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52 Wines to Try Before You Die
One great wine a week for a year. What a year.
There are more wines in the world than any of us will ever have time to drink. Bucket List Wine is my attempt to make the bottles count: wines with history, meaning, pedigree, or simply a story worth opening a bottle for.
Some are expensive. Plenty aren't. This isn't a ranking of the world's fanciest labels. It's a list of 52 wines I think every curious wine lover should experience at least once.
Explore by wine style
Start with what you already love — or pick something completely different.
Red Wines
17 reds, from First Growth Bordeaux and Burgundy to Barolo, Etna Rosso and Beaujolais.
Explore the best red wines →White Wines
16 whites spanning Chablis, Sancerre, Mosel Riesling, Assyrtiko, Albariño and more.
Explore the best white wines →Sparkling Wines
Five very different reasons to drink bubbles, from prestige Champagne to Lambrusco.
Explore the best sparkling wines →Pink Wines
Three rosés that take pink wine from the swimming pool to the dinner table and cellar.
Explore the best pink wines →Sweet Wines
Five magnificent wines involving frost, noble rot, dried grapes, history and occasionally Napoleon.
Explore the best sweet wines →Fortified Wines
Six historic styles including Madeira, Port and some of the greatest Sherries in the world.
Explore the best fortified wines →The 52 Wines to Try Before You Die
Pick one. Find a good bottle. Drink it. Then come back for another.
Red Wines (17)
- First Growth Bordeaux
- Penfolds Grange
- Rioja Gran Reserva
- Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
- Red Burgundy
- Northern Rhône Syrah
- Châteauneuf-du-Pape
- Beaujolais
- Mendoza Malbec
- Chilean Carménère
- Californian Zinfandel
- Ancestor Vine Grenache (Barossa)
- Chianti
- Amarone della Valpolicella
- Barolo
- Etna Rosso
- Super Tuscan
White Wines (16)
Sparkling Wines (5)
Pink Wines (3)
Sweet Wines (5)
Why 52?
Len Evans once worked out roughly how many bottles he had left to drink in his lifetime and reached a fairly sensible conclusion: he couldn't afford to waste them.
That's the spirit behind Bucket List Wine. None of us has unlimited bottles left. Drink wines that are memorable. Drink wines that teach you something. Drink wines with a story.
Life is short, drink better.