BEST Wines of 2023 - A Master of Wine's Selection of the most memorable wines of the year

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I use this wine key: Forge de Laguiole Ebony
I have used this glass in this Video: Zieher "Fresh"
I have tasted the following wines in this Video:

2006 Pierre Moncuit Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc Champagne France

2022 Pio Cesare L’Altro Langhe Chardonnay Italy

2010 Prager Achleiten Grüner Veltliner Stockkultur Smaragd Wachau Austria

2012 Vina Tondonia Blanco Reserva Rioja Spain

1998 Tyrell’s Vat 1 Semillon Hunter Valley Australia

2017 Keller Pettenthal Riesling Rheinhessen Germany

1997 Landrat Guyollot La Rambarde Pouilly Fumé France

2022 Booskloof Patatsfontain Steen Montagu South Africa

Matsunotsukasa Kimoto Junmai Japan

2021 Bernhard Huber Schlossberg Spätburgunder Grosses Gewächs Baden Germany

2019 Montille Hokkaido Pinot Noir Japan

2019 Boscarelli Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Il Nocio Italy

2019 Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Napa Valley USA

2010 Pontet-Canet Pauillac France

2020 Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett Mosel Germany

96-100: An extraordinary wine of profound and complex character displaying all the attributes expected of a classic wine of its variety. Wines of this caliber are worth a special effort to find, purchase and consume.
90 - 95: An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines.
80 - 89: A barely above average to very good wine displaying various degrees of finesse and flavor as well as character with no noticeable flaws.
70 - 79: An average wine with little distinction except that it is soundly made. In essence, a straightforward, innocuous wine.
60 - 69: A below-average wine containing noticeable deficiencies, such as excessive acidity and/or tannin, an absence of flavor or possibly dirty aromas or flavors.
50 - 59: A wine deemed to be unacceptable.

The cold winter has given me a cold and if I cannot smell I travel through my wine memories. That means it is the perfect time for my wines of 2023 – the good the bad and the ugly. Or rather the wines I remember. 2023 has been a good year for me as I have tasted thousands of wines. On my mission to taste I travelled to California, Georgia, several times to Italy, France and the growing regions of Germany, and, believe it or not England.
There is no chance that I can talk about all these experiences here and I am therefore going to focus on the ones that really stood out – mostly because they were very good. There were many bangers – cult, unicorn wines that are very hard to get – amongst the wines I tased, but I also want to talk about wines that offer great value at affordable prices. This is not all though. At the end I am going to share with you, which wines I am going to drink in 2024.

[drmatthewhorkey]

Great video as I love hearing your stories…
Tondonia Blanco is such a game changer, I get so excited everytime I drink it. Boscarelli is one of my favorite producers in all of Italy. When I visited to shoot a video they opened their first vintage of Il Nocio (1991). Nicolo and I sat there in silence… We didn’t have to say a word, we both understood.

[byron]

Never underestimate the aging power of a good white wine. Many Sauvignons from the Loire, especially from Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume have the ability to age very gracefully. I've had some in the recent years and they were gorgeous. The most interesting thing with an aged Sauvignon for me is the completely different flavor profile, when compared to a young one. Regarding white Pessac wines from the well-known producers of the region, they have a good reputation for aging very nice. My bet is that Fieuzal will be a nice surprise. One of the best white wines I've tasted in this life was a bottle of 1975 Latour-Martillac. It blew my mind, I was just staring at the glass and trying to understand what was going on. Keep up the great work!

[joesantamaria]

2009 Vina Tondonia Reserva Rioja. One of the best reds of my life, equal in quality to First/Second Growth Bordeaux, at 1/3 the price or less. Rich, elegant, mature, fragrant. Gorgeous. Second spot goes to La Rioja Alta Reserva 2018, under $30 in the US. A very high quality, relatively inexpensive wine from one of the best wineries in Spain. As I can no longer afford to drink Burgundy regularly, Rioja has become my go to.

[elfblood]

I deeply appreciate that you often include 'in my opinion' in your evaluations on wines. I often hear people say, 'this is the best song' or 'this is the best place to get ribs' or 'this is the best restaurant' - etc, etc, - and it rakes against my sensibilities when people state their opinions as facts and actually believe their opinions to be facts. Thank you for being self-aware enough to know the difference between opinion and objective reality and for reinforcing this awareness in your commentaries on wine. Even though I fully appreciate your expertise in wine (I wouldn't keep watching your videos if I didn't) I remind myself that my own 'indelicate' palate (I had surgery to remove polyps from my nasal cavity twelve years ago so that my own sense of taste and smell has been reduced by 80 percent) would probably perceive many of the wines you taste in a very different fashion. I have to go for very robust and maybe 'intrusive' flavors in order to taste them at all. That is part of why I love watching your videos. Your descriptions of the flavors and tastes helps to connect me to the wine and taste it from your words since I would never be able to taste it on my own palate.

[paulremarque]

Dear Konstantin,

For 2 years I've been watching all your videos and most of them are great! Thank you for bringing us all free wine knowledge. It helped to built my collection!

For my further collection and interest, I would like a video series of the following: A comparison of 1 of the kings of a specific wine region versus 3 great value alternatives

For example, A Rayas or Beaucastel Hommage Chateauneuf versus 3 others in the price region 40 to €100

Or a Sassicaia Bolgheri versus Grattamaco and others around the €80 mark

And of course a Mouton Rothschild versus great other Left bank Bordeaux around the 50 to €200 mark

I wish you great holidays,

Paul

[bonwatcher]

Best wine moment for me was opening a magnum of 2004 Araujo Eisele Vineyard Syrah at Christmas dinner thinking I made a mistake leaving it for so long and it started out a young, fresh syrah with incredible depth that kept changing in the bottle the longer it sat. I was so glad to have opened and tasted that wine, it was a bottle at its peak.

[williamrobinson]

Really interesting as ever! My most surprising wine moment of 2023 was tasting a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, not the most expensive in the house but outstanding indeed. Sadly I don't remember the details, but this one had that quality of mouth feel you mentioned there, 'chewiness', a feeling that there was a tangible texture to the flavour, and this characteristic I feel is an important one in this style of wine.
May I wish you and all supporters of your excellent channel a very Happy Christmas! 🎄⭐👍

[justynap]

Thanks a lot Konstantin for this video and for all you do, especially the Passion you show towards wine and towards sharing your knowledge with wider community. Really appreciate that :)

[Yevgeny]

Cool that you featured the Japanese Sake!! Another amazing video - thank you.

[sfbassplayer]

I recently tasted the 2020 Pontet-Canet. It was part of a selection of 24 wines being tasted over 6 evenings (non-consecutive, over three weeks), at relatively the same retail price as other French and American wines of similar blends and the Pontet-canet made its presence known in a commanding way

[davidmontoya]

I’m glad to hear you talk more frequently about Cabernet Franc.
It is my favorite varietal wine.

[jean-philippetremblay]

Cabernet Franc is such an underrated variety. Really like Saumur-Champigny, like Domaine des Closiers. Just amazing balance and concentration.

[joeydecarlo]

Looking forward to more from you in 2024!

My best wine moment of 2023 was a wine I found at a local shop that they seemed to be trying to get rid of to make room for newer vintages. Lucky for me! Paolo Scavino Bricco Ambrogio 2007 Barolo. Absolutely beautiful wine. I have two more bottles to age even longer and open for the right occasions in the future.

[rickwezenaar]

My husband and me would like to wish you merry christmas and a happy new year ! Thank you for your videos and all your efforts about my favorite subject: Wine! Cheers!

[oliviersavard]

Château Climens 2010 was my favorite bottle of 2023 thus far. Happy Holidays Konstantin, thank you for all the great content (the Georgia video was especially epic!).

[hnurminen]

I don't know how surprising this moment is but it was the most memorable one in 2023. And it is about cabernet franc. I've visited Central Loire three times now and every time I've visited Bernard Baudry. This domaine just keeps delivering time after time and my visit this time was no different. Super quality and reasonable prices. What more can you hope for!

[andythemguy]

I've tasted many wines this year. More than in my entire life. From the cheapest to the wine for average consumer. I went to my first wine tasting this year and later went to another more professional tasting. I started to drink wines that are not popular in Puerto Rico. I haven't ditched the Spanish wines as I still have many left in my cellar. This I tasted my first riesling and have fallen in love with the style. I tried my first Cabernet Franc, chianti and bonarda. I have also rediscovered Merlot and I have some excellent Chilean and French bottles. Over all I have collected over 50 corks this year and I have drank more than that.
I hope to try more Shiraz and sirah, Cabernet franc, Tannat and finally taste a Dom Perignon to celebrate on me getting my Masters degree.
You have been a great help in making me understand and appreciate wine. And have gotten me curious to go out and learn for myself even more.

[carlcadregari]

Definitely a good video. Lots to try and find for the cellar. Thank you.

[RAPHAELVIGNEAU]

Hi. I did vintage at Landrat Guyollot in 2009 and super stoked to see La Rambarde in the video. I’ve sent them the link. They make great wines and are also very nice people !!!

[thomaswinans]

Nice to see my friend sampled some wine prior to filming 🎉
Happy holidays