One of Just Fine Wine’s goals is to provide you with the opportunity to make the very best handcrafted wines available on the market. This is why we exclusively use Winexpert products and offer you a 100% satisfaction guarantee on every Winexpert wine kit made on-premise. With over one hundred varietals to choose from, we always look forward to finding out which of these wines you, our loyal and supportive clients, have enjoyed the most over the course of the last calendar year. The totals are in and so without further delay, here are your top ten wines of 2016*:
| Wine | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
Times In Top 10 ** |
| Vintners Reserve Riesling | T10 | – | – | T10 | – | – | 2 |
| Selection California Gewürztraminer | T10 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 |
| World Vineyard California Trinity Red | 9 | – | 10 | – | – | – | 2 |
| Selection California Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 8 |
| World Vineyard Chilean Malbec | 7 | 8 | – | – | – | – | 2 |
| Vintners Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon | 6 | 5 | – | – | – | – | 2 |
| Selection Chilean Malbec | 5 | 6 | – | 8 | – | – | 3 |
| Selection Luna Rossa | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Selection Italian Pinot Grigio | 3 | T3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| World Vineyard Italian Pinot Grigio | 2 | T3 | T5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 8 |
| Eclipse Napa Valley Stag’s Leap District Merlot | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
*Wines are listed in descending order with the previous years’ rankings included.
**Total Number of Appearances in the Top Ten Since tracking was started in 2009 (the maximum number of appearances is 8)
“-” Not Ranked That Year
“T10” Tied for Tenth
Points of Interest:
- The top four most popular wines have remained relatively unchanged (with a few exceptions) since we started tracking in 2009. Last year saw the stalwart top 5, Eclipse Italian Piedmont Nebbiolo (Barolo), drop right out of the top ten most likely impacted by the incredible popularity of Eclipse Forza from Veneto Italy, which no doubt took some of Barolo’s loyal customers away. This year’s limited release Eclipse, Bravado from Tuscany, Italy also fared extremely well while at the same time likely taking some popularity away from Eclipse Lodi Ranch 11 Cabernet Sauvignon and Eclipse Italian Piedmont Nebbiolo (Barolo).
- Speaking of Bravado, this limited offering wine made a serious run at our top ten this year in just 6 months time (it was released in July). This was the same situation we had with Forza last year. Had sales held constant for a full year, Eclipse Bravado would have placed 3rd on this list. Incredible performance from a brand new, short-run wine.
- Repeating last year’s numbers, reds hold the edge over whites with a score of 7 to 4.
- Eclipse Napa Valley Stags Leap Merlot owns this list year after year. This magnificent wine outsells the next closest wine by almost a two to one margin! However, if you combine the 4-5 week and 6-8 Pinot Grigios, this proves to be the most popular style of wine overall. This is also the trend commercially as Pinot Grigio was the most popular style of wine sold in BC last year.
- Overall, we did not observe much change in the Top Ten this year. There is only one debuting wine on this year’s list and two returnees. World Vineyard California Trinity Red and Vintners Reserve Riesling are back after missing out on the list for the last year and the last two years respectively. Selection California Gewürztraminer is making its premiere in the Top Ten.
- Much like the commercial wine industry, Malbecs have become a force to be reckoned with and are sure to be mainstays in the Top Ten for years to come.
- Falling off the list this time round are: Selection Australian Traminer Riesling; Eclipse New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc; and World Vineyard Chilean Merlot. All three remain well-liked and hovering just outside the cutoff for this year’s list. Not surprising considering the popularity of comparable wines: Hardy’s Stamp of Australia Riesling Gewurztraminer, Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc, and the popularity of merlots in general.
- Other wines that made a serious run at contention include: Vintners Reserve Pinot Noir; World Vineyard French Sauvignon Blanc; and Selection Australian Shiraz which was a top 5 wine back in 2009.
With over 100 varieties, Winexpert has no shortage of top quality wines to make and it’s a sizeable task to try them all. Our facebook page is a great place to connect with fellow wine lovers who may want to swap a few bottles or even start a new winemaking partnership/group to share a batch of something new.
