Wine Spotlight – Top Value Wines of 2025

As we close out 2025, here is a year in review of some of the best wines and vintages. You don’t have to be a wine connoisseur, collector, or wine professional to appreciate the wine story and spark of 2025. Each year and vintage brings new challenges to the wine world as climate and cost becomes a factor and the need to re-invent the way things are done. Trying to find the balance of keeping tradition going along with experimentation, forward thinking, and unique approaches to growing grapes and producing wine.

This year we see tremendous diversity among the best wines across the globe with legendary producers and estates and newbies joining the conversation. The best span different styles and regions with an emphasis not just on quality (scores), but also on good value (price), availability (cases made), and up and coming (making noise). Even from remote places and untraditional places. A reflection of local people, the vineyards they manage, and innovative winemaking.

As a resource, I turn to Wine Spectator. Although there are many wine publications and reviewers out there, including yourselves, I find that WS regularly offers helpful information on ‘best value’ wines, ‘smart buys’, and a cool snapshot of all regions producing wine with great insight. I often use their guidance for picking out wines for my company’s special events, like wine tasting classes and wine dinners.

In today’s economy, finding a great wine that matches the occasion without breaking the pocketbook, is paramount. It can be frustrating though because it is difficult to hunt down wine that isn’t exported, isn’t available in your marketplace, or is a small production wine that we will never see. Try searching for the producer, winery, or vineyard for that wine (especially if a top producer) because you will find other great wines in their portfolio.

Did you know that 38 wines earned a place in the Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2025 for the first time? Although 14 wines in total are priced at $100 or more, a third of the wines cost $30 or less. Now we’re talking! Paying under $30 for a really good wine is not terrible at all, especially when you treat it as a gift. On average those top 100 wines scored 93 points (anything 90 points or higher is considered to be awesome) and cost $58 showing the diversification and excitement in today’s wine world.

To go deeper, the WS list includes wines from 12 different countries. As expected, historic France and Italy each contributed 20 wines. California led all regions with 24 selections thanks to the excellent 2023 vintage for Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Zinfandel. Oregon and New Zealand each added 5 wines, which is a testament to New World, cool climate locations making the best out of climactic challenges and vineyard management.

Spain had 8 wines while Chile and Argentina from South America produced wines of quality, but most significantly, great value for those savvy shoppers. All these selections were blindly tasted by a panel of experts and provide an interesting story to pursue.

If you were wondering, the Top 10 were rounded out from California (producers: Aubert, Ridge, Williams-Selyem, and Wayfarer), St.-Emilion (Bordeaux, France), Barbaresco (Italy), Chianti Classico (Italy), Chateauneuf-du-Pape (Rhone, France), and Chile (Apalta).

Although I haven’t tasted most of the wines (that’s an understatement), and probably never will, I can offer some insight into those that may be accessible if you look hard enough and come with an affordable price tag for you and your guests this holiday season and beyond.

I may be a little bias because I do reach for wine from certain regions and varietals when choosing wine for myself. If I’m shopping for others, I ascertain what style of wine they like most. If I’ve enjoyed a wine from a certain producer and has a good value, I tend to look for that producer for all their grape varietals and vintages.

The following list of wines are taken from the Wine Spectator Top 100 wines of 2025 with ranking, score, approximate cost, and location. The wines listed have to meet my criteria of 90 plus points and under $30 or so. In other words, high quality wine with great value. I can’t speak to whether or not the wines are available in my marketplace of Central NY, but they may very well may be in yours. Also, look for them on wine lists at high-end restaurants in big cities.

#17 Ruffino Chianti Classico Ducale Riserva 2021 (Italy), 93 pts, $25

#18 Diatom Chardonnay Santa Barbara County 2024 (California), 93 pts, $25

#20 Rimapere Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough Single Vineyard 2024 (New Zealand), 93 pts, $30

#23 Rocca di Frassinello Maremma Toscano Ornello 2023 (Italy), 94 pts, $30

#24 Dry Creek Chenin Blanc Clarksburg Dry 2023 (California), 91 pts, $18

#25 Carpineto Chianti Classico Riserva 2020 (Italy), 93 pts, $29

#26 Vina Tarapaca Cabernet Sauvignon Maipo Valley Etiqueta Negra Gran Reserva 2022 (Chile), 92 pts, $34

#29 Chateau d’Estoublon Coteaux Varois en Provence Roseblood Rose 2024 (France), 90 pts, $27

#32 Massican Annia Collection 2024 (California), 92 pts, $32

#35 Primus The Blend Apalta 2022 (Chile), 90 pts, $21

#36 Ravines Riesling Finger Lakes Dry 2022 (New York), 91 pts, $21

#42 Ravenswood Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley 2023 (California), 93 pts, $27

#43 Lamadrid Malbec Agrelo Single Vineyard Reserva 2023 (Argentina), 90 pts, $20

#49 Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc Stellenbosch Old Vine Reserve 2024 (South Africa), 91 pts, $21

#56 Venus La Universal Montsant Dido La Universal 2021 (Spain), 91 pts, $25

#60 Newfound Gravels California 2022, 92 pts, $30

#61 BiancaVigna Brut Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore 2023 (Italy), 91 pts, $23

#62 Te Pa Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2024 (New Zealand), 92 pts, $21

#68 Albert Bichot Bourgogne Origines 2023 (France), 90 pts, $26

#73 Sleight of Hand The Spellbinder Columbia Valley 2022 (Washington), 90 pts, $25

#75 Graci Etna Rosato 2024 (Italy), 91 pts, $30

#86 Dr. Loosen Riesling Kabinett Mosel Erdener Treppchen 2023 (Germany), 90 pts, $28

#91 Hugh Hamilton Shiraz-Saperavi South Australia Black Ops 2021 (Australia), 92 pts, $30

#93 Famille Lieubeau Muscadet de Sevre et Maine Clisson 2022 (France), 91 pts, $28

#96 Bodegas Bhilar Rioja White Bhilar 2022 (Spain), 92 pts, $21

I hope I shared a diverse group of wines above for you. The writing of this post took quite a bit of time. I am not being paid for producing this content or any other content, so I hope you enjoyed it and use it as a resource.

If you have tasted any of these wines, please share your experiences. If and when you do taste them, please let me know your thoughts. I am always interested in feedback for myself and my business ventures and to just talk wine.

Cheers,

Michael