Chile and Austria each placed a dozen wines among the Top 100. Most of the Chilean offerings were reds, including a few great syrahs priced at less than $20, from producers like Casas del Bosque, Emiliana, and Lapostolle. The Austrian offerings were dominated by riesling and gruner veltliner, including the ripe and rich Emmerich Knoll Riesling Wachau Ried Loibenberg Smaragd 2021 at No. 9. This wine also finished at No. 2 on our Top 100 Wines of Austria 2022 list and No. 7 among our Top 100 World Wines.
There were 11 wines each from Argentina, New Zealand, and Germany. Argentina has always been well-represented in our Top 100 Value list with its diversity of varietals and blends, and this year was no different, with some striking chardonnays like our No. 5 value wine, the El Enemigo Chardonnay Mendoza 2020, and, of course, intriguing malbecs like the firm and structured Wapisa Malbec Patagonia 2020 (No. 19) rising to the top echelon. New Zealand, like its neighbor Australia, also contributed some great value rieslings and syrahs to our list, including our No. 8 wine, the juicy and succulent Mission Estate Syrah Hawkes Bay Gimblett Gravels Reserve 2020.
READ MORE TOP 100 VALUES WINES OF 2021
THE RIESLING MASTERPIECE
Germany had its usual array of high-scoring whites in our Top 100 Value list, predominantly rieslings, but it was Gunter Kunstler’s masterpiece, which we have praised many times in our reporting throughout the year, that rose to No 1 overall: the Künstler Riesling Rheingau Hölle GG 2021.
This organically grown stunner from the Rheingau, which was also our No. 1 Wine of Germany for 2022 and No. 2 on our world list, wowed us with its power and complexity. It’s fully charged with electrifying energy and brightness, pushing the limits of what a dry riesling can offer. And it’s just $17 a bottle, according to the average price on Wine Searcher (the winery current sells it for about $40). It was an easy choice for our No. 1 pick. There was also another German riesling in our Top 10, the Tesch Riesling Nahe Karthäuser Trocken (Brown Label) 2021, which came in at No. 7 thanks to its near-perfect balance of restrained ripeness, complex wild herb aromas and extremely mineral acidity.
As always, a number of Beaujolais also made in onto our list out the seven French wines in the Top 100, led by Les Héritiers Saint-Genys Morgon En Ruyère 2020 at No. 3. This is a serious Morgon that shows it can stand shoulder to shoulder with great reds from Cotes de Nuits in neighboring upper Burgundy. It is so complex, concentrated and powerful, with super-fine tannins and endless depth – all this for an average price of about $25, according to Wine Searcher. Incredible, and it’s why we love Beaujolais!
Spain also contributed seven wines, all reds, while Italy landed just four wines – a definite off-year, although one of these was our No. 4 value wine, the staggeringly deep and complex Manincor Pinot Nero Alto Adige Mason di Mason 2019. There were also three wines from the United States, two from South Africa and one from Portugal.
READ MORE TOP 100 WINES OF ITALY 2022
Despite the paucity of U.S.. wines on the list, the country still delivered our No. 2 value wine, the K Vintners Syrah Yakima Valley Motor City Kitty 2019. This single-block syrah from Washington State clocked in at 98 points and $40 a bottle. It’s as serious a syrah as you’re going to find anywhere in the world, offering plums, black cherries, bark and iron with chocolatey undertones, and is so layered and complex with depth and meaty character. This wine offers you the rare opportunity of snagging a 98-point red that you don’t have to lay out a couple hundred dollars for.
From the varietal perspective, riesling was again king, not only taking our top kudos but landing 30 other bottles on our Top 100 list, with 11 coming from Australia, nine from Germany, five from Austria and a few others from France, New Zealand, and the United States. Such a performance might lend credence to the belief that it’s an easy and workable grape, but the reality is it takes a lot of effort, hard work and passion to tame and finesse, let alone to make into a sterling-quality wine, and we’re happy to see more and more great rieslings at affordable prices popping up everywhere in the world.
READ MORE TOP 100 WINES OF THE USA 2022
What was more of a surprise this year was the incredible rise of syrah. With 14 wines on our list, it’s the clear leader of the reds. We tasted so many good syrah wines over the past year, from Australia and Chile to New Zealand and the United States, that it’s probably worthy of a separate story.
We are grateful to see that the global wine market offering more and more wines that combine quality with value. With globalization and the implementation of more modern techniques in winemaking, we have witnessed an enormous rise in quality throughout the world as we have traveled and tasted throughout the past year. And with affordability ever-present at the top of our checklist for what makes for an outstanding wine, we will continue to taste and discover the best of what the world has to offer in 2023.
– Andrii Stetsiuk, Associate Editor
Note: The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated in 2022 by the tasters at JamesSuckling.com. You can sort the wines below by country, vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.
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