The JamesSuckling.com ‘Surprise Wines’ of 2021

Out of the more than 25,000 wines the JamesSuckling.com Tasting Team rated during 2021, there were several stunners, many standouts, much excellence and more than a few misses. You can read all about our highest-rated bottles from the year in Our Top 100 Wines of 2021 report, and also choose your own favorites from each country by catching up on our Top 100 reports from France, Spain, Argentina, the USA, Italy, Australia and more.

But let's bring on the surprises: the following wines, chosen by the crack team at JamesSuckling.com, were the ones that struck a chord during our tastings. Whether for their shocking uniqueness, brooding intensity, fascinating provenance or quirky character, they appealed to each of our tasters in different ways, based on their own inimitable styles and depth of wine experience. You can click on the links for each wine to read the tasting notes (or see below), and then decide for yourself whether any or all would be good additions to your own wine list.

A SINGULAR BOJO

My wife, Marie, and I love drinking Beaujolais. Ever since we went together to the region in 2017, we keep an eye out for new and exciting Bojos. We really appreciate the stark reality of the countryside of the best regions of Beaujolais, like Morgon or Moulin-a-Vent, especially the old vines. We also like the freshness and fruitiness of the wines from the best cru Beaujolais and we like them even better with a touch of structure to the purity. You probably already know the jewels such as crus Beaujolais from Thivin, Jean Foillard and Marcel Lapierre, but we came across great bottlings from Mee Godard, particularly the fabulous 2019 vintage. This was our surprise in 2021. We love her 2019 Domaine Mee Godard Morgon Côte du Py. We drink it all the time.

Marie and I adore the density and tension of the Mee Godard Bojos, which have almost a Cote d’Or sensibility, with their firmness and length. Her 2019 Cote du Py has such a wonderful combination of dark berries and black earth with bark and fresh mushrooms. But it’s obviously gamay and not pinot. I haven’t visited her domain but it’s one place I plan to go when we can travel to France after the pandemic.

We are also interested in meeting Mee herself, who is originally from South Korea but was adopted when she was nine months old by a family in Dijon. Marie is also Korean, so she’s very proud of Mee’s accomplishments in winemaking. It’s also cool that she studied at Oregon State University and obtained a winemaking degree from the University of Montpellier in France.

– James Suckling, Chairman/Editor

ELEGANCE FROM ETNA ROSSO

I’ll never forget my first taste of Etna Rosso. It was from Tenuta delle Terre Nere and landed in my glass on a rainy day in October 2005 at Trattoria Stella in Traverse City, Michigan. It was so aromatic and tense with a minerality rare among Mediterranean reds. Since then that’s what I’ve expected from Sicily’s most exciting red wine category, but great elegance and finesse? Not really.

Then came one of those moments of revelation that make our work inspiring. In August 2021 I was at James Suckling’s house in Tuscany with Jo Cooke, where we tasted in the wine cellar to escape the 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) heat. I picked up the next glass and was instantly enveloped by the wine’s breathtaking perfume. On the palate it was incredibly concentrated, but also amazingly refined. And then I saw it was from Benanti, a producer whose reputation is for austerely firm wines: the Benanti Etna Rosso Serra Della Contessa Particella No. 587 Alberello Centenario Reserva 2015.

Time to update our expectations of Etna Rosso!

– Stuart Pigott, Senior Editor

STEELY CHENIN

When made well, chenin blanc can be stunning, with classic and age-worthy examples from its heartland in France’s Loire Valley. I remember the moment I first truly appreciated the grape while tasting a Saumur Brézé from Guiberteau.

But a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of discovering David & Nadia’s chenin blancs from South Africa. Many of the best wines from the country that we tasted this year were whites from chenin blanc, or “steen,” as it locally known. It’s probably the most exciting grape from the country, particularly from Swartland. And the steely minerality and focus of David & Nadia’s chenins blew me away.

Their regular chenin blanc showed excellent complexity, from yellow and green fruit to aromas of beeswax and sea urchin, but their single-vineyard wines are on the next level. Out of the three we tasted, I was most impressed by David & Nadia Chenin Blanc Swartland Skaliekap Single Vineyard Wine 2020 – a compact, tightly wound white with fantastic flavor concentration and a surprisingly delicious and dry finish. I was struck by the structure and focus of the wine.

It’s clear that the wines have great potential to age, and it would be interesting to taste it again in a decade or two.

– Claire Nesbitt, Associate Editor

A DUNKELFELDER RINGS THE BELL

Have you ever tried a dunkelfelder? How about a dunkelfelder from China?

You might wonder: Why ask? Isn’t China all about cabernet sauvignon and marselan now? After all, the country’s modern wine hub, Ningxia, has no shortage of rich cab savs and flattering marselans delivered in packages of generous fruit, sweet tannins and high alcohol.

Occasionally, though, a high-quality outlier pops up, like the Petit Mont Dunkelfelder Ningxia Helan Mountain 寸山紫大夫干红葡萄酒 2020. It is probably China’s first varietal dunkelfelder, and it’s one of the most exciting wines I tasted during the year.

For me, wine tasting can be an intimate experience – something like a speechless conversation, in which you first learn about the wine through your eyes and nose, then swirl it on the palate, then suddenly it might ring a bell. And this oak-free dunkelfelder certainly has rung that bell for me and enlightened me as to Ningxia’s possibilities, with its brooding purple color, plump yet succulent fruit and floral lift – an intrinsic and authentic expression that highlights Ningxia’s freshness and drinkability.

The creator of this wine, Ma Jie, who studied his craft at Hochschule Geisenheim University in Germany before returning to China, took the road that nobody has traveled before and decided to work with dunkelfelder, which had previously been used in China solely for blending purposes. His first bold attempt to make a varietal dunkelfelder from five-year-old vines in Ningxia has been a wonderful surprise and was a real standout in my China tastings this year. It is solid proof of why we should keep an eye on Ningxia, where young, dynamic winemakers are gearing up to make even more exciting and stylish wines.

– Zekun Shuai, Associate Editor

PEARL OF THE ATLANTIC

It's exciting to see the production of world-class wine surge in the United States now, beyond the West Coast. And I love examples that seem to shout "place," and transport you. Like the unabashedly "Atlantic" Sanctuary Vineyards Albariño North Carolina Pearl 2019, grown on struggling vines on ancient sand dunes at Sanctuary Vineyards in Currituck County in North Carolina's Outer Banks.

The name suits this blend of albariño (85 percent) and viognier. Complexity and personality can come from wine grown at the edge of Wine World, where producers may have to fight September hurricanes and wild winter storms, and won't always win.

But, when they do, you can get gems like this: intriguing aromas of ripe papaya, bergamot and a hint of white pepper. Then a minerally-driven palate that tacks citrusy, with a fresh saline taste extending well into the finish. There was just enough skin and lees contact to make things interesting for a few more years of development.

If you can't drink it in the Outer Banks, drink it anywhere, and close your eyes.

– William McIlhenny, Director

SUPERB SYRAH

 In my extensive tasting of Sonoma Coast wines this past autumn, the continued story was about the fantastic quality and style of the region’s pinot noir and chardonnay, and rightfully so. But when I sat down with Duncan Arnot Meyers and Nathan Roberts of Arnot-Roberts and was presented with their utterly fantastic Arnot-Roberts Sonoma Coast Que Syrah Vineyard 2019, I was stunned. This was one of the best syrahs I have ever tasted from California. It was superbly structured and elegant while remaining balanced in its complexity, and went on for minutes.

You could see the excitement on Meyers’ and Roberts’ faces as they explained how they now owned this vineyard outright and could happily call this an estate wine. Arnot-Roberts is making the story of Sonoma that much more complicated because while everyone is looking at pinot and chardonnay, their Que Syrah Vineyard is positing that there are more frontiers on the horizon for those who are looking in the right places.

– Nathan Slone, Associate Editor

WHEN TIME STOOD STILL

My top tasting surprises of 2021 took place during the summer, while reviewing amarones in a series of blind tastings.

Time stood still when tasting two wines: the perfect-scoring Romano Dal Forno Amarone della Valpolicella Monte Lodoletta 2015 and the 98-point Bertani Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2012.

It’s fair to say that I was overwhelmed by the depth and variety of the aromas. My nose was glued to the glass. Good amarone often offers a mix of dried and fresh fruit and spice. But, between them, these two wines packed an almost wild procession of complex aromas, ranging from bitter-orange liqueur to dried banana!

Your brain plays funny games with you when you’re tasting blind. Try as you might, there’s no way you can stop it whirling, playing “Spot the Wine."

But when you finally take the wine out of the bag, in 99 percent of cases you’ll find your gray matter was way off the mark.

But here was another surprise. My brain spotted both wines correctly! OK, any amarone-friendly brain should have no problem there, you might say. Both the Dal Forno and the Bertani are pretty unique. Even so, if you taste blind regularly, you will understand my joy and surprise.

– Jo Cooke, Tasting Editor

A KEPOS KEEPER

While we regularly taste Tuscan wines and uncover great merlot-based or cabernet franc offerings, it’s rare when we taste a wine with the profile of the Ampeleia Toscana Kepos 2019.

When tasting blind, a great wine can come in any form and from anywhere, so we always stay alert glass after glass. But the Kepos 2019 shined through with its harmony and approchable character. Its blend of alicante nero, mourvedre and carignan provides a very Mediterranean/Southern Rhone/Languedoc-like profile that brings a pure and lively experience to the palate.

Ampeleia is a serious project from renowned winemaker Elisabetta Foradori, who transplanted the biodynamic winemaking processes of her family’s estate in Trentino to Tuscany, where she has partnered with Marco Tait in pursuing the same biodynamic philosophy, tailoring it to the Tuscan ecosystem

Kepos, or “garden” in Greek,  is the perfect representation of Ampeleia’s drive to offer wines with character and their own identity, and it was a pleasure discovering the Kepos 2019. I was able taste the 2016 and 2017 during dinners a few weeks after I tried the 2019, and they were equally satisfying. But fair warning – 2020 will be the last dance for Kepos, as it will no longer be made after that vintage.

– Kevin Davy, Tasting Coordinator

X-FACTOR SHIRAZ

I remember tasting this wine back in September and it stopped me in my tracks: the Bondar Shiraz McLaren Vale Midnight Hour 2020 sets a new course for shiraz in McLaren Vale, the region in which I set up my new tasting room and headquarters earlier this year.

It is a place that easily hits the mark of smoothly drinkable shiraz and is perhaps just a little too simple too often. But Andre Bondar’s star is rising, and he has unlocked a new style here with depth, richness, complexity, freshness and a velvety mouthfeel. There’s an X-factor to the texture and such plush, deep and resolved style.

We’ve seen this modern twist in the Barossa with producers like Sami-Odi and Standish, but Bondar has found that groove for McLaren Vale. It's certainly one to watch.

–Nick Stock, Contributing Editor