For those looking for wine-buying inspiration, the 2020 Wine Buying Guide is a handy overview organized by style so you can find what you like.
This year we honor the classics.
Learn what varieties and regions are known for excellent quality along with a few added examples to get you started.
2020 Wine Buying Guide
Contents
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Bold Red Wines
Bold and opulent red wines that lend rich, ripe fruit flavors.
Full-bodied red wines seem to make everyone happy. For this category, we narrowed it down to the boldest grape varieties along with regions with warmer climates.
Shiraz from South Australia
These wines are some of the richest, boldest Syrah you can find. Great examples from McLaren Vale and Barossa Valley look opaque and also exude meaty-smoky aromas supported with liqueur-like blackberry and plum fruit.
Cabernet blends from North Coast, CA
Encompassing all that bold, sumptuous blue and red fruit is a “dusty” quality. This is often attributed to the region’s volcanic-laced soils. Napa Valley and the warmer spots in Sonoma deliver the goods.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape and other G.S.M. Blends
The secret to these wines is a prevalence of Grenache. It launches these rich raspberry flavors over whiffs lavender, sage and soil that critics describe as “scorched earth.” You can find these wines all over Southern France, but Châteauneuf-du-Pape still reigns as crown jewel.
Italian Red Blends (aka “Super Tuscans”)
France is the original home of Cabernet and Merlot. However, in Tuscany (and neighboring Lazio), you’ll find flavors more spiced and leathery. The Bolgheri subzone has peaked, but Maremma Toscana and Lazio offer great values.
Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero and Toro
After Rioja, Spain has two other Tempranillo regions that will make you lose your jacket: Ribera del Duero and Toro. The intensity of the sun here results in much darker blackberry fruit tones in addition to a generous chocolaty oak.
Merlot Blends from Right Bank Bordeaux
While many aficionados first look to the Left Bank for Cabernet, it’s the Merlot-Cabernet Franc blends from the regions of Pomerol and Saint-Emilion that quietly steal the show.
Malbec from Luján de Cuyo in Mendoza
Mendoza itself is a huge place. Therefore, those looking for textbook rich, blueberry-driven Malbec, hone your searches around Luján de Cuyo (including vineyard areas Agrelo, Lunlunta, Vistalba, Las Compuertas, Ugarteche, and Perdriel). If you’re vintage hunting, 2016 and 2018 were awesome, and 2017 is a little riper with less acid.
Old Vine Zinfandel from California
Before prohibition (when wineries ripped out vineyards), Zinfandel was the most planted grape. Hence, the old vines that survived produce some of the most compelling Zin known to human kind….
