Cristaldi’s Top 100 Wines of 2025 Is Almost 20% Texas
- andychalk
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
by Andrew Chalk
Jonathan Cristaldi, USA wine correspondent for Decanter magazine, began his own blog this year and just released his list of Top 100 Wines of 2025. Be aware that the list excludes Napa, where Decanter Magazine has first claim on his writing, but represents everything else: California, Oregon. Washington, Virginia, New York, elsewhere, and Texas!
To put the results in context, he remarks “But wow, there is an incredible number of American wines outside of Napa from all around the U.S. that are seeing a quality revolution like no other time in American wine history.”
Unlike The Wine Advocate and The Wine Spectator, his philosophy on selection is “I sincerely encourage you to venture outside your comfort zone and seek some of them out. ”
Major points
Texas placed 18 wines on the list, just under 20% of the total. For a state that makes less than 1% of US wine output that is a stunning result.
The top wine was William Chris ‘Press Vineyard’ Tannat which not only scored 98/100 but placed second on the national list of 100 wines.
John Rivenburgh, who has taught winemaking to a lot of the other winemakers on the list, came second, also with a Tannat. The 2017 Kerrville Hills Winery Rustic Spur Vineyard, Tannat
Newcomers come third and fourth.
Dan McLaughlin’s 2024 Robert Clay Vineyards Chardonnay that scored highly in Jim Suckling’s report came third with 96/100.
Also with 96/100, Bill Blackmon’s 2021 Blackmon Cabernet Sauvignon, came fourth
I could go down the list describing each wine as virtually all of them has a story behind it. Best to reproduce it and let you drink.
Below, with the help of AI, the Texas wines extracted from the list complete with their rankings in the full list of 100.
To buy most of these go to the winery web site. Some are distributed and may be available in your favorite wine store.
Based on the rankings from Cristaldi & Co, here are the Texas wines that earned a spot in the Top 100 Wines of 2025:
Rank | Score | Wine |
2 | 98 | 2023 William Chris Vineyards Vintage Press Vineyard, Tannat |
13 | 96 | 2017 Kerrville Hills Winery Rustic Spur Vineyard, Tannat |
21 | 96 | 2024 Robert Clay Vineyards Chardonnay |
33 | 96 | 2021 Blackmon Cabernet Sauvignon |
38 | 96 | 2021 Texas Heritage Vineyard Estate Souzao |
39 | 96 | 2024 Uplift Uplift Vineyard, Grenache |
40 | 96 | 2023 William Chris Vineyards Hye Estate Vineyard, Tannat |
53 | 95 | 2022 Augusta Vin Petite Sirah |
59 | 95 | 2020 Inwood Estates Vineyards Colos |
60 | 95 | 2021 Kalasi Cellars Narra Vineyards, Red Wine |
61 | 95 | 2022 Lost Draw Wines Uplift Cuvee |
77 | 94 | 2021 Calais Winery La Cuvée de L'Exposition Cabernet Sauvignon |
80 | 94 | 2023 Elisa Christopher Wines Méthode Traditionnelle Pinot Noir Sparkling |
85 | 94 | 2021 Slate Theory Winery Estate Tempranillo |
90 | 94 | 2020 Ron Yates Friesen Vineyards, Tempranillo |
91 | 94 | 2017 Benmar Le Champ Extra Brut Sparkling Wine |
94 | 94 | 2020 Becker Vineyards Chardonnay Reserve |
100 | 92 | 2021 Texas Wine Collective GSM |