The last 12 months have seen people shopping online more than ever before. From boatloads of toilet paper and household supplies to electronics, clothes, and toys to food delivery services — it’s like suddenly Americans realized they could have everything they needed shipped straight to their doors with the click of a mouse. And in the name of social distancing, they went HAM.
Mixed in with all those essential items orders was plenty of wine.
The first few weeks of the pandemic saw online wine sales skyrocket, resulting in overall U.S. online wine sales increasing to three percent in 2020, compared to the 1 percent stake online wine sales had in 2019. That’s a 200% increase, for thise not into math. Among the many online wine shops to reap the benefits of this was Drizly, where the wine deliveries have been booming over the last 12 months.
This week, we asked the company for their top 10 best-selling wines over the past 12 months. To add a little nuance to the list, we’ve ranked them all and provided tasting notes for each. Because sometimes the masses are on point but sometimes (as we discovered) they’re a little too charmed by cool labels or what they’ve seen in stores.
10. Matua Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
ABV: 13%
Average Price: $15
Drizly Sales Rank: 10
The Wine:
The good folks at Matua like to create sauvignon blancs that showcase a complete expression of the many sub-regions within Marlborough, New Zealand, so this wine is comprised of grapes from over 60 vineyards across the area. The grapes are fermented in stainless steel with the winery’s “house-style yeasts,” then spend some time sitting on the lees (a process in which the wine sits with leftover yeast particles to aid in a wine’s texture and flavor) before the juice is blended and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
This wine smells like guava and pear drizzled in honey, but brace yourself — there’s nothing delicate about this sauvignon blanc. The sip is loaded with tongue-piercing acidity, so-crispy-its-almost-crunchy notes of fresh-cut grass, tart Granny Smith apples, sour lemon, and the faintest hint of honeydew. It’s definitely on the lighter side in terms of weight but features a finish that will coat your mouth with flavors of green and yellow everything long after you’re done.
Bottom Line:
This pale white wine’s sour-yet-mouthwatering pucker-factor will quench your thirst on those incredibly hot summer days but do yourself a favor a pair it with a rich, soft goat’s milk cheese to cool down all that acidity.
9. Apothic Red
ABV: 13.5%
Average Price: $12
Drizly Sales Rank: 7
The Wine:
This California red wine that you’ve likely seen time and time again on the shelves of wine shops, liquor stores, and grocery chains all across America is made with zinfandel, syrah, merlot, and cabernet sauvignon. It’s no wonder it ranked on Drizly’s top-selling wines list — this stuff is as easy to find as it is to drink.
Tasting Notes:
You’ll smell those dark fruit notes, rhubarb, and faint baking spices right away, and you’ll certainly notice them on the palate. This wine is a crescendo of blackberry, black cherry, blueberry, and plum that only intensifies with notes of mocha and vanilla that last throughout the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is an entry-level wine that has some depth and weight that you’ll feel in the sip, but overall it’s pretty juicy.
8. Meiomi Pinot Noir
ABV: 13.7%
Average Price: $20
Drizly Sales Rank: 8
The Wine:
You remember how Warrant was all: “Cool drink of water, such sweet surprise. Taste so good make a grown man cry. Sweet cherry pieeeeeeeee!”?
Well, that 1990s jam is what this wine is. Aged in French oak for six months, this pinot noir comes from grapes harvested in Monterey, Santa Barbara, and Sonoma, California.
Tasting Notes:
This wine smells like a bounty of cherries and strawberries, pie crust hot out the oven, and vanilla. Silky texture and bright, the juice stains the lips with sweet flavors of strawberry and coats the mouth with notes of cherry, raspberry, and blueberry preserves. There’s a hint of oak and a dash more vanilla in the lengthy and smooth finish.
Bottom Line:
If you enjoy sweeter, fruit-forward wine, this is the one for you. If you’re new to red wines and your palate is not yet prepared to fully appreciate the full-bodied, robust reds, this is a great starting point. After a few rounds of this one, you’ll be ready for something with a little more complexity.
7. Oyster Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
ABV: 13%
Average Price: $14
Drizly Sales Rank: 4
The Wine:
Drizly drinkers sure love their sauvignon blanc. But no one could blame them for their favoritism of Oyster Bay’s delectably light and dry, nearly clear white wine that is booming with zest and finesse.
Tasting Notes:
This wine smells of salty seashores and passionfruit. It’s brimming with notes of citrus, stone fruits, and lime zest but displays a tangy, crispy acidity that balances out all the fruit. The zippy finish is super refreshing and leaves the mouth feeling bright, wet, and in need of another glass.
Bottom Line:
This wine is the epitome of light and bright, and its balanced acidity and fruit ratio make it a good one for solo sipping or seafood pairing. With a name like Oyster Bay, it’s no big surprise that this wine works incredibly well with a plate of oysters dressed with lemon juice, horseradish, and a drop of tabasco!
6. La Marca Prosecco
ABV: 11%
Average Price: $15
Drizly Sales Rank: 1
The Wine:
Now here’s a lively little bubbly from Italy’s Prosecco capital, Treviso. It’s made with glera, a grape that is indigenous to Italy.
Tasting Notes:
This golden-straw-colored wine is racing with aromas of honeysuckle flowers and citrus fruits. The palate is crisp and clean featuring notes of green apple and lemon while a squeeze of fresh peach rounds out the wine’s mineral backbone. The bubbly is light from sip to finish with just the slightest touch of sweetness in the end.
Bottom Line:
Take your brunch from zero to 100 with this prosecco. It’s a bubbly that’s good enough to drink as a standalone but it’s definitely capable of delivering some splashy and tasty mimosas, blinis, and Aperol spritzers if you’re ‘bout dat brunch cocktail life.
5. Whispering Angel Rosé
ABV: 13.5%
Average Price: $21
Drizly Sales Rank: 5
The Wine:
When winemaker Sacha Lichine set out to establish his winery Château d’Esclans in 2006, he just wanted to bring some esteem to Provence with a refreshing and tasty, dry rosé. He created something significantly bigger with Whispering Angel, the rosé that has essentially put the wine variety and Provence on the winemaking map. It’s been credited with starting the international rosé trend with Linchine now producing on average 3.2 million bottles of the pink juice annually.
Tasting Notes:
This pale pink wine smells like a relaxing vacation in a bottle. The palm trees, sandy beaches, endless pampering from resort staff waiting on you hand and foot — it’s all there in the aromas of rose water, pink grapefruit, and faint strawberries and cream. On the palate, the wine is bone dry and invigorating with freshness and minerality.
Bottom Line:
It is impossible to not daydream about sailing the Côte d’Azur on a luxury yacht while drinking this rosé. Enjoy a bottle when the fabulosity of France is calling your name while travel is not quite yet feasible.
4. Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc
ABV: 12.5%
Average Price: $17
Drizly Sales Rank: 3
The Wine:
The people of the Kim Crawford winery started out in a small cottage in Auckland, New Zealand in 1996 and have since expanded to produce wines from vineyards across Marlborough and Hawks Bay. This 2020 vintage sauvignon blanc from the winery is made in Marlborough, the northeastern corner of New Zealand’s South Island, where the sunny climate and dry soils produce some of the freshest sauvignon blanc on the planet.
Tasting Notes:
This wine smells a lot louder than it actually is. Aromas of citrus fruits like lemon and grapefruit, hints of sea salt, and an underlining of melon and fresh green herbs jump out the glass. On the palate, there are notes of Lemonhead candies, green apples, and tangerine while the wine’s bright acidity and fine minerality pings and zaps the tastebuds during the lengthy finish.
Bottom Line:
This wine great intro for those unfamiliar with sauvignon blanc from Marlborough and a dependable one for those who know and love the grape. Basically, it’s the quintessential sauvignon blanc with such racy acidity and fresh tropical fruit flavors that capture the best of what New Zealand has to offer.
3. Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label Champagne
ABV: 12%
Average Price: $60
Drizly Sales Rank: 6
The Wine:
This wine is the champagne house’s signature blend of pinot noir, Meunier, and chardonnay. It’s comprised of a blend of grapes selected from 50 to 60 different Crus — aka vineyards recognized as higher quality — which gives the bubbly a refined freshness that can only come from truly prestigious grapes.
Tasting Notes:
Golden-yellow in color, this champagne has an initially fruity nose that ends with whiffs of French bread slathered in butter. Those brioche-like notes are prevalent on the palate too along with explosive little bubbles that soften in the sip.
Bottom Line:
This champagne tastes and feels like a celebration. Drink it when you’re feeling festive. Or pair it with KFC, like Dave Grohl.
2. Alamos Malbec
ABV: 13.5%
Average Price: $12
Drizly Sales Rank: 9
The Wine:
Set against the backdrop of the magnificent Andes Mountains, this wine is produced in Mendoza, Argentina, where the high altitudes, intense sunlight, and extreme fluctuating weather conditions (like sizzling days that turn into frosty nights) help Malbec grapes develop the uniquely bold flavor their namesake wine is beloved for.
Tasting Notes:
This nearly purple wine has a fragrance of wet earth and garden flowers after the rain, leather drying in the sun, and a wafting of smoke. Deep dark fruits like black cherry and blackberry are heavy on the front end of the palate while the back has a subtle vegetal note complemented by velvety tannins—naturally occurring polyphenol found in fruit seeds, skins, and leaves that aid in a wine’s astringency. The finish is soft and lingering.
Bottom Line:
Not too heavy, not too light. Not too fruity, not too earthy. This red wine is just right. Drink this with meats, vegetables, bread and butter, a cheese plater or enjoy it completely by itself.
1. Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon
ABV: 13.9%
Average Price: $17
Drizly Sales Rank: 2
The Wine:
Produced in Napa, California, this wine is comprised of 100 percent cabernet sauvignon. Though it is big, bold and dry like most cab sauvs, there is rounded juiciness that makes this varietal particularly pleasing to the senses.
Tasting Notes:
With black fruit and baking spice aromas, notes of blackberry, black currant and plum lean into a melody of cinnamon and toasted hazelnut on the palate. The wine has a minor expression of vanilla and toasted oak in the finish, which is long and accentuated with a spritz of astringency from the big, round tannins.
Bottom Line:
Here is your dinner wine. This goes hand-in-hand with hearty, meat-filled meals. And seeing that it was the #2 bestseller for Drizly during the pandemic, we have to give the masses their due on this one — it’s a gem.
