We head way down south of the border for our next instalment of the world’s best wines – to Chile.
© Sogrape | Chile’s topography shifts from vertiginously high mountains down to the Pacific Ocean.
If ever you were looking for a safe bet when buying an unfamiliar wine, surely it would be one from Chile.
That might sound a little dismissive – and it’s not entirely fair – but it’s what Chile has based its reputation on: quality wine at a seriously agreeable price.
However, to simply categorize Chilean wines as merely “good value” or “dependably drinkable” is to do a great disservice to this diverse country, precariously balanced between the dizzy vastness of the Andes and the empty expanses of the Pacific Ocean. Because Chile also has some outstanding wines available.
And they’re getting better. Chile itself might not be anyone’s idea of wine’s “best-kept secret” territory any more, but perhaps its top-end wines still are. There are more Chilean wines available at higher prices than ever before, but that’s doesn’t necessarily mean that there are more better wines available; it just means that producers are unafraid to put their wines out into the market at a price point they think the wines deserve.
It’s good to see that growing level of confidence among Chilean winemakers because, if anyone deserves it, they do. For decades they have trimmed their margins to the bone to produce vibrant, early-drinking Cabernets, lively, crystalline Chardonnays and smoooth, inviting Carmeneres – hell, their Sauvignons have even given the vaunted New Zealand ones a run for their money.
And they’ve done all this for incredible prices. On a bang-for-buck scale, Chile has few rivals, but it’s time to look beyond that price segment and check out what the best wines are like; they really are worth checking out.
Before we reveal the very best of these wines, though, let’s get our criteria for inclusion straight.
The scores can – on the surface – appear misleadingly close, but beneath the surface, it’s a different story as each critic is weighted slightly differently depending on their reputation and general influence. The number of reviews also has a part to play, meaning a high score from fewer critics can sometimes count for less than a lower score from many critics. That’s why some 94-pointers are listed ahead of 95-pointers.
The prices listed are the global average retail prices, in US dollars.
First up, let’s talk about quality. Three years ago, this list had one 95-point wine on it, as well as three 94-pointers. Another five had aggregated critic scores of 93, while 92 was still enough to make the top 10. Not any more.
This year, those numbers are substantially higher, with four 95s and the rest 94s. Given that these scores are aggregated across all vintages, you need to be hitting big numbers to haul a score up that quickly, so that gives some idea of just how well these wines are doing. There are also two other 95-pointers (Parra’s Newk Cinsault and the Garage Truquilemu Carinena) that are outside the top 10 because they haven’t enough reviews yet.
Also, there are three new wines on this list, compared to the 2021 version. That’s not because the other wines got worse, it’s just that these wines have simply overtaken them. That’s a healthy level of competition at the top end of the quality scale.
The other thing to look at is price. Just because the wines are getting better doesn’t mean producers feel they can simply make up a number, add sales tax and charge the wine out at that level. In the past three years, the biggest shift in price for any of these wines is the Don Melchor, which has seen its global average retail price “soar” by $19 – in three years.
Other than the Clos Apalta (up $10) all the rest are within a couple of bucks of their 2021 prices.
That’s my kind of safe bet.
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