Which Is The Best Wine in the World?

How to Find The Best Wine in the World?

Is there a ‘best’ wine in the world? To answer this question, you first need to know what ‘best’ means exactly and then get familiar with some best wines in the world. This article will explore these topics in depth. The chapters in this article include:

The unintelligible language of wine
Is there a ‘best wine’ in the world?
The search for the best wine
The list of the top wine-producing countries
Is there a ‘best’ wine in the world after all?

The unintelligible language of wine

“Oui. Un Chateuax Haut Brion. C’est Magnifique!”

“Oui. Je suis d’accord”

“How about a California Cabernet Sauvignon after the meal?”

“Yes. A Nik Pegasus would be good. I have heard it is bold and tangy” he said with a strong French accent.

They had been talking about different types of wine and what to order for the past twenty minutes or so and he was getting bored by now. The mixture of French and English they used was intolerable for him too. Besides the language, which sounded gibberish to him, he was all at sea when it came to wine and its terminology; he never understood all those strange weird names constantly repeated by those so-called wine connoisseurs. All he always cared about was red wine, of any type, and that was all; Red wine that he could sip at and drown himself in his thoughts in the meantime.

Mike wobbled in his chair to send the signal that he was bored but they took no notice of him and went on. “Agh these French people,” he thought and sighed in response. He was in Paris with a friend for a business deal and it was taking longer than he had expected. The lunch invitation came from one of the French guys and he was really reluctant to accept it but his friend talked him into it. He would have as well stayed in the hotel and enjoyed a drink in the comfort of his room, but business was business as his friend had reminded him; so he came and now he was stuck in a luxurious French restaurant with some people who sounded like they came from Mars.

The waiter eventually arrived to take the orders and Mike’s face shone with happiness. The tall and thin waiter took the orders and they gave their orders with the same language Mike hated. He just looked at them and never thought his turn would arrive as well. He was still studying the faces and the unintelligible words that came out of their mouths when the waiter asked him to give his order as well. He looked up and saw the waiter looking down at him with a smile, his slender hand holding a small notebook ready to write the order onto.

“Red wine” he said in a rush. The waiter’s face changed with an expression that was unknown to him and then sudden loud laughter broke out around the table disturbing the silence of the quiet dining hall.

“Un Chateaux Mouton Rothschild pour lui s’il vous plait” said his friend to the waiter. The waiter then bowed and left. Mike’s face was red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment and he just gave a hysteric smile to the still-smiling faces around the table.

Is there a ‘best wine’ in the world?

If not impossible, it would be extremely difficult to pick out one type of wine and label it as ‘the best wine in the world’! It would be the case with any other merchandise too; take shoes, gadgets, or any other item for instance. The word “the best” is very tricky in fact. The moment any type of phenomenon develops to encompass several features, it is not easy to label it with any kind of ‘best’ or ‘the most’ adjective; and if you insist, then the first question would be “the best in what?”; the best in quality, the best regarding price and quality, the best in what exactly?

Such is the case with wine as well; there are thousands of types of wine around the globe and each has some unique features. Ask any wine-drinker and be sure to receive as many answers as almost the number of people you ask. The reason is of course understandable and can be summarized in one word: “Taste”. People have various tastes and that’s why so many types of different foods and drinks exist in fact. Couple this with the fact that as you master your taste in wine, you come to be more sensitive to subtle tastes, hence a slightly differently-geared tendency from other drinkers, and you will realize how many taste types could exist. A mastered taste can feel the different notes existent in the wine they are drinking one by one and will therefore naturally have a versatile tasting ability. So likewise, it is not surprising to see wine drinkers who will actually have several favorites or several ‘bests’ for that matter.

Besides, another fact that contributes to the diversity of wine and its connoisseurs, and therefore making it hard to label a wine as ‘best’, is its origins. Various origins create various drinkers with diverse tastes and various favorites. There are many countries in the wine market and each of them has its own popular wines that appeal to various groups of wine-lovers. French wine has its own fans, which many believe outnumber any other group of wine fans. France is after all the most famous wine-producing country and it has way more vineyards and wineries than most other countries in the world and therefore has its own fanatical advocates. There are also those who will go for California wine with its famous Cabernet Sauvignon red wine. Let’s not forget Italian wine either; Italy is the only country in competition with France in producing wine and has some of the world’s most popular wines. Italians are so prejudiced about their wine too and do not approve of internationally popular wines; they regard their own wines more prestigious than many other types of wine all around the globe. There are also other countries that produce wine and surprisingly, their wines have their own fans and are highly popular too. Countries like Spain, Argentina, and Chile; even Germany has its own wine! Can you believe it? Maybe you do, but I was taken aback when I first heard that this country is famous for its white wine; they are said to have powerful aromas.

The search for the best wine

In our search for the best wine, one way would be to look for favorites and popular varieties around the world whereas another path would be to look for origins and the popular varieties produced in these places; and that is what we are exactly going to do in the chapters that follow. I will enlist what happens to be the list of top countries that produce the most popular wines around the globe along with the varietals they are home to. To enrich the list, some famous brands will be introduced alongside as well, specifically those of France, Italy, and the U.S. But still, remember that this list does not mean that these varieties are absolutely the best wines in the world; but more, the list just gives you an idea about what popular varieties of wine exist internationally and at the same time provides you with some names that can help you remember what to look for when you want to try wine from a different region.

The list of the top wine-producing countries

Let’s start with the top countries in producing wine. The top ten countries famous for producing wine are:

France
Italy
Spain
The U.S
Argentina
Australia
Germany
South Africa
Chile
Portugal

On top of this list, the three major countries that have the biggest number of vineyards and wineries in the world are France, Italy, and Spain. France alone produces around 7 to 8 billion wine bottles every year; that’s a lot of wine, right?

France: as the most famous country in the wine world, France is in close competition with Italy and Spain. However, there has been a decline in the number of wineries in these three countries in the past years.

Hundreds of varietal wines and mixed-varietal wines are produced in France every year with some of the most famous being Merlot, Grenache, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Sauvignon Blanc.

Besides, remember that Bordeaux is the most famous area in France regarding wine production and it is believed to have the most popular red varieties in the world. If you are looking for a Bordeaux wine, it is best to try the Chateau Series, that is, the wines that have Chateau in their names.

Some very popular wines include:

Italy: it is hard to say which of these two countries produces more wine, but Italy is considered second to France in wine production. Italy boasts some 500 local wine varieties. Like France, this country has been cutting down on the number of its vineyards as well.

Italy is famous for its Sangiovese, Montepulciano, and Trebbiano.

Chianti Classico, which is a famous national wine in Italy, has Sangiovese as its main grape variety.

Nebiolo is another Italian wine, which is produced in the Piedmont region, a famous wine-producing area in this country.

Spain: still on top of the list, Spain enjoys the biggest area of vineyards in the world. However, its production is much lower than in France and Italy.

These varietals are some of the most famous in this country; Tempranillo, Airén. Garnacha, and Bobal.

The United States: almost 90% of the wine in the U.S comes from California, and it is home to the largest wine producer in the world; that is, Gallo, in Modesto, C.A. Nik Pegasus wines are also produced in Paso Robles, California.

California is famous for various grape varieties and their wines, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and Sauvignon Blanc.

Needless to say, California is known for its Cabernet Sauvignon wine, which is believed to be one of the finest in the world.

The two main wine-producing areas in California are Napa Valley and Sonoma, with the former being famous for producing the best Cabernet Sauvignon in the United States and the latter being famous for its Chardonnays.

Argentina: Argentina is increasing its production every year and it has a growing export industry as well.

Major grape varieties in Argentina are Malbec, Bonarda, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Australia: Australia also relies heavily on wine export as income with most of its exporting focus shifted on Asian countries recently.

Syrah is a very popular variety in Australia.

Germany: this industrial country is also one of the largest wine producers in the world. In fact, Germany’s white wines are more famous, especially because of their aromatic nature.

Some famous varietals in this country are Riesling, Müller, and Thurgau.

South Africa: South Africa is well-known for its Chenin Blanc and its large-volume production of Brandy.

The famous varietals in this country include Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinotage.

Chile: Chile boasts its red Carmenere wine, which is also known as the “lost varietal of Bordeaux”.

This country produces wines based on Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Carmenere, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc.

Portugal: this country is well-known for its Port wine, which is a variety with high alcohol levels and is made up of several varietals.

Portugal is the country that produces Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Touriga Franca, Castelão, and Touriga Nacional varietals.

Is there a ‘best’ wine in the world after all?

This list was meant to include some of the most famous varieties of wine produced in some countries and it does not at all claim to contain all the famous varieties in each country. The list could as well go on forever. What was meant was for you to just have an idea of what to look for when you are going to choose a type of wine from any of these countries, or in case you travel to any of them. It was a very broad introduction to the different varieties of different regions.

Therefore, as you saw for yourself, and with so many varieties existent in the world, the idea of ‘the best wine’ happens to be somehow vague; it depends on numerous factors, with the ‘taste’ being the most important of them all.

So enjoy your wine-exploration journey and try to find your own ‘best’ in the meantime. Mine is definitely Nik Pegasus Cabernet Sauvignon so far!