The top 10 wines 2025 and the best wine 2025

The Top 10 Wines 2025 and The Best Wine 2025 (07-12-2025 by Nenad Jelisic)

This is the thirteenth year in a row that NJ Wines presents the year's 10 Best Wines and the year's Best Wine. During 2025, 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 year's 10 Best Wines and the year's Best Wine. 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 year's 10 Best Wines, three come from France, two from Croatia, two from Bosnia and Herzegovina, two from Portugal and one from Spain. This year, Croatia proved with the year's best wine and the year's third best wine that it belongs to one of the world's best wine-producing countries. Note that NJ Wines' wine tasting year always starts the first week of December of the previous year and ends the last week of November of the current year, i.e. for the wine tasting year 2025 it started the first week of December 2024 and ended the last week of November 2025. This year, seven wines got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points), in 2024, eight wines got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points), in 2023, 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 happy about the positive result, but NJ Wines does not believe that the global quality of wines has changed as much in a positive direction as the tasting results show. NJ Wines was just lucky to taste some of the world's best wines in 2025.

The Top 10 Wines 2025

1. Enjingi, Venje, Bijelo, 2010, white dry blend wine, Kutjevo, Slavonia, Croatia, 5,0 of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points)

2. Tolj, Trnjak, Prozračac, 2019, red dry wine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 5,0 of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points)

3. Vinarija Dingač, Dingač, 2019, red dry wine, Pelješac, Central and South Dalmatia, Dalmatia, Croatia, 5,0 of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points)

4. Tamaral, Vendimia Seleccionada, 2022, red dry blend wine, Ribera del Duero, Castile and León, Spain, 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points)

5. Vinogradi Nuić, Trnjak, 2020, red dry wine, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 5,0 of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points)

6. Churchill's, Late Bottled Vintage, 2019, port wine, Porto, Douro, Portugal, 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points)

7. Churchill's, Dry White Port, NV, port wine, Porto, Douro, Portugal, 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points)

8. Château Canon la Gaffeliere, 2015, red dry blend wine, Saint Émilion, Libournais, Bordeaux, France, 4,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP (95 points of 100 points)

9. Château Pichon Longueville Baron, 2019, red dry blend wine, Pauillac, Haut-Médoc, Médoc, Bordeaux, France, 4,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP (95 points of 100 points)

10. Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte, 2018, red dry blend wine, Pessac-Léognan, Graves, Bordeaux, France, 4,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP (95 points of 100 points)

The Best Wine 2025

Enjingi, Venje, Bijelo, 2010 (approx. 18 EUR/21 USD; selling price on the internet excluding delivery costs) white dry blend wine, Kutjevo, Slavonia, Croatia, 5,0 of 5,0 NJP (100 points of 100 points)

That a white wine can be so complex and concentrated and have such a good tannin structure is absolutely incredible. Unlike the 2006 vintage, this fabulous vintage, and the same applies to the 2008 vintage, is considerably more tannin rich, but still very complex, concentrated and aroma rich and flavour rich. Anyone who knows a little about white wines knows that the vast majority of white wines should be drunk young, i.e. 1 to 3 years old, but this rule does not apply to Enjingis Venje. The wine is already 15 years old, but shows no signs of such age, on the contrary, it has a brilliant tartaric acidity, a brilliant tannin structure, a really good concentration and a really good complexity. In addition, the wine never stops growing/developing in the glass. The aroma is large, complex, concentrated, floral, fruity, creamy, spicy, and feels almost a little perfumed. In the aroma one finds dried figs, dried dates, white flowers, vanilla, cardamom, bay leaves, raisins, honey, yellow apples, yellow pears, apricot and freshly baked brioche. The flavour is big, complex, concentrated, bitter, very dry, fresh and mineral. In the flavour one finds minerals, grapefruit, lime, orange peel, sweet spices, yellow apples, dried fruits, honey, apricot and yellow pears. The wine's bitter, very dry, flavourful and fresh aftertaste stays in the mouth forever. Thanks to the brilliant tartaric acidity and the brilliant tannin structure, Enjingi Venje Bijelo 2010 has a very good aging potential. It can be aged for at least 20 years, i.e. until at least 2045. During these 20 years, the wine will slowly develop into an absolutely fabulous wine. This can be confirmed by Enjingi's first Venje, Venje from the 1998 vintage, which is now 27 years old, but is still alive, fresh and fabulous.

Thanks to its freshness, dryness, complexity, bitterness and tannins, Enjingi Venje Bijelo 2010 will go really well with almost any food. Here are some suggestions: chicken soup, grilled salmon with white wine sauce and boiled baby potatoes or buttery mashed potatoes, butter-fried cod fillet with hollandaise sauce and boiled baby potatoes or buttery mashed potatoes, grilled corn chicken or grilled pork chops or grilled lamb chops with grilled red peppers, grilled tomatoes, grilled zucchini, potato croquettes and bearnaise sauce, Bouillabaisse, Crawfish Etouffee, cold smoked salmon with crème bonjour horseradish and dill-fried baby potatoes, toast Skagen and oven-roasted turkey with cherry sauce and roasted root vegetables and foie gras with oven-baked baguette filled with butter and pressed garlic. As can be seen from the previously described dishes, food combinations with Enjingi Venje Bijelo 2010 are almost endless. This brilliant wine should be enjoyed at 8 to 10°C, as an aperitif or wine to hang out with friends or as a wine with food, from large Burgundy glasses, if possible, from Orrefors, Spiegelau or Riedel.

Venje always consists of these five grapes: 20% Gewurztraminer, 20% Pinot Gris, 20% Riesling, 20% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Welschriesling. All these five grapes always come from the best appellation in the Kutjevo wine region, the appellation Venje. The grapes, which are all organically grown, come from vines that are between 30 and 50 years old. The soil on which the grapes grow consists of an approximately 30 cm thick layer, consisting of small stones and clayey soil, which is underlain by weathered magmatic rock. The grapes are picked and sorted by hand. After very careful selections in both the vineyards and the winery, the grapes are fermented individually under a controlled temperature between 15 and 20°C in 2,500 to 5,000 litres stainless steel tanks. Temperature regulation is done with the help of cold water. Only the natural yeast, which comes from the vineyards, is used. After the fermentation, the wines are blended together and aged for at least 18 months in 225 litres new oak barrels (barrique) from Slavonia in Croatia, and then for at least 12 more months in stainless steel tanks. After the aging, the wine is bottled, without filtration, and aged for at least 12 more months before being released on the market. The wine is only produced in exceptional years. This vintage is the latest. Before it, the wine was produced in 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2008. The quantities are very limited. In 2004, Enjingi Venje Bijelo 1998 got both the gold medal as the best white dry blend wine for all Central and Eastern Europe and the International Trophy as the world's best white dry blend wine from the prestigious wine magazine Decanter and its Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA). NJ Wines is convinced that if Enjingi would send Enjingi Venje Bijelo 2010 to DWWA, it would be chosen again as one of the world's best white wines.

Enjingi's wines can be ordered on the Croatian website Vinoljubac.