Wines of the year lists are nothing new but the launch of our Top 50 US Wines, which comprises a list of our top US wines tasted over the course of the year, marks a first for Decanter. It delivers a deep dive into the country’s myriad wine regions, intensely talented winemakers and array of quality.
Unveiled on Decanter Premium across this week, the Decanter Top 50 US Wines will be published in three instalments with the first part, covering wines 50-31, available today.
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The countdown will feature wines highlighted by several correspondents and contributing writers: Jonathan Cristaldi in Napa; Vanessa Rason located in Santa Barbara County; Brianne Cohen in Paso Robles and Maiah Johnson Dunn up in the Finger Lakes, along with contributing writer Anna Lee Ijima and yours truly.
2024 Top 50 US Wines: How the selections were made
The selections for Decanter’s Top 50 US wines were chosen from the over 3,000 wines tasted and reviewed between January and November of 2024. To be considered, they must be current or soon-to-be-released wines. Library wines are not eligible.
They were selected to show a range of styles, places and exciting and emerging winemaking talent. This is not intended to be a list of the top-scoring wines of the year but wines that show the brilliance and diversity of America’s winemaking talents and regions.
We were privy to excellence this year, and our coverage expanded significantly. Readers were treated to vintage reports from the Sonoma Coast, greater Sonoma County, California’s Anderson Valley, Paso Robles, New York State, Oregon’s Willamette Valley, the Columbia Valley in both Washington and Oregon and, of course, Napa Valley.
I sincerely hope that this list will pique your interest. You’ll not necessarily find the usual suspects here. Our commitment to covering as many US regions as possible, emphasising telling the stories of small artisan producers, comes through in this Top 50 selection.
