TOP 100 VALUE WINES

2022 was another challenging year at JamesSuckling.com, especially when it came to finding reasonably priced quality wines when prices were going up fast everywhere. But the tasting team still found more than a few excellent bottles that fit comfortably within any budget.

- ANDRII STETSIUK

2022 was a challenging year in many ways. Especially important for the JamesSuckling.com team was the economic toll of inflation and the impact it had on some wine prices, underlining the importance of doing as much research as possible in trying to find the best value bottles.

We managed to taste a record 33,000-plus wines during the year, hitting the road and touching base with scores of wine producers in multiple countries and regions in our quest to find the very best of the best, as well as the greatest values in a sector that often touts premium prices over great budget buys. And we found a lot of the latter.

We did up the ante this year by setting our price limit at US$40 (RM171) rather than $35 (RM150), adding more than a few 98- and 99-pointers to the overall list as a result. As a value reference, we used Wine Searcher, but the price-score metric wasn't the only one we used; production volume and global availability were also considered.

White wines dominated our value list this year, with 56 in the top 100, and there were 43 reds and one dessert wine. As far as standout countries for great-value offerings is concerned, Australia was the big winner.And it wasn't just the quality of Australian wines that impressed us: their overall purity, finesse and drinkability are clear, but with 19 Aussie wines in this Top 100 list and seven in the top 25, Australia showed its strength in the quality-plus-value game, with Claire Valley and Eden Valley especially notable for turning out rieslings that push the boundaries of possibility on the spectrum. Two of them were the 2022 vintage of our No. I value wine from last year, the breathtakingly joyful Pewsey Vale Riesling Eden Valley, which finished at No. 6 this year, and the elegant Mitchell Riesling Clare Valley Watervale 2022, which came in at No. 11.