The Ten Best Wines That I Tried in 2020

Friends, there is arguably no better feeling than experiencing special moments with special wines. 2020 has been more than a challenge to most people across the globe. It is my hope that 2020 brought you wonderful prosperity and many memorable moments with sharing wine with your loved ones whenever possible. Despite the pandemic, I wanted to share with you some of the most special moments with the incredible wines that I was able to taste over the course of 2020. I hope you all enjoy a wonderful holiday season making many more memories with special wines and cherished relationships. 

What were some of your favorite wines of 2020? Here were mine. 

10) 2012 Louis Roederer ‘Cristal’ Champagne

Pre-pandemic, I was back in London attending Arsenal games and visiting British Sparkling Wine Country. My friend Deano and I stopped into one of the great wine shops of the world, Hedonism. I decided to pick up the 2012 ‘Cristal’ for about 150 pounds. I just had to check out the new wine that was available before the United States receives the wine. We popped it and let it evolve over several hours before I had my flight back to Seattle the following day. It is an intense, citrus oil infused joyride of a Champagne with tremendous energy and intricate texture. The wine at the eight year mark is just an infant but it has so much potential. 

9) 1980 Chateau D’YQuem Sauternes-

I celebrated the big 4 Zero this year during the pandemic and it was definitely not as fun as I had anticipated. A good friend gifted me a bottle from my birth year of my favorite wine in the world, Chateau D’YQuem. It was really fun to see this wine evolve, showing more Bordeaux Blanc character after a few hours of air. In a half-bottle format, this really was striking at the forty year mark with its quince, nutty and earthy tones. What a cool wine!

8) 1980 Chateau Margaux

I have a good friend that acquired the 1980 Chateau Margaux from a cellar with perfect provenance. For my 40th birthday I was quite excited to uncork this wine — one that I figured might be the best birth year wine that I have ever had. Boy, was I right. What a wine this was, showing amazing tertiary tones with still light dark fruits and a seamless texture. This was simply astonishing wine at the ferry year mark. 

7) 2005 Dom Perignon (1.5L)

I have a good friend who also turned 40 this year and we were both very excited to uncork the 2005 Dom Perignon en mag. Right away this wine offered plenty of bright orchard fruits and lemon zest tones on the bouquet. What a delightful, concentrated and gratifying champagne this was, really hitting all the right notes. I was so glad to share this wine with a few friends back when small gatherings were allowed, it was the perfect pandemic pick-me-up.

6) 2017 HALL ‘Sacrashe Vineyard’ Cabernet Sauvignon 

I spent close to three hours with the HALL director of winemaking and towards the end of our tasting, we ran through their top three bottling — very special and limited production cabernet Sauvignon wines from their Platinum Collection. The last of three wines tasted, the 2017 ‘Sacrashe Vineyard’ Cabernet Sauvignon is nothing short of perfection in the bottle. Tasted over several hours that evening confirmed my perfect score. This wine is nothing short of a masterpiece from what was somewhat of a challenging vintage for Napa. Dense, dark and layered, with a seamless texture and an exceedingly long finish, that wine lingers long in my memory.

5) 2007 Opus One Red Wine

I was delighted to hear back from Opus One when they mentioned that their famed winemaker Michael Silacci would like to do an Instagram Live with me and share several vintages as we tasted live. I had enjoyed this several years ago on an Emirates First Class flight and this time I tried, I want to say that the wine even improved. There is an err of elegance to this beautiful blend that is hard to describe, as the wine is showing off more Bordelaise character and a seamless texture. I shook my head in disbelief when I first tasted this during our interview. “What a wine!” I proclaimed. 

4) 2010 Chateau Angelus

My friend Dr. Jae Hong was very excited to share the 2010 Chateau Angelus that he had recently picked up. “We gotta try this!” he said with delight. We decided to give the wine several hours to open up in the decanter. For me, the terroir on the nose, was nothing short of exceptional. Some might argue this was opened too young, but I would argue that after a lot of air, this wine is at the perfect spot in its very young life. For many minutes, Jae and I sat in silence, dissecting the wine in our minds. Complex, layered and downright delicious, this is one for the record books.

3) 2011 Domaine Romanee Conti ‘Eschezeaux’ 

It isn’t every day that you get to taste a great DRC. Sourced from 35 year old, organically farmed vines, when we opened this one pre-pandemic, it almost brought people to tears. Given more time the mushroom and damp earth tones really impressed as this became more silky and silky in the decanter. Due to the price of these wines, this was not a typically uncorking, but we were all so glad that we savored this beautiful, young Burgundy in good company.

2) 2018 Horsepower Vineyards ‘Fiddleneck Vineyard’ Grenache

Speaking with legendary vigneron Christophe Baron over Zoom, he shared his story of planting this vineyard only several years back. ‘This had Fiddleneck flowers all around the grounds, so we had to name it ‘Fiddleneck Vineyard’ for the beautiful flowers.’ When I first tasted the wine I was almost brought to tears. This wine was so pretty, with an insanely good combination of weight, texture and gorgeous red fruits. With more time the aromatic and flavor range became even more pronounced. ‘This has to be a 100 point wine’ I began thinking to myself. Seamless, elegant and truly one of a kind, what an incredible experience it was trying this Grenache for the first time. 

1) 2004 Quilceda Creek ‘Columbia Valley’ Cabernet Sauvignon

Back in March when the pandemic hit, I had connected with Decanter Magazine to write a vertical piece on Quilceda Creek. This would be now the second time in about six months that I had tasted the incredible 2004 Quilceda Creek ‘Columbia Valley’ Cabernet Sauvignon. As I tried this wine over several hours, the blue fruit character really enticed. There is something so hedonistic and appealing to how the wine shows at this stage. Despite being at the sixteen year mark, the wine is so vibrant and full of life, showing bright acidity and amazing range. To me this was nothing short of perfection in a bottle.