Vinous Top 100 Wines of the Year - 2024: Countdown #5 to #2

BY VINOUS | NOVEMBER 19, 2024

We are thrilled to announce the latest part of the Vinous Top 100 Wines of the Year list. Below are wines #5 to #2, complete with commentary from the respective Vinous critic who selected the wine for the list and their tasting note from when the wine was published on Vinous. 

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Vinous Top 100 Wines of the Year - 2024: Countdown #40 to #21

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Vinous Top 100 Wines of the Year - 2024: Countdown #100 to #61

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Countdown #5 to #2...

The undulating hills of the Hirsch estate

#5: 2021 Hirsch Pinot Noir Raschen Ridge

$105, Sonoma, California, United States

AG: “Two thousand twenty-one will go down as one of the great all-time vintages at Hirsch. Proprietor Jasmine Hirsch and consulting winemaker Michael Cruse presented a stellar range of wines. All the 2021 Pinots are magnificent, but the Raschen Ridge takes the cake by a hair.”

The 2021 Pinot Noir Raschen Ridge is a stunning wine. Dark, deeply layered and super-expressive, the 2021 dazzles with its powerful, explosive personality. Vibrant mineral notes drive through this vibrant Pinot Noir. The mix of clay and rocks, along with exposed, windy parcels yielded a wine of towering, statuesque intensity. All the elements are so well proportioned. The balance of fruit, acid and tannin is remarkable. What a wine!

100 points – Antonio Galloni, January 2024

Marco Rocca at La Ca’ Nova

#4: 2021 La Ca' Nova Barbaresco Montefico Vigna Bric Mentina

$50, Piedmont, Italy

AG: “La Ca' Nova remains, surprisingly, one of the most under-the-radar estates in all of Italy. The Rocca family crafts statuesque, classically-built Barbarescos that offer exceptional quality, character and value.”

The 2021 Barbaresco Montefico Vigna Bric Mentina is redolent of dried herbs, mint, spice, pipe tobacco and cedar. Exotic and beguiling, especially in its bouquet, the 2021 is just starting to open. I would prefer to cellar it for a few years, though. Readers will find a mid-weight, nuanced Barbaresco loaded with complexity and dynamic energy. The sculpted, youthfully austere style is classic Montefico.

97 points – Antonio Galloni, September 2024

Technical Director Nicolas Glumineau in Pichon Lalande’s new cellar

#3: 2020 Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

$175, Bordeaux, France

NM: “The 2020 Pichon Lalande flirts with perfection. A standout at the blind tasting earlier this year, Nicolas Glumineau oversaw a sensational Pauillac that not only challenges the First Growth, but perhaps even surpasses them. A benchmark wine for this historic estate.”

The 2020 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande has one of the more opulent aromatic profiles amongst the flight of Pauillac wines, displaying black cherries, cassis, graphite and cedar. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins and a silver bead of acidity. Silky smooth in texture, this retains impressive composure toward the finish, handling the weight of fruit with class. It improves with each swirl, though the bottle I tasted just after bottling had a touch more precision. Nevertheless, this a fabulous Pauillac that flirts with perfection. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting.

99 points – Neal Martin, November 2024

The Giaconda Cellar was excavated by local miners using 2.5 tons of dynamite. 

#2: 2022 Giaconda Chardonnay Estate Vineyard

$250, Beechworth, Australia

AH: “This extraordinary single-vineyard Chardonnay from the small enclave of Beechworth in northern Victoria is the result of a serendipitous site selection and the singular focus of maverick winemaker Rick Kinzbrunner and his team. The combination of an advantageous site in a region with the nation’s most continental viticultural climate and the historic P58 Chardonnay clone, now supported by Mendoza and Dijon clone 95, combines to make Giaconda Chardonnay stellar in almost every vintage. The exceptionally cool 2022 vintage brought the wine to perfection, elevating its raw power, supreme focus and enthralling detail into the stratosphere.”

The compact and intense Giaconda 2022 Chardonnay Estate Vineyard jumps out of the glass incredibly intense, focused and energetic. It envelops the senses with aromas of nectarine and musky peach skin, and a decadent yet balanced influence of French oak with a strong edge of flint. A fabulous, almost chewy texture combines with a bolt of mouth-watering acidity sitting underneath, before tightening up to an exceptionally lengthy finish. This is a step up on the fabulous 2021.

100 points – Angus Hughson, September 2024