Writing & Photo by: VinePair Staff | VinePair | November 17, 2021
2021 has been a year full of surprises. As the world begins to open back up, so too have our favorite restaurants, bars, and lounges. And after the hand 2020 dealt us, this year has felt like something of a breath of fresh air in the wine world and beyond.
As a result, the VinePair team has been ravenously exploring new and reopened establishments and traveling across the country in hopes of finding the next great bottles. Luckily, many of these escapades have been successful.
This year’s selection of the best wines represents that wanderlust and hunger for unbridled discovery. With bottles plucked from wineries near and far — from Pennsylvania and Virginia, to Brazil and Hungary — this list is full of the most interesting (and of course, delicious) wines our team has sipped throughout the year.
With current trends in mind, the VinePair team sampled a number of orange wines and wines considered “natural.” We also tasted tried-and-true varieties, including classic Bordeaux and California Cabs. But it was Pinot Noir that impressed us most this year, with bottles from all across the Golden State — Sonoma, the Petaluma Gap, the Sta. Rita Hills, and the Central Coast — making the final cut.
All wines on this list have been tasted and reviewed by VinePair’s tasting panel, which compiled an initial list of their favorite wines of 2021, then pared it down to 50 based on quality, value, and availability in the U.S.
Though our wine reviews helped guide our initial selection of contenders, this final list is the result of multiple rounds of sampling, concluding with a final ranking crafted by the VinePair team.
Read on for VinePair’s 50 best wines of 2021.
24. Decibel Wines Crownthorpe Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2020 ($18)
From New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay, this Sauvignon Blanc smells like passion fruit, grapefruit, and bell pepper. It has a wonderful balance of fruit and acidity, with a salinity that runs through. It’s a balanced and delicious Savvy B. Rating: 90
