Once again, as in all areas, the world of wine also has its references, also in different sections. Not only wineries are important, but also distributors, sommeliers, journalists or critics, as well as shops and restaurants. All of them acquire almost as much importance as the producers, since thanks to their work we can learn about countless references, in addition to the fact that they can take the wines and their producers to a higher level. In this way, we find iconic wineries, cult winegrowers, indispensable distributors, prestigious sommeliers, leading journalists, even sacred temples of consumption.
Starting with the wine itself, in my opinion, there are three stars that shine above the rest. Order is complicated to establish, even unfair and unnecessary, and, of course, always subjective. Domaine Romanée-Conti, Petrus and Château D’Yquem are the three great myths and, consequently, the most iconic wineries. There are many other important wines, even some with a higher price than the three mentioned, but due to history, quality and, of course, marketing, they have the honor of being considered the most important in the world.
In Spain, we also have our references, although not with the forcefulness of the French wineries that I just mentioned. Vega Sicilia Único has traditionally been the flagship wine of our country, although we cannot leave aside Álvaro Palacios or his cousin Ricardo Palacios.
At an individual level, there are guru winegrowers, with their own name due to their importance worldwide. Pierre Overnoy, pioneering leader of natural wine; Nicolas Joly, emblem of biodynamic wines; Jacques Selosse, the champagne artist; Gaja, in Piedmont, Egon Müller, in Moselle, the aforementioned Álvaro Palacios, a charismatic magician in our country; Raúl Pérez and his infinite projects, always excellent; and, of course, Dom Perignon who is credited with being the creator of champagne. This is a very small list, since there are many other, truly outstanding, producers who could perfectly be added to this small list.