The end of the year is the perfect time to reflect, set new intentions, and carry what we learned over the 12 previous months into the new year. For this food and wine copywriter, 2023 was a year of discovering new styles of wine, trying more rare grape varieties, and opening a very special bottle of “birth year” wine. This Best Wines of 2023 list contains a few surprises, some familiar names in the natural and low-intervention wine scene, and one red wine I will never forget.
1980 Soldera ‘Case Basse’
2023 was the year I finally cracked open my birth year wine, and it was a doozy. This was such a special bottle from a legend of a producer: how could it not be at the top of my best wines of 2023 list?! For a 40+ year bottle, this is still drinking like a beaut! The color was a tawny-red, the structure excellent, and it was such a thrill to experience this once-in-a-lifetime wine.
2022 Broc Cellar SOGI
Cabernet Pfeffer: I’m obsessed with these bright, peppery wines, and I can’t wait to try more producers working with this enigmatic grape in 2024! If you haven’t tried Cabernet Pfeffer yet, it sort of has a Counoise quality to it: medium-bodied, but so nimble in the glass.
2020 AD Beckham Amphora Blanc
Andrew Beckham producers a lineup of wines that will blow your mind. This wine is a blend of 9 unique grape varieties: Auxerrois, Ehrenfelser, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Sheurebe, Sylvaner, Viognier, and Riesling. All of the amphora Beckham uses to age his wine, he makes himself. If you try one new producer in 2024, let it be A.D. Beckham.
2021 Bedrock Riesling from Wirz Vineyard
This Riesling knocked my socks off. A wine from a cool producer making grapes from an ultra cool vineyard. Fun fact: Wirz is also the OG of Cabernet Pfeffer in Cienega Valley.
2012 Hanzell Chardonnay
If you follow this blog, then you already know that I love exploring rare varieties like Timorasso, Trousseau Gris, Ribolla Gialla, etc. But, when I tried this 11-year-old Chardonnay from Hanzell, I got to thinking, maybe I should reconsider some of these low-intervention Chardonnay producers. Lots of brioche and lemon on the palate here, and the color was a beautiful golden-yellow. Who would have thought that a Chardonnay would make my best wines of 2023 list?!
2019 Sandlands Nebbiolo
Sandlands is a highly allocated wine with a huge cult following. Winemaker Tegan Passalacqua sources grapes from California’s dwindling heritage vineyards, and every vintage is a jewel box of goodies. I’ve been holding onto this Sandlands Nebbiolo because I only purchased one bottle, and after opening this gorgeous wine, I’m kicking myself for not grabbing one more. (I think the allocation was 2 bottles).
It’s also worth mentioning that the Sandlands Trousseau and Red Table wine are also received a lot of attention in 2023.
Podere San Biagio Briscola e Tressette
Another new-to-me style of wine in 2023: Cerasulo d’Abruzzo. Cerasuolo, which translates as ‘pale cherry red’, is made from the Montepulciano grape in Italy’s Abruzzo region. This rosé of Abruzzo is a deep, translucent red, and the palate had lots of sour cherry, pomegranate and more tannins than you would expect from a rosé.
2016 Franco Terpin Sialis Sivi Pinot Grigio
Ramato: Is it orange wine? Is it rosé wine? Nope! It’s Ramato. 2023 was the year I learned about Ramato wine, and I will never ever look down on Pinot Grigio again. The 2016 Terpin Ramato style Pinot Grigio has an amazing viscosity to it. The color is a muted strawberry, and the taste had a strawberry sorbet or balsamic feel to it.
2019 Arnot Roberts Falanghina
Falanghina is one of my favorite Italian grapes, and Falanghina wine is one of my favorite white wines. What I love about Falanghina is that these wines are refreshing, but they also have some weight on the palate. In the hands of a producer like Arnot Roberts, this mineral-laden wine is pure joy.
2022 Lezer Lezze Rosso Foradori
If you love light red wines, go to your local wine shop and grab a bottle of this glorious red fruit bomb. Foradori’s Lezer brand was a wonderful discovery, and I cannot wait to crack open more bottles of this super-duper glou glou wine in 2024. I have a feeling Foradori Teroldago will be on my 2024 best wines list too.
Honorable mention:
2020 Benevolent Neglect Counoise Rosato
1000 watts of strawberry power: this 2020 Benevolent Neglect Counoise Rosato shows just how versatile the Counoise grape. This light red wine is the ultimate porch pounder. Benevolent Neglect is also one of the few wineries in Napa making natural wine.