The Top 10 Wines 2023 and The Best Wine 2023 (04-12-2023 by Nenad Jelisic)
This is the eleventh consecutive year that NJ Wines presents the top 10 wines. In 2023, NJ Wines tasted a few thousand wines that were, and still are, available on the wine market. From all these wines, NJ Wines selected the 10 top wines of the year. The most important criterion in the selection was of course the quality of the wines, but also the availability of the wines today. Of the top 10 wines of the year come five from Italy, one from Croatia, one from Spain, one from Portugal, one from USA and one from France. This year, with the fourth best wine of the year, the sixth best wine of the year, the seventh best wine of the year, the eighth best wine of the year and the ninth best wine of the year, Italy proved that it once again belongs to one of the world's best wine-producing countries. Note that NJ Wines’ wine tasting year always begins the first week of December the year before and ends the last the week in November the current year i.e. for the year 2023 it started the first week in December 2022 and ended the last week in November 2023. This year, three wines got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points), in 2022, no wine got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points), in 2021, four wines got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points), in 2020, two wines got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points), in 2019, five wines got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points), in 2018, six wines got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points), in 2017, no wine got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points), in 2016, one wine got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points), in 2015, one wine got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points), in 2014, no wine got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points) and in 2013, one wine got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points). NJ Wines is very pleased with the positive result, but NJ Wines does not believe that the global quality of the wines has changed as much in the positive direction as the tasting result shows. NJ Wines was just lucky enough to taste some of the world's best wines in 2023.
The Top 10 Wines 2023
1. Vinarija Dingac, Plavac Mali, 2018, red dry wine, Peljesac, Central and Southern Dalmatia, Dalmatia, Croatia, 5,0 of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points)
2. Fincas Valdemar, Gran Reserva, Edición Especial, 2015, red dry blend wine, Rioja, Spain, 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points)
3. Churchill's, Late Bottled Vintage, 2017, port wine, Porto, Douro, Portugal, 5,0 of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points)
4. Sotirio, Podernuovo a Palazzone, 2018, red dry wine, Tuscany, Italy, 4,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP (95 points of 100 points)
5. Louis M Martini, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2018, red dry wine, North Coast, California, USA, 4,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (90 points of 100 points)
6. Virna Borgogno, Barolo, Noi, 2018, red dry wine, Piedmont, Italy, 4,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (90 points of 100 points)
7. Cristiana Bettili, Tenuta Vignega, Amarone della Valpolicella, Riserva, 2011, red dry blend wine, Valpolicella, Veneto, Italy, 4,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (90 points of 100 points)
8. Tommasi, Ca' Florian, Riserva, Amarone della Valpolicella, Classico, 2013, red dry blend wine, Valpolicella, Veneto, Italy, 4,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (90 points of 100 points)
9. Zenato, Amarone della Valpolicella, Classico, 2018, red dry blend wine, Valpolicella, Veneto, Italy, 4,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (90 points of 100 points)
10. Domaine du Pas de l'Escalette, Les Clapas, Rouge, 2020, red dry blend wine, Terrasses du Larzac, Languedoc-Roussillon, France, 4,0 of 5,0 NJP (90 points of 100 points).
The Best Wine 2023
Vinarija Dingac, Dingac, 2018, red dry wine, Peljesac, Central and Southern Dalmatia, Dalmatia, Croatia,, 5,0 of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points)
That man can get brilliant wines from Plavac Mali grape proves this wine and wines from winemakers such as Bakovic, Grgic, Kiridzija, Madirazza, Mandek, Milicic, Milos, Plenkovic, Skaramuca, Tomic and Vinarija Svirce. The best wines made by Plavac Mali come from the island of Hvar and the peninsula of Peljesac. This wine comes from the Peljesac peninsula. What distinguishes wines from the island of Hvar from wines from the Peljesac peninsula is that wines from the island of Hvar are more concentrated and have less prominent tannins, while wines from the Peljesac peninsula have less concentration and more prominent tannins. But there are exceptions like wines from Grgic and this wine. Vinarija Dingac Dingac 2018 is a big, complex and elegant wine. The wine's tannins are silky smooth and the balance between tannins and fruitiness is brilliant. The aroma is filled with dark chocolate, vanilla, dried prunes, dried figs, tobacco, ripe dark cherries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberry and blackberries. The flavour is filled with bay leaves, ripe dark cherries, blueberries, blackberries, dried figs, dried prunes, sweet spices, raspberries, strawberries and dark chocolate. The aftertaste is long, dry and sweet spicy.
The wine will go perfectly with creamy pasta (fresh) with bacon, basil, sun-dried tomatoes and small pieces of chicken thigh fillets, Pizza á la Jelisic (Pizza Vesuvio with beef fillet, black olives, red onion and Parmesan cheese), roasted lamb steaks with potato gratin and red wine sauce, Beef Wellington with Hasselback Potatoes and funnel chanterelle sauce, Boeuf Bourguignon with mashed potatoes, really good and tasty burgers with cheese and bacon and elk mince steaks with roasted root vegetables and red wine sauce. The wine benefits from being decanted for an hour. It should be drunk at 16 to 18 degrees from real Bordeaux glasses, if possible, from Orrefors, Kosta Boda, Spiegelau or Riedel. Another alternative is to serve it, without decanting, at 16°C (when room temperature is above 20°C or outside temperature is above 23°C) and then enjoy it as it starts to open/grow in the glass.
Vinarija Dingac Dingac 2018 consists of 100% Plavac Mali. Plavac Mali is a crossing between blue grape Crljenak Kastelanski (ancestor of Primitivo in Italy and Zinfandel in California, USA) and Dobricic (an old blue grape from the Dalmatian coast). The name refers to the small blue grapes that the vines produce. The grapes for this wine come from vineyards that is located in the best appellation on the Peljesac peninsula, the Dingac appellation. The vineyards in it are located on the southern side of the peninsula at an altitude of 100 to 300 m above sea level and an inclination of over 50 degrees. All grapes are grown organically. The vines are between 25 and 100 years old. The soil consists of a thin layer of small limestone, weathered limestone, clayey soil and terra rossa (a well-drained, reddish, clayey to silty soil), which is underlain by limestone. The grapes are picked and sorted by hand. After very careful selections in both the vineyards and the winery, the grapes are destemmed. Then the grapes are crushed and their grape mass, which consists of crushed grapes and grape juice, is cold macerated in stainless steel tanks, which hold 5,000 litters, and Croatian oak barrels, new or up to 3 years old, which hold 225 liters. Directly after the maceration, fermentation begins under a controlled temperature of around 26 degrees. The fermentation time is between 25 and 30 days. Only the natural yeast, which comes from vineyards, is used. Then the grape mass is gently pressed, and the wine is moved to Croatian 225 litters new and old oak barrels, where it undergoes malolactic fermentation and is aged for a period of 24 months. Finally, the wine is bottled, without filtration and without clarification, and aged for another 6 months before being released on the market. Vinarija Dingac Dingac 2018 is very good to drink now, but it can also be aged for at least 10 more years i.e. until at least 2033.
