These are the most overrated wines according to top sommeliers
Top sommeliers taste the most amazing wines every day, but also wines that they say aren’t worth the price. We asked the country’s best-known sommeliers which wines they believe are truly overrated.
Isabel van Bueren, sommelier The White Room by Jacob Jan Boerma
“Armand de Brignac! People really pay this amount of money?!”
Erica Verweijen, sommelier Aan de Poel
“Ornellaia Masseto. A kind of legacy of the ‘Bold Eighties’. Designer wine.”
Nabil Touires, sommelier Graham’s Kitchen
“Some Bordeaux wines; too expensive for the quality or released onto the market too young.”
Bram Faber, sommelier Wijncafé Lefebvre
“All wines above 100 euros, without exception. Of course, they are usually very good, but comparable quality is certainly available for much less.”
Imil Ayoub, sommelier The Harbour Club
“Burgundies. Beautiful wines, absolutely. But thanks to clever marketing, they are genuinely overpriced.”
Julian Cleton, sommelier Wijnbar VinVin
“Rioja varies enormously in quality. It can be truly beautifully made. Soft licorice, red fruit, a light touch of oak. But it can also become dominated by tannins and excessive use of oak, so that you can hardly taste anything else.”
Laurence Reintjens, freelance sommelier
“So-called ‘sponsor wines’; wines with very good marketing; such as Boschendal or Lindemans. People often assume that big brand names are of better quality than wines from smaller producers. Unfortunately, these wines are often produced in such a way that they taste exactly the same every year. If you’re going to spend money on wine anyway, choose something adventurous. If I see only big names on a wine list, I’d rather order a beer.”
Wouter van Essen, sommelier Wijn- en Eetbar Most
“Bernardus Chardonnay; I think the whole of the central Netherlands is raving about it. In my opinion, it is too expensive, but above all, it has far too much oak!”
Ivar Roerink, sommelier Wijnbar Nic & ik
“Möet&Chandon Imperial has been marketed extremely well and is one of the biggest champagne brands in existence. But there are plenty of champagnes that, in my opinion, surpass Möet&Chandon in terms of taste—and at a sharper price.”
Ruth Engels, sommelier INK Hotel Amsterdam
“The Super Tuscans; these wines were made as revolutionary alternatives to classic Italian wines, but are often very expensive and inflated in flavor.”
Sabas Joosten, sommelier De Librije
“I personally relate this mainly to price, but who am I? The market decides.”
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