2023 $10 Wine Hall of Fame
2023 $10 Wine Hall of Fame
Nine wines entered the Hall of Fame this year, while only three dropped out
The WC chat goes live today to talk about the 2023 Hall of Fame. I will be lurking around the Substack chat app at 1 p.m. central for an hour or so to answer questions, talk about the wines, and whine about all the usual suspects. All you need to know to participate is in this link. One warning: There’s no web app (only Android and iOS), so I’ll be typing on my phone, which is not my best skill. Still, drop by — this should be much fun.
Three years of supply chain woes and all that meant for availability finally caught up with the Hall of Fame. The 2023 version welcomes nine wines, while only three dropped out -- a surprisingly refreshing development. But I had to leave six more wines out of the hall because (and even though I bought all of them), they weren’t generally available.
In other words, the shipping shortage finally snafu-ed quality cheap wine. And, what’s worse, I’m afraid we may see that happen again next year despite the various improvements we’ve noted on the blog in the world’s supply chain. I guess a quality $12 rose isn’t as important as computer chips.
Also depressing: For the second year in a row, I didn’t have many wines to choose from – maybe 18, down from a couple of dozen last year. Typically, I get three or four dozen in a good year.
Still, there is plenty to celebrate in 2023 – and, for the second year in a row, more to celebrate than I thought there would be. The inductees include:
• Five whites: the Badenhorst Curator white blend from South Africa; three French whites – the Chesnaie Muscadet, the Reine Juliette Picpoul, and the Bernier chardonnay; and California’s Rickshaw sauvignon blanc, a wine I really like.
• Two reds: the blog’s Turner Cheap Wine of the Year, California’s Matchbook cabernet sauvignon, and the Argentine Santa Julia Mountain Red.
• Two roses: The French Le Petit Gueissard and the Chilean Tres Palacios. Rose was especially hard hit by availability. I tasted at least a dozen that were worthy of consideration, but most were sold in only a handful of stores.
The dropouts: Two whites – an Austrian gruner veltliner from Wachau Loess and a French blend, La Graviere Blanc, both of which vanished from store shelves, and Portugal’s Faisao rose vinho verde, whose quality was nowhere near what it had been.
The complete 2023 $10 Wine Hall of Fame is here – only paid subscribers have access. The Hall’s selection process and eligibility rules are here. Know that I considered wines that cost as much as $13 or $14 to take into account price creep and regional pricing differences.
Photo: "Boyfriend and girlfriend drinking wine. Pink colors for Valentine day" by shixart1985 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.