The 2027 Wine PocketList

Straight A’s for wine under $30.

25 wines under $30 that wine judges and everyday drinkers both rate highly. Each one graded A+ to B+. Fits in your pocket.

Download the list (PDF)

No snobs. No 100 points.
Top of the class

Three Finger Jack Cabernet Sauvignon

Lodi, California · 2023
Judges 3 competitions Drinkers 28,000+ ratings
$18about
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Take it with you

All 25 wines on one card. Print it on one sheet and fold it to wallet size.

  • Fits in a wallet or a shirt pocket, like the 1994 original
  • A new list every year, updated as vintages change
  • A good gift for the friend who always asks what to buy

Download the list (PDF)

How a wine gets an A

Two kinds of people taste a lot of wine: judges and drinkers. Each alone can mislead. When both agree, it’s a sure thing.

The judges

Medals from five big 2026 competitions. A wine needs silver or better from at least two of them.

The drinkers

What hundreds or thousands of ordinary people rated it. Low ratings knock a wine off, medals or not.

One grade

A+, A, A− or B+. Anything lower doesn’t make the list. Every grade is dated.

Medals, but drinkers weren’t sold

These won medals this year. The people who drank them didn’t agree, so they’re off the list.

  • Clos du Bois Chardonnay 2024 $15 Judges 3 competitions✕Drinkers not sold
  • Estancia Pinot Grigio 2024 $14 Judges 2 competitions✕Drinkers not sold
  • Korbel Brut Rosé NV $14 Judges 3 competitions✕Drinkers not sold
  • Barefoot Bubbly Brut Rosé NV $10 Judges 4 competitions✕Drinkers not sold
Medals alone aren’t enough.

The PocketList, 1994–2007

Graded A+237
Graded A1,158
Graded A−2,282
Graded B+2,285
5,962 wines from 2,481 producers. The 2006 List is in the archive.

Grading wine since 1994

John Vankat, a college professor, started the Wine PocketList as a list small enough for a shirt pocket. Same idea now, with today’s judges and drinkers.

“The Wine PocketList allows anyone to consistently select very good bottles of wine.”Culinary Trends, about the original PocketList

Open the archive

Medals and drinker ratings as of November 2026. Prices are “about”: they vary by store and state. Find it links search Wine-Searcher; we don’t claim any store has a wine. Bottle and label pictures come from each winery’s own website.

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