VinePair’s tasting panel rounds up the year’s standout wines in “The 50 Best Wines of 2026,” and Far Mountain and Frog’s Leap both crack the top 12, a strong showing for two VINTUS producers in a list that spans everything from grand cru Burgundy to upstart Santa Cruz Mountains projects.
Far Mountain earns well-deserved praise at #2 overall with its Montecillo Cabernet Sauvignon 2022, scoring an exceptional 98 points. It’s a remarkable showing for a winery that’s quickly become one of the most talked-about labels in California – Far Mountain was also recently named an emerging producer to watch by Vinous critic Antonio Galloni. Founded by Chilean winemaker Rodrigo Soto and his wife, Mai Errazuriz, the project centers on the historic Montecillo Vineyard, a dry-farmed, organic site sitting 1,800 feet up in Moon Mountain’s volcanic soils. VinePair highlights spiced plums, Alpine herbs, and cassis, framed by a firm structure, calling it “an impressive site-specific example of California Cab that reflects the strong potential that Soto and Errazuriz see in Sonoma’s mountainous terroirs.”
Frog’s Leap also earns an impressive spot at #12 with its Cabernet Sauvignon 2022, scoring 97 points. VinePair points to the winery’s decades of organic farming and dry-farming leadership in Napa Valley. This bottling, from the estate’s Rutherford AVA vineyard, is exactly the kind of refined, old-school Napa Cab that wine professionals rave about, coming in at a restrained 13.8% ABV with savory notes of cedar, anise, and smoke alongside wild berries and ripe plums.
See the full list HERE.
