I spent $700 on five 100 Point Wines - was it worth it_

The best of the best, simply perfect, pure perfection, that's how wines are being described, that received a perfect 100 point score from one of the leading critics. When the 100 point scale was first introduced by Robert Parker roughly 50 years ago, scoring wine was still frowned upon. However, these scores had an impact and when the first wines received a perfect 100 point score, those scores really changed the market. The wines sold out quickly and cult wines became cult wines. Today we're tasting five wines that received a perfect 100 point score by one or several of the leading critics. So you could say I have 500 points of wine right in front of me here. So let's see what perfection really looks like. Let's go. Robert Parker once said that a 100 point score depends 90% on the tasting quality of the wine and 10% on pure emotion. So while many people seem to believe that rating wines follows a strict, maybe even scientific process, it also involves emotions, personal preference, and subjective taste. Just because these critics rated those wines 100 points doesn't mean that I'm going to rate them 100 points. The only way to find out whether I also think that those wines are perfect is to pop those corks and taste the wines. Let's dive in. Wines with a 100 point score tend to be fairly expensive. I think we spent roughly 700 euros on buying all of the wines for this tasting. It's not just that the wines get this expensive because of that score. In many cases, they are already pretty expensive because wines that receive those very high scores tend to be, yeah, famous wines. Wines that everyone already knows and those wines tend to be pretty costly usually. However, the first one is actually a bit of an exception. This costs only 60 euros and it's the Huber Rietberg Riesling 2023 from Treisental in Austria. Markus Huber studied oenology at Kloster Neuburg and then took over the estate at the age of 20. He converted the estate to organic viticulture and they're also largely energy self-sufficient, which all sounds good, but let's focus on the wine now. The wine is a Riesling that comes from a steep, chalky, east-facing vineyard. They do skin contact for 12 months of the juice and after the fermentation they keep the wine for eight months on the lease in a large oak vessel. The wine received 100 points from James Suckling, but I think it was Stuart Pickett who rated it 100 points. There was a time when no dry Riesling ever received 100 points. That has changed fortunately. I think Riesling is one of the best grape varieties in the world, so if it's really, really good, why not rate it 100 points? Let me check what it says on James Suckling's website about this wine. Give this time in a big glass because what emerges is off the charts. A giant of elegance and finesse, a whole meadow of wildflowers and herbs, plus a refined citrus character of amalfi, lemons, limes and grapefruit. Super concentrated and pristine on the medium body palette. Incredible minerality and a caressing, almost endless finish from organically grown grapes from the side with iron-rich dolomite soil and easterly exposure. Vegan, drinkable now, but best from 2026. And it is 2026, so it should be best right now. What I'm not sure about is whether iron-rich dolomite soil is correct because I've found different information on the website of the winery. But anyways, let's dive into the glass. The wine looks good, the color is light golden, looks fine. I mean, you wouldn't be able to identify a 100 point wine just by looking at the glass and this looks like a white wine. Okay, the nose is definitely quite beautiful and really intense. I mean, it is beautiful, there is some lemon zest and definitely quite an intense flavor of that. There's also some wildness and funkiness going on, some yeasty notes coming through as well. And there's a little bit of kind of, yeah, I mean, the herbaceous character definitely is there. I think they wrote, what did they write? A giant of elegance and finesse, a whole meadow of wildflowers and herbs. Yeah, that's a nice picture. On the palette, this is intense and grippy. It has a beautiful acidity, nice texture. I mean, it feels a little bit soft on the front palette. This is not a major criticism, but I mean, if you want to get to 100 points, it should be perfect. And that's something that is not perfect, in my opinion. There's a little bit of saltiness there. The wine has a long, long length and the aroma is absolutely beautiful. I mean, this is a really complex, really grippy, really linear type of wine. But for me, this is definitely not a 100 point wine. I would rate this 95 points. I think it's still a really great value. I mean, it retails for around about 60 euros. And this type of quality for 60 euros, that's, that's, I mean, it's, it's kind of a bargain, right? And on top of that, you have that rating. So this is something you can then discuss with your friends around the table. So definitely worth buying a bottle like this. But yeah, for me, not 100 points, more 95 points. And that's, that's a great score already. But I did not give this a lot of time in glass. So maybe this is a wine that develops a lot over the next few hours and then becomes something really extraordinary. However, I don't think it's holding back right now. I think it's kind of showing what it has. And yeah, I rated 95 points based on that. The next wine is the 2023 Cloudburst Chardonnay from Margaret River in Australia. And if it looks like I'm holding a blank bottle here, it is basically a blank bottle. I mean, there's something kind of printed on here, but you can't really see it from a distance. But But yeah, I've confirmed this is definitely the right wine, not just a sample from someone else. The winery was founded by Will Berliner, who's not from Berlin, he's from the US, and he started the winery in the early 2000s. And he kind of does most of the things there by hand, the vineyards are found biodynamically, and the wine must be pretty good because it received 100 points from James Suckling and from decanter. They do what they call minimal intervention winemaking, they use indigenous yeast, and they try not to use many additives. The wine is fairly limited. This is bottle 3155 of 4888 bottles. And it kind of looks like the bottle number is painted on there by hand. But maybe it's a sophisticated printing method. On jamessuckling.com it says the following about this wine astonishing with all the hallmarks that make great Grand Cru Burgundy adored around the world expressive and ethereal aromas of lemon confit assorted nuts linoleum and beeswax with oyster shells honeysuckle toffee nori and flint. The unctuous refined palate has a fine line of acidity and a creamy mouth watering and long mouth feel. The intense never ending finish is driven by its mineral core world class class this is as close to perfection as one could achieve from this excellent vintage drink or hold screw cap. All right, I'm going to drink not hold. Let's go price wise. This is also in a different league than the previous one. This costs 180 euros. So yeah, I mean, that's one of those things. The same quality, jamessuckling rated both wines 100 points. But this is Chardonnay and therefore it's three times the price as the Riesling. That's just a fact. I mean, Riesling always comes way cheaper than comparable quality from this grape variety or other grape varieties as well. Riesling is just usually a bug. So let's look at that color. I mean, this is really golden. This is golden color. I didn't really find a lot of information on the winemaking. But I'm guessing this is fermented in oak and small barriques. This is also consistent with the color of the wine. This is definitely something you can tell from the color wines fermented in brick tend to be more golden in color. And this is nice. Yeah, this definitely has a beautiful complexity. There is caramel, there is lemon zest, there is kind of flavor that is smoky. There's a little bit of chocolate as well. So quite quite complex. There's definitely some sea breeze flavor coming through as well. They're calling it oyster shells and nori. Well, first of all, I don't really think that oyster shells smell like much. It's kind of the residue from the ocean, some of that seaweed and other kind of material that smells or that makes oyster shells smell. But, but yeah, it has kind of that salty air. The Yeah, the sea breeze flavor, basically, it also opens up nicely. So it gets a little bit more complex. And the oak flavor disappears after a couple of minutes in the glass. And now it just yeah, it just shows everything not just the the oak, it also shows the fruit and some of those other flavors that were hiding below the oak flavor. Yeah, it has great texture. I mean, there's this kind of saltiness that slight grippiness attacking your gums. There's moderate acidity, I wouldn't say the acidity is really sharp there. But there's some of that there as well. And there's a little bit of bitterness also coming through. So it's, it's a complex wine, both on the nose, but also on the palate. On the finish, the oak flavor also comes through more intense again. So there's a little bit of caramel and buttery notes as you kind of wait for the wine to disappear from your palate. More and more of that builds up in your mouth. So this is definitely a world class Chardonnay. But is it perfect? I don't think so. I mean, for me, it's missing acidity. It doesn't really have that vibrant, lively lift that makes great Chardonnay great. I think it has a lot of concentration. There's a lot of power. But there Yeah, I want some of that fresh lift to kick in on the finish. So I'm going to rate this 96 points. I think it's absolutely delicious, but not perfect. Not not for me, at least. The next one received 100 points by a few major critics, but it received a very high scores by all of the major critics. And this is the 2023 Chateau Montrose from Saint-Esteve in Bordeaux. This roughly costs as much as the previous two wines combined. It retails for 230 euros. And yeah, it's a super famous estate. And if a super famous estate produces a wine that is close to 100 points, usually the prices go up even more. I just came back from Bordeaux tasting the 2025 En Primeur wines. So the wines were still in barrel when I went there to taste them. This is 2023. So the campaign was two years ago. So it has recently been released. And yeah, let's let's see whether whether it's that good. Chateau Montrose was founded in 1815. And it was classified as a Deuxième Cru Classé, so a second growth in the 1855 classification. The wine is a cuvee of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% of Merlot, and 4% of Cabernet Franc. And it was aged for 18 months in barriques. And 60% of the barriques were new, the rest were like second year, third year. So I kind of use barriques. The ratings for this wine are quite interesting. Sattling gave it 100 points. Jeb Dunnock gave it 100 points. Jane Anson gave it 100 points. And Decanter gave it 98 points. And Robert Parker gave it 99 plus points. I think that's just such a cop out. I mean, either the wine is 100 points or it's 99 points. But 99 plus that's, I mean, that for me, that's ridiculous. And on top of that, the tasting note for the wine on robertparker.com is actually pretty amazing. Let me just check what they wrote just as it was from Beryl. The 2023 Montrose is one of the most compelling wines of the vintage unwinding in the glass with a brooding bouquet of cassis violets and burning ambers. I mean, that's that sounds like a like a 100 point wine. I have to correct myself. Jane Anson actually rated it 98 out of 100. And she writes a stunning wine just totally delivers on its own premier promise full of black chocolate, cocoa bean, graphite, crayon, soft and subtle, yet strict and intense. Also sounds pretty good. Jeb Dunnock writes one of the wines of the vintage the 2023 Chateau Montrose sports a vivid purple hue, as well as awesome characteristics of creme de cassis, fresh black currants, graphite crushed stone, tobacco and violets and he rated it 100 points. Let's dive in and see whether I like it as much. Definitely super dark color, bright violet with a black core towards the rim. There's a little bit of garnet. But yeah, it's it's an intense concentrated color. On the nose. There's definitely a lot of dark fruit, creme de cassis, black currants. There's also kind of this. Yeah, just darkness. I mean, there's some smokiness, some pepperiness coming through as well on the palate. This is super dense and concentrated. There's a lot of power there. Rippy, ripe tannins. A long, long finish. The acidity is there kind of shaping the wine giving it spine. But it's definitely not very acidic. It's more kind of on the rich and concentrated side. I mean, Bordeaux has fallen a little bit out of favor, but I think those wines can be just absolutely amazing. Of course, this is also really, really expensive. There are similar qualities at far lower prices coming out of Bordeaux as well. But this is pretty spectacular. And the thing is, this is fun now. But this will be so much better in a few decades. It is difficult to find any flaws in this wine. This is just so well-structured and just absolutely beautiful. So in that sense, it is actually perfect. I mean, there's nothing wrong there. There's nothing missing. There is not too much of anything. It's just balanced and beautiful. However, as Parker said, there's also an emotional component to rating a wine 100 points. And while this is technically perfect, I actually, I would like to have something that is kind of a little off, that just kind of gives me some more character. The way this wine is made, it's kind of streamlined, perfect, but not necessarily emotionally fulfilling. So I'm going to rate this 98 points. I think it's absolutely spectacular. And maybe in a few years, this will be a 100 point wine for me as well. But right now, it's a 98 point wine, which is pretty spectacular too, I guess. The next one is the 2018 Bibi Gretz Testa Matta Toscana IGT from Italy. And it received 100 points by Decanter. It received 100 points by Jane Anson. That's actually the 100 point score that I was referring to earlier. And it received 97 points by James Uckling. So who's right? Let's find out. The winery was founded in the early 2000s by Bibi Gretz, who is an artist that kind of decided that he wants to become a winemaker. And he brought in completely different routes, a different mindset to winemaking. So he just basically worked outside of the regulations and just made wine the way he wanted to make it. You know, the name Testa Matta, which means crazy head is a reference to that. Because yeah, it's just made. It's a different wine. It's a different approach. So it can be looked at as crazy. This is 100% Sangiovese. And it comes from old vines that are up to 80 years old. The grapes for this wine come from all over Tuscany, and they are fermented with indigenous yeast in open top barriques, so in small oak vessels. And after fermentation, the wine is transferred into a used barriques where it stays for another 24 months. Icanda writes, this is a great wine with scope and imagination that doesn't want to let you go. And Jane Anson writes, I love this when first tasting it in bottle, and it is totally living up to my expectations, the clarity of flavor, and the sense of energy ensures it just springs out of the glass ready to please and without the slightest hint of a dip throughout the mid palette. That's, let's see whether I can find a dip. So this is also the only wine so far that was aged a little bit. I mean, this is the 2018 vintage. So it's now eight years old. And you can see that in the color. I mean, it definitely has some pomegranates, some brick red color reflexes here in that wine. This is also a super Tuscan technically, but it's actually not made like many other super Tuscans are made. So this actually feels a little different. It stands out. It smells of ripe cherries, plums, there's a little bit of cinnamon, a little bit of kind of smoky notes as well. There's a little bit of vanilla coming through as well. On the palate, this is surprisingly lean and fresh. The tannins are grainy and grippy. The acidity is fairly there. I mean, Sangiovese does have acidity, but you definitely feel that freshness and that vibrancy on the palate. I think this is quite beautiful. I mean, this is a delicious wine, quite a lively and refreshing expression of Sangiovese with those kind of tertiary and aged flavors coming through as well. But I don't think I mean, for me, this is not even close to being 100 points where when I was like, the more rose kind of got close, but this, this for me is is not not not at the same I would rate this 95 points. I think this is really, really great. And I mean, when I say it's not even close to 100 points, five points difference is maybe close, you can consider that to be close. But for me, there's a big gap between 95 points and 100 points. And I think this wine doesn't quite bridge that gap. On top of that, I wonder whether this is actually going to age that much longer. I mean, I don't think it's past its peak. But I don't think this is a wine that you can put away in the cellar for decades, either. And I think for me, 100 point wine should be great when you taste it. But it should also be a wine with the potential to mature for decades and become better and better. And I don't see that here. I think this is kind of as good as it gets. And it will stay like this for another 10 years before it declines in quality. But that's just my opinion. So the last one of the tasting is the 2016 Clos de Pape Chateauneuf de Pape that received 100 points by Jeb Dunnack, who was the critic for Southern Rhone wines for Robert Parker for a long time, but now has his own publication. Well, Parker rated this 94 to 96 points. So there's a difference there. The winery is one of the historic estates of the region. The Avril family was involved in winemaking here for centuries. And they were also part of the push to make Chateauneuf de Pape an AOC. I think it was the first AOC in France. So it definitely is a region that has a very strong reputation that goes back a long time. And the Avril family, together with Clos de Pape, have kind of designed that reputation. Today, the winery is managed by Paul Vincent Avril, who, before coming back, worked in several different estates. Amongst them was Chateau Mouton Rothschild. So not a bad winery. I actually never noticed that on the label. But it says Les Avril Premier Consul et Trésorerie de Chateauneuf de Pape de 1756 à 1790. So this means that the Avril family was the consuls and the treasurers of Chateauneuf de Pape from 1756 to 1790. I don't know whether that has really anything to do with the wine. But it certainly showcases that the history of the family in conjunction with the region goes back a long, long time. The wine is fermented spontaneously in concrete tanks. Malolactic fermentation also takes place in concrete tanks. The wine is fined with egg white and the wine is aged in large oak footers. So they are not trying to bring in oak flavor into the wine. They just want to expose it to some oxygen. I remember tasting Chloé de Pape for the first time when I worked at Restaurant Patrick Ibo in Dublin. And yeah, I was just, I really loved that wine. It was just kind of so fragrant, different and concentrated and wild. And some of those aged Chloé de Pape, they really stuck with me. So yeah, definitely an estate that is near and dear to my heart. I definitely didn't do any 100 point cork shots in this video. But yeah, that's just sometimes the way it goes. I also didn't find any 100 point wines so far. So, well, but we're not done yet. So let's see. Purple color garnered reflexes towards the rim. This is 10 years old now. And those wines tend to be able to age for a long time. But it definitely should have some tertiary flavor by now. All right. So this bottle is a library release from Chloé de Pape. So it should have been stored in pretty perfect conditions. But it actually, yeah, it feels a little old. Not necessarily great. On the nose, there's a little bit of kind of stewed fruit character, dried prunes. This is a very ripe wine. I mean, it's 15.5% of alcohol. So it's definitely concentrated. There's also beautiful, like blackberry fruit flavor coming through and jammy notes, but really nicely managed. There's also a little bit of chocolate cacao powder flavor in the wine. On the palate, this is actually rich, broad and the tannins are grippy. And the finish is very long. But for me, this is a little too, a little chunky, a little too, too broad shouldered, you know, like a bodybuilder who's kind of taken a few too many pills and now can't really walk anymore. You know, because of that kind of oxidized dimension to it, I can't rate it this high. I wouldn't. I mean, it's not oxidized. It's not the one is not completely gone or bad. But it's just not not perfect. It would have been nicer if there was more freshness there. So I'm going to rate this 94 points. Unfortunately, this was a little bit disappointing. I mean, I really wanted one of those wines to blow my head off. But they just didn't. There was no 100 point wine in this lineup. The wine that got pretty close was this the Chateau Moros delicious, beautifully structured wine that just lacked a little bit of character. And I would probably recommend getting those two wines if you want to taste the one that received 100 points because they are just not as expensive. So the expectations might be a little lower. But that is also the thing. Maybe it's also a bit of a curse. If you make 100 point wine, everyone has expectations going up here. And if those expectations are not met, you lose as a winemaker, you lose as a sommelier serving this wine, you lose as a retailer selling that bottle. So yeah, 100 points can also be a bit of a curse. So thank you for watching. I hope you enjoyed this video more than I enjoyed spending this much money on wines that I didn't quite enjoy that much. But anyways, if you did, then please like it down here. Subscribe to my channel if you haven't done so already. My question of the day is, what is your biggest 100 point wine disappointment or just any wine disappointment? Let me know down below. But whatever you do, stay thirsty.