So much great wine is being made around the world right now that it’s hard to narrow our favorites, but after reviewing more than 45,000 wines over the past 12 months we have done just that with our JamesSuckling.com Top 100 World Wines 2025. And it’s no surprise that the exceptional 2022 vintage in Bordeaux also gave us our Wine of the Year!

A decade ago, China’s reputation for fine wine was tentative at best; now its leading producers are releasing bottles that stand comfortably alongside established global benchmarks. Nothing shows this more clearly than our Chinese Wine of the Year.

Sometimes I feel like a character from James Hilton’s Lost Horizon when I visit some of the best wine producers in New Zealand. But it’s not about finding Shangri-La – it’s about discovering remarkable wines from pristine vineyards farmed organically and regeneratively, producing wines of striking precision and refinement.

Standing out amid a wave of new-generation wines, the top spot for our Top 100 Wines of South Africa 2025 goes to a legendary dessert wine that was a favorite of former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson and still defines excellence in the 21st century: the Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2022.

Our German Wine of the Year for 2025, the off-dry Dönnhoff Riesling Nahe Hermannshöhle Spätlese 2024, is reflective not only of the growing complexity found in German wines but also their eminent affordability.