The Seven Wonders of Wine World: Iconic Bottles That Define Modern Wine Culture

Wine has had special prominence in the cultural conversation for hundreds if not thousands of years. From the Classification of 1855, where the top Bordeaux producers were designated in advance of a global expo, to the many efforts to rank and codify the top vineyards in regions around the world, discussing which wines are best, or most important, is central to the conversation around wine. While finding a definitive answer is a fool’s errand, that doesn’t mean that we can’t try — with the help of some well-qualified experts.

Let’s be extremely clear. This is basically an impossible request for any wine pro: Pick seven wines to represent the best, the most exemplary, the most distinctive, and the most special of a world of wine that now encompasses six continents, well over a hundred countries, and more varieties than anyone can name or remember. Yet we dared do it anyhow. To pick these wines, experts were asked to select seven wines from a range of countries, regions, and styles, while avoiding the absolute highest end of wine — we wanted these to be bottles that motivated readers could potentially go out and buy or at least taste without liquidating their 401(k)s or taking out a second mortgage. Here’s what they had to say.

Note: Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.

Amy Racine, beverage director, JF Restaurants

What defines greatness in wine? Is it a single legendary vintage, the price tag, the winemaker’s reputation, or the rarity of the bottle? Can a producer with accessible wines still belong in this conversation?

Geographic diversity is another challenge. I’m a little ashamed to say the first five I thought of were from Bordeaux, Champagne, or Burgundy, but making myself step back and look at the New World, and the Southern Hemisphere in particular, gives perspective. In the end, I approached this as the wines you simply need to drink before you die.

Château d’Yquem, Sauternes, France

Simply the king of Sauternes, or really of sweet wine anywhere. The 2001 is talked about as one of the best vintages ever made, but they really always have that perfect mix of richness, ginger/honey/stone fruit scents, and insane longevity. It is the bottle people point to when they want to show the power of noble rot.

Grosset Polish Hill Riesling, Clare Valley, Australia

Jeffrey Grosset basically put Australian Riesling on the map with this wine. Polish Hill comes off slate soils in the Clare Valley and has this electric acidity and precision that makes it age forever. It is one of those wines that is laser sharp, but still has real weight and having this changed the way I talk about Australian whites.

1997 Bodega Catena Zapata ‘Nicolás Catena Zapata,’ Mendoza, Argentina

This first release is the moment Argentina stepped into the fine wine conversation. Malbec and Cabernet blended together in a way that showed the world Argentina could make serious wine. The fact that it still drinks beautifully today only adds to how historic it feels and it still has the bright electric red and purple rim and fruit tones you expect from Malbec.

Vega Sicilia Único, Ribera del Duero, Spain

I think it’s probably the most famous Spanish wine. It’s mostly Tempranillo with a little Cabernet, and it can sit in barrel and bottle for close to 10 years before it even sees release. It is big and powerful but at the same time elegant and long. The 1970 is one of those legendary vintages people still whisper about.

Tenuta San Guido ‘Sassicaia,’ Bolgheri, Italy

I’d argue this wine changed Italy. Planting Cabernet in Bolgheri at the time was not popular and yes, a few other “greats” were doing it at the same time, but Sassicaia made it clear that Italy was in the running against Bordeaux. The 1985 vintage is the one that blew the doors open internationally. It is one of those bottles everyone in wine knows because it rewrote what was possible in Italy.

Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello, Santa Cruz Mountains, Calif.

Monte Bello has always been California’s intellectual Cabernet. Grown in the limestone soils of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it is structured in a way that feels more European than Napa. The 1971 vintage is the famous one because in the Judgment of Paris retasting it actually beat out Bordeaux first growths. That is when it cemented its spot as one of America’s greats and Paul Draper as an American winemaking icon.

Domaine Sigalas Assyrtiko ‘Kavalieros,’ Santorini, Greece

This may feel like an outlier, but I think Assyrtiko deserves a place among the greats. Sigalas has shaped its reputation especially with single-vineyard bottlings. Grown on volcanic soils with ungrafted vines, it is one of the purest expressions of Assyrtiko you can find. Sigalas is the producer who pushed this grape onto the global stage, and Kavalieros, being a single vineyard, shows just how serious Assyrtiko can be.

Carlton McCoy MS, CEO, Lawrence Wine Estates

Hirtzberger Honivogl Grüner Veltliner, Wachau, Austria

Hirtzberger is not a trendy Wachau producer. They are not following the crowd to produce super-lean-and- mean wines. They follow the traditional style — textured, rich, and highly aromatic. Honivogl is sourced from the grand cru sites Axpoint and Singerriedl. These are two of the most famous vineyards in the Wachau.

Cameron Winery Clos Electrique Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Ore.

John Paul is a national treasure. He began his career in the Napa Valley in the late ‘70s, later moving to the Willamette to create this legendary property. The Clos Electrique is sourced from his home estate. A wine composed of legendary cuttings from the best heritage clones in the U.S., I was blessed to spend a day with him walking through the vineyard and discussing the history and characteristics of each clone. He works with no irrigation and only uses native yeast for fermentation. These wines are not trying to be Burgundy, although you could easily mistake them for such — they are uniquely Clos Electrique.

G.B. Burlotto Monvigliero, Barolo, Italy

This wine is a time capsule of the Barolo of yesteryear — elegant, vibrant, and dense in the midpalate and highly floral. Hailing from the Monvigliero in Verduno, this is a south-facing site that contains both the famous soils of Barolo. The wine is vinified whole cluster and using submerged cap fermentations that last often for over two months. Every bottle of Monvigliero is a mind-blowing experience to drink.

Haynes Vineyard Corazon, Coombsville, Napa Valley, Calif.

The Haynes Vineyard contains the oldest known Wente Clone Chardonnay in California, planted in 1967 on volcanic and diatomaceous soils. The vineyard is farmed using biodynamic practices, all native yeast fermentations, minimal sulfur, and long slow élevage in large cooperage. This is a singular wine that is perhaps the greatest Chardonnay ever made in the U.S. Yes, you heard that correctly. Rich, dense but very high-acid, it’s super mineral, highly aromatic, and only 100 cases are produced annually.

Cantina Terlano Kellerei Terlan Rarity, Alto Adige, Italy

As the name suggests, this is one of the wine world’s rarest wines that you can still actually afford. Kellerei Terlan approaches this wine with a unique philosophy. This bottling represents wines that have been aged in small stainless steel tanks without fining or filtering for at least 10 years prior to bottling. This process renders a wine of unparalleled depth and texture for the region. My first taste of this bottling was a 1992 Sauvignon, and it was fresh and vibrant with many more years of bottle-aging potential. One of those wines that reminds us why we love wine and those that commit their lives to making those great bottles.

Matt Taylor Komorebi Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Calif.

The first time I tasted this wine, I was not convinced it was truly from Sonoma. Self-admittedly, I’m a Burgundy snob. I’ve had very few Pinot Noirs outside of Burgundy that have scratched that itch, but this wine is something else. It’s made by Matt Taylor, who trained at Joseph Swan, then Domaine Dujac where he refined his approach to Pinot Noir. This is a wine that supersedes appellation.

1968 Souverain Cabernet Sauvignon Crystal Springs, Napa Valley, Calif.

Lee Stewart was a legend in Napa. He mentored and trained notable figures such as Warren Winiarski and Mike Grgich. In the early ‘40s he developed Souverain from a steep hillside vineyard on the western slopes of the valley. The vineyard eventually sells to the Burgess family in 1971, and these legendary bottles can still be found on the market. The 1968 was a bottle that framed my perspective on what great hillside/mountain wines represent. A truly historical wine from one of the great terroirs of the Napa Valley.

Braithe Gill, Corporate Beverage Director, Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group, New Orleans

2021 Joseph Swan Vineyards Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, Calif.

I was just in the Russian River Valley for a forum in July, and this wine really struck me. It’s iconic, as Joseph Swan was the pioneer of Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. I’m from California originally and this wine just reminded me of home. The Joseph Swan Pinot Noir is low alcohol but has a huge body and so much fruit at just 12 percent ABV, I was blown away by its elegance.

2022 Alheit Vineyards ‘Cartology’ Bush Vines, Western Cape, South Africa

I went to South Africa in 2018 for Cape Wine and got to meet a lot of the “Zoo Cru,” including Chris Alheit. He uses lots of different vessels, including concrete eggs and foudre as well as extended lees aging, so this Cartology Chenin Blanc tastes like white Burgundy — but it’s Chenin! The 2022 has huge mouthfeel and lasts forever. I love that he’s taking old-vine Chenin Blanc and modernizing it for these beautiful, long-lived wines.

2020 Bodega Catena Zapata ‘Alta’ Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina

Made from vineyards planted in 1902 at high altitude and aged in French oak, this wine is as much about itself as the winemaker. Laura Catena is a modern icon: I heard her speak last year at TexSom, and she’s so pro-wine, pro-industry, I just love her and everything her family stands for, as well as how long they’ve been making excellent wine in Argentina.

Jacques Selosse ‘Substance’ Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, Champagne, France

Of course my favorite wine is Champagne, and this bottle is unlike any other. Made as a non-vintage wine in the solera style by the current winemaker, Anselme Selosse, from 100 percent Chardonnay, not only is it highly allocated but it’s perhaps the wine for appreciating grower Champagne culture and the level of care taken when growing and making Champagne.

2020 Joh Jos Prum ‘Wehlener Sonnenuhr’ Kabinett Riesling, Mosel, Germany

It’s hard to talk about the Mosel Valley without recommending J.J. Prum, not just for how good the wines are, but also because of how much they’ve inspired other winemakers I love. This specific bottling I find to be particularly savory, with salinity, richness, and crunchy acidity that makes it incredible with food.

L’Arco Rubeo Veronese Rosso IGT, Veneto, Italy

From the rule-breaking winemaker Luca Fedrigo, a disciple of Valpolicella’s most famous rule breaker Giuseppe Quintarelli, this wine isn’t even appellated as a wine from Valpolicella even though it uses the three primary grapes (Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara) to which Fedrigo adds Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. This wine has notes of oregano and green peppercorn and drinks like a perfect blend of Valpolicella and Bordeaux.

Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Tokaji Essencia, Tokaj, Hungary

The ultimate luxurious treat of a wine, we poured this by spoon at Brennan’s for years. It’s so rich and concentrated, full of notes of honey and Botrytis, you can taste all of the magic that goes into making this special wine.

Jordan Mackay, author, ‘The Sommelier’s Atlas of Taste’

For this list, I didn’t choose the seven “best” wines in the world. I chose wines that are sui generis — that taste like nothing else, even in their own regions. For this they are wonders, combining distinctiveness, quality, story, and soul. When thinking of these I found it strange that my palate went so quickly and frequently to white wines. But, as much as l love the particular expressions of Nebbiolo, Syrah, and Pinot Noir, I couldn’t think of such singular examples.

Domaine Raveneau Chablis, France

There’s no white wine quite like Raveneau. Sharp and mineral, yes — but also fleshy, wild, uncontainable, almost rococo. Above the oyster shell and citrus floats something fermentative and free that refuses to be civilized. It’s savory, aromatic, even exotic at times, yet never loses its nerve.

Krug Grande Cuvée, Champagne, France

Nothing delivers such contrast with such composure. It slices the happy, oxidative roundness of barrel-aged reserve wines with the racy, linear slash of acidity — like a samurai cut, a few dramatic seconds of innocence before the carotid starts to leak. Champagne as high drama: richness and razor blades, brioche and chalk, pleasure and pain. A wine so intense, I rarely want it. But I also can’t deny it.

Bodegas López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Reserva, Rioja, Spain

Tondonia Reserva is like a lens — not just on Rioja, but on time, soil, and culture. Clarity over intensity, transparency over flash. Decades in barrel and bottle don’t suppress the wine, they animate it. Nothing else captures the essence of Rioja so potently.

Azienda Agricola Valentini Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, Abruzzo, Italy

A wine that shatters categories. Is it a rosé or a light red? Savage and elegant, animal and floral, stony and airy. Smells like wild herbs and crushed berries and tastes like it comes from a terrain that would cut bare feet. No other pink wine has this structure, intrigue, and resoluteness. With age, it becomes even wilder.

Domaine Sigalas Assyrtiko, Santorini, Greece

From vines sculpted into low nests near the beaches of Santorini and feel like they might be dwellings of mythic seabirds, this channels land and sea. You feel the salinity, the sea foam, the sunlight absorbed through thick grape skins, but also the volcanic rocks and sand and wind. A conduit to the ancient world.

De La Riva Vino de Pasto ‘Macharnudo’  Jerez, Spain

The classic taste of Jerez, unencumbered by process. Grown on the hallowed albariza soils of the region’s greatest vineyard, this table white highlights Palomino’s laser-focused mineral essence without the added flesh and veneer of fortification and solera aging. Precise, angular, and architectural — a still white that captures the soul of Jerez.

Ridge Vineyards Lytton Springs, Sonoma County, Calif.

This is California: big sun, dry hills, jammy fruit, wild diversity — and yet, something sharper running through it. Ridge’s Lytton Springs blend (mostly Zinfandel) captures the ripe, generous spirit of Dry Creek Valley with structure, spice, and lift. Juicy and fat, like a NorCal heirloom tomato, but also earthy and dark.

Zach Geballe, co-host, ‘The VinePair Podcast’

Maison Trimbach ‘Clos Ste. Hune’ Riesling, Alsace, France

For years, this wine, which hails from a tiny parcel of land at the heart of the Rosacker Grand Cru, was my white (wine) whale. Finally, on a trip to Alsace in 2018, I was able to taste it with Julien Trimbach, part of the 13th generation of winemakers in the family. More to the point, I was able to dip my finger in and give a (tiny) taste to my 4-month-old son — you gotta teach ‘em young! The power, depth, and concentration of this wine remains seared into my memory, and the couple of times I’ve been able to try it since have been equally as good, if not quite as momentous.

Turley Wine Cellars ‘Hayne Vineyard’ Old Vines Zinfandel, Napa Valley, Calif.

I love this wine nearly as much for what it represents as for what it is in the glass. This vineyard, a steadfast Zinfandel holdout in a sea of Cabernet Sauvignon, was planted in 1902 and 1903. Just imagine what Napa Valley looked like then; what those vines have seen in nearly 125 years. Beyond that, I have a deep and abiding love for Zinfandel, perhaps the only globally recognized variety whose home (yes, I know the origins) is truly here in the United States. We have a (sadly dwindling) treasure trove of Old Vine Zinfandel in California, one that I think all wine lovers should cherish, support, or at least give a try. Yes, these wines are bold, but they’re also incredibly pleasurable without being simple or unsophisticated.

Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc, Rhône Valley, France

There simply is nothing in the world of wine quite like Jean-Louis’s Hermitage Blanc. Made largely from Marsanne with a portion of Roussanne, as he tells it, the secret to making this wine is to have the patience and discipline to do basically nothing — just whole-cluster press it and then put it in a mixture of different barrels for 18 months. What comes out is a stunningly textural white wine that at one moment hints at marzipan and sweet citrus, and in another is minerally and austere.

Upsidedown Wine ‘The Devil is a Liar’ Grenache, Columbia Valley, Wash.

Everything about this wine defies conventional wisdom. Sourced from one of Washington’s most extreme vineyards, the windswept WeatherEye Vineyard atop Red Mountain, made from head-trained Grenache vines, and aged extensively in larger oak vessels, it’s quite simply one of the most soulful, complex, and engaging American wines I’ve tried in years.

Vasse Felix ‘Tom Cullity’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, Australia

One of the great regrets of my wine life (to date) is that I’ve never been to Australia. Yet as much as you can fall in love with a wine region without having been there, the Margaret River has my heart. So many of the wines I’ve tried from there have been stunning, none more than this Cabernet Sauvignon from the region’s first real commercial winery, named after the man who founded it. Despite what you might imagine about Australian reds, this is a nuanced, subtle, almost delicate wine that nonetheless has some real fruit character and hints of eucalyptus and sandalwood that mark it as distinctly Down Under in origin.

ARPEPE Valtellina Superiore ‘Grumello’ Riserva Sant’Antonio, Valtellina, Italy

Sometimes wine regions can teach you a lot about just how desperate people have been throughout history to get drunk. When you see the vineyards in Valtellina, or in the Mosel Valley in Germany, you can’t help but wonder if there had to be somewhere easier to grow grapes. For our sake, I’m glad this is where they chose! While my podcast co-host Adam Teeter talks about his love of Nebbiolo more often than I do, it’s long been perhaps my favorite red variety, and while I do have deep love for the wines made from it in Piedmont, the higher-toned, more ethereal wines from ARPEPE in Valtellina speak a sort of magic and transport me back in time in a truly memorable way.

Champagne Jean Vesselle ‘Oeil de Perdrix,’ Champagne, France

With virtually all of Champagne being thoroughly picked over by importers, sommeliers, and others, I find it odd that this wine, produced by one of the more esteemed grower-producers in the region, has never quite gotten the shine I think it deserved. A pink (ish?) wine made in the largely abandoned style of a short maceration period before fermentation, it has many of the hallmarks that we love in rosé Champagne, but in a less fruit-driven, more savory way. While obviously almost all Champagne is tremendously food-friendly, this bottle has seen me through everything from steak dinners to grilled salmon to sushi, and it’s still shockingly affordable — for Champagne.

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