The People’s Vote · Opens August 1

The Underdog 100

The world’s best wines aren’t always the famous ones. Help crown the greatest lesser-known grapes on earth — pick your favorites from the field of 100.

The Underdog Index

Our sourced, data-backed ranking — built transparently from published wine sources on the merits below. The considered answer.

The People’s Choice

The live reader vote — the one on this page. Where the crowd and the Index disagree is the fun part.

Cast your ballot

Voting opens August 1, 2026. Build your shortlist now and leave your email — we’ll tell you the moment the ballot is live.

0 / 10 picked

One ballot per email. Voting adds you to the Underdog Starter List; unsubscribe anytime. 21+ only.

How we built this

“Underdog” isn’t a dataset you can look up — nobody publishes an objective ranking of it. So the Underdog Index is a transparent composite we assemble from published sources, scoring each grape on seven merits. We show the recipe so you can argue with it. The numbers behind the Index are being sourced now and publish with the first results — we won’t show a figure until it’s real and cited.

20%
Critical regardHow respected the grape is among wine professionals — drawn from underrated-wine roundups and critic scores, deliberately widened beyond US/English-language media.
22%
Obscurity & rarityHow overlooked it is by everyday drinkers — scarce plantings and near-absence from mainstream shelves. The more hidden, the more underdog.
12%
Quality-to-fame gapHow far it punches above its reputation — regard beyond what its fame alone would predict.
18%
Value for moneyHow much it over-delivers for the price — the heart of an underdog's appeal.
10%
Reader interestWhether anyone is actually curious — real search interest, so the list isn't pure esoterica.
10%
Heritage & indigeneityWhether it's a native or heritage grape rather than an international transplant — the throughline of this whole site.
8%
Underrepresented adjustmentA deliberate counterweight to establishment bias, so overlooked origins and producers aren't buried by the very gatekeeping that made them underdogs.

One discipline keeps it honest: “critical regard” alone would just re-crown the wines the establishment already blesses — the opposite of an underdog list — so we widen the sources and add an underrepresented-origins counterweight. The People’s Choice vote is the living counterpart to all of it.

The field of 100

Every grape on the ballot. Where we’ve written a guide, it’s linked — start exploring before you vote.

  • FrappatoSicily, Italy
  • Alicante BouschetAlentejo, Portugal
  • FalanghinaCampania, Italy
  • Listán NegroCanary Islands, Spain
  • GrecoCampania, Italy
  • Nerello MascaleseEtna, Italy
  • LagreinAlto Adige, Italy
  • PerriconeSicily, Italy
  • Prieto PicudoLeón, Spain
  • CarignanLanguedoc, France
  • FreisaPiedmont, Italy
  • GodelloValdeorras, Spain
  • FurmintTokaj, Hungary
  • GrilloSicily, Italy
  • CesaneseLazio, Italy
  • XinomavroNaoussa, Greece
  • TimorassoPiedmont, Italy
  • LimnioLimnos, Greece
  • TeroldegoTrentino, Italy
  • ArintoPortugal
  • MoschofileroMantinia, Greece
  • TorrontésArgentina
  • Cabernet PfefferCalifornia, USA
  • CarricanteEtna, Italy
  • Fer ServadouMarcillac, France
  • FianoCampania, Italy
  • RufeteSierra de Salamanca, Spain
  • MtsvaneGeorgia
  • RosseseLiguria, Italy
  • EncruzadoDão, Portugal
  • AgiorgitikoNemea, Greece
  • TrepatConca de Barberà, Spain
  • KisiGeorgia
  • RefoscoFriuli, Italy
  • Xarel·loPenedès, Spain
  • SavatianoAttica, Greece
  • FriulanoFriuli, Italy
  • PaísChile
  • PignoloFriuli, Italy
  • MalagousiaGreece
  • TannatMadiran / Uruguay
  • Ribolla GiallaFriuli, Italy
  • CatarrattoSicily, Italy
  • PoulsardJura, France
  • ZibibboSicily, Italy
  • Coda di VolpeCampania, Italy
  • PecorinoAbruzzo, Italy
  • RobolaCephalonia, Greece
  • RuchèPiedmont, Italy
  • VitovskaCarso, Italy
  • PelavergaPiedmont, Italy
  • GrignolinoPiedmont, Italy
  • TreixaduraRibeiro, Spain
  • RamiscoColares, Portugal
  • BicalBairrada, Portugal
  • VinhãoVinho Verde, Portugal
  • GrolleauLoire, France
  • AlcañónSomontano, Spain
  • GaglioppoCalabria, Italy
  • RoditisGreece
  • BagaBairrada, Portugal
  • SaperaviKakheti, Georgia
  • JuhfarkSomló, Hungary
  • SchioppettinoFriuli, Italy
  • AssyrtikoSantorini, Greece
  • Pineau d'AunisLoire, France
  • MavrodaphnePatras, Greece
  • AglianicoBasilicata, Italy
  • Antão VazAlentejo, Portugal
  • CinsaultLanguedoc, France
  • BlaufränkischBurgenland, Austria
  • CastelãoSetúbal, Portugal
  • VerdelhoMadeira, Portugal
  • Grüner VeltlinerAustria
  • NascettaPiedmont, Italy
  • Hondarrabi ZuriTxakoli, Spain
  • SumollCatalonia, Spain
  • VerdejoRueda, Spain
  • HárslevelűTokaj, Hungary
  • VerdicchioMarche, Italy
  • BobalUtiel-Requena, Spain
  • RotgipflerThermenregion, Austria
  • CounoiseRhône, France
  • TrousseauJura, France
  • ZierfandlerThermenregion, Austria
  • LoureiroVinho Verde, Portugal
  • MaglioccoCalabria, Italy
  • MondeuseSavoie, France
  • KadarkaHungary
  • MencíaBierzo, Spain
  • RkatsiteliGeorgia
  • DurasGaillac, France
  • BonardaArgentina
  • ErbalucePiedmont, Italy
  • PiedirossoCampania, Italy
  • TrincadeiraAlentejo, Portugal
  • PasserinaMarche, Italy
  • NégretteFronton, France
  • SagrantinoUmbria, Italy
  • Sankt LaurentAustria

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For readers 21 and over. Voting adds you to the Underdog Starter List; unsubscribe anytime.