Who are your Top Ten wineries in the world?

Who are your Top Ten wineries and/or wines in the world?

And this is important … these must be wines you drink every year!

I guess I’m asking . . . in your own personal cellar, if you could only have 10 wines or wineries represented (sort of a vinous gulag), and you could only have one winery from each country or continent, who would be in your cellar, and why?

Billecart-Salmon for all things sparkling.

El Nido - for the big ass reds that I love soooooo much.

Vina Sastre - for more big Spanish reds that gets my heart beating.

Siduri - for AMAZING Cali Pinots that cover every possible domestic AVA.

Brewer-Clifton - for Chardonnays that taste like liquid lemon meringue pie.

August West - for Pinots that smell like I wish all of our wines did.

Dow - for my favorite style of vintage Port

Kracher - for TBAs that start where most people end

Alto Moncayo - for even more Spanish Reds that rock my world - Chris Ringland is a winemaking God

Aalto - yes, even more tasty Spanish Red

SQN
Alban
Rochioli
Pisoni/Lucia
Carlisle
Outpost
Loring
Clos Pepe
Taittinger
Rieussec


I feel i could easily put DRC and Marcassin in my top 10 but I only have tried one bottle of each - so I feel I need more data to include them. Anyone want to send me some…“data”???

Anyone?

(edit - I feel Rivers Marie and Rhys have the stuffing to get there, but my data points are also very low)

If I restrict to countries, I would not get to 10. So I restricted to regions/varietals, and got a few more than 10. Here’s my list in the order they exit in my cellar. The top 3 are actually the top 3 producers in my cellar.

Bruno Giacosa
Dönnhoff
Chateau Montelena
Saxum
Fattoria Galardi
Quilceda Creek
Ridge
d’Arenberg
Taylor Fladgate
Domaine des Baumard
Zind-Humbrecht
Château de Beaucastel
Paolo Bea
Château Margaux

These are my favorite producers that I can afford to buy:

G. Mascarello
Elio Grasso
Produttori
Leoville Barton
Smith Haut Laffite
Lopez de Heredia
Quilceda Creek
Cayuse
St. Innocent
Shafer Hillside

Sorry Mary, but this time I gotta say… flawed poll. What I would consider my top ten wineries in the world is not the same as ten that I drink every year; some I drink just because they’re affordable, and some of the greats I can’t afford to drink every year… but of the ones that I do drink every year these would merit serious consideration for a value-weighted list:

Rivers-Marie
Lopez de Heredia
JL Chave
Bouchard Pere et Fils
Ch. Pontet-Canet
Bernard Baudry
JJ Christoffel or AJ Adam
Domaine de la Pepiere

A few that are very close to making this list for me:

Copain
Carlisle
Dom. Leflaive
Simon Bize
Torbreck
Lillian

But again, I would not say this is top ten wineries in the world - more like the top ten that I find within my budget…

Schrader
Shafer
Hobbs
Kosta Browne
Carlisle
Scarecrow
Williams Selyem
Brewer Clifton

I’m missing 2 but I would have 10 if you included wines I don’t drink every year. There are several French wineries that would make the list.

Kistler
Littorai
Shafer
Ridge
Beaucastel
Pegau
Lynch Bages
Tempier
Giacosa
Rousseau

with Gardiés and Felton Road pushing to get in to my top 10

Based on what I have in my cellar:

Le Clos Du Caillou
M Chapoutier
Clos Des Papes
Domain Jean-Louis Chave
Chateau D’Estournel
Bruno Giacosa
Uccelliera
Bodegas El Nido
Rivers-Marie
Betz

Dehlinger
Lang & Reed
Beckmen
Hippolyte Reverdy
Paradigm
Billecart Salmon (Rose)
Carmenet Moon Mountain
Gaston Chiquet
Lucien Albrecht

Krug
DP
Salon
G. Conterno
Giacosa
Penfold
Lafleur
DRC
Rousseau
Guigal

Awesome response.

Saying drink every year makes it tough, because if I could, I’d put wines like Cheval Blanc here. But with your criteria, in no particular order…

Smith Haut Lafite
Larrivet Haut Brion
Skewis
Henry of Pelham
La Tour Blanche
Shafer (the hillside Select in particular)
Pichon Baron
Fonseca
Taylor Fladgate

leaving way, way too many off… but these are all in my hall of fame

Bachelet
Mugneret-Gibourg
Drouhin
Raveneau
Huet
Haag
Vilmart
Giacosa
Ridge
Rhys

Ah, you are the first to discriminate! Is it truly a flawed poll? Or just a ‘tricky’ poll?

That depends, I guess, on your disposable income. For those who can afford to drink whatever they like to, there’s no difference between the two concepts. For me, the difference between the two is arguably staggering: DRC, First Growths, brunello riservas, top barolos, etc. all deserve consideration for top ten wineries in the world, but I just don’t drink at that level every year, or in some cases, ever. For me, your top ten wineries in the world idea becomes ‘top ten wineries that you can actually afford to put your money where your mouth is’ or something like that

Exactly! I am asking everyone to confess which top 10 wineries’ punts hit the family table each year. Not necessarily the plonk you open for unappreciative cousins, but the stuff you open late at night while working on your laptop. That “ahh” moment when you know you are enjoying something special without raping your children’s college fund. What wines do you open for friends? What wines do you stock for sheer enjoyment? Which wines do you stock for your wife? Which labels do you know so intimately that you have spoken with the owners?

DRC
Rousseau
Mugnier
De Vogue
Leroy
Leflaive
Raveneau
Coche
Roulot
Ramonet

I figured as much, but to me that’s not the same as my top ten wineries in the world… for your concept if I won the lottery tomorrow my list might change greatly. Maybe call it “top ten you actually spend on, year in and year out”? Anyway, great thread idea, Mary!

I like the part that we must drink every year.

Domaine Serene
Archery Summit
Domaine Drouhin Oregon
Biondi-Santi
G. Conterno
Staglin
Brick House
Beaux Freres
Montelena
Beaucastel CdP