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Top 9 Wines to Buy This Year

No matter where your wine taste trends in the next 12 months, we’ve vetted the best bottles to put in your shopping cart. Here are our top picks from our annual International Wine Competition

Sara Schneider
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Upgrade your Chardonnay

Chardonnay is easy to come by—it’s our most popular wine by a wide margin. But don’t say, “I’ll have a glass of Chardonnay,” unless you mean it—and make sure that glass earned gold. Life’s too short to dip into a sea of unremarkable Chard.

  • Scott Family 2014 Dijon Clone Chardonnay (Arroyo Seco, Monterey; $25)
  • Trione Vineyards & Winery 2014 River Road Ranch Chardonnay (Russian River Valley, Sonoma County; $36)

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Be a smart Cabernet shopper

The king of reds still reigns (we drink more Cabernet Sauvignon than any other red)—and Napa Valley holds court. But other regions in California and Washington are going head-to-head with Napa’s high-scoring Cabs, and many are great values. Our judges also discovered that, even in Napa, you don’t have to empty your wallet to taste a gold medal winner.

  • Chateau Ste. Michelle 2013 Canoe Ridge Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Horse Heaven Hills; $28)
  • Katherine Goldschmidt 2013 Crazy Creek Cabernet Sauvignon (Alexander Valley; $22)
  • Mettler Family 2013 Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon (Lodi; $25)
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Mix it up with some imports

Understatement of the year: The West Coast delivers no shortage of great bottles. But other promising wines are becoming increasingly available. Our competition uncovered terrific sips from the Old World and the New beyond the West.

  • Béres 2014 Dry Furmint (Tokaji; $19)
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Affordable golds

Castoro Cellars 2013 Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon (Paso Robles; $16)

Dunham 2014 Lewis Estate Vineyard Riesling (Columbia Valley; $20)

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The weeknight splurge

Most of us can go a long time without dropping a hundred bucks on a bottle of wine. But what if Thursday night needs a little love? Punch your price just above $40, and you’ll find an enormous range of high-scoring gems.

  • Sea Bird 2013 Broken Rock Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley; $45)
6 /7

Rethink your house white

While shelves out there are full of Chard, among the whites in our competition, Sauvignon Blanc offered the most well-balanced, well-priced bottles. Time to switch to Sauvignon?

  • J. Rickards 2015 Croft Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc (Alexander Valley, Sonoma County; $22)
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Check out all our winners

Click here to find all of our Medal Winners from the 2016 Sunset International Wine Competition.