Personal Top Ten Wines of the Year

[baphie]

In response to the acrimony into which the WS Top 10 thread descended, I thought I would make a positive contribution of my personal 10 best wines of the year and hope that others will contribute their lists as well.

I limited this list to wines released in the last twelve months (or made available to me in that time as there is often a delay between official release dates and when they reach Ohio) and that I have purchased (often having having in a restaurant where the tasting note is derived.) The #1 slot is my wine of the year and the rest follow in no particular order. What I made to pair with them is usually included.

1.) Turley "The White Coat" 2000 Turley's first white wine, Viognier/Rousanne blend and my tasting notes from a BYOB tasting where I first had it was one word,"WOW!" This gets my WOY as much for astounding me as for it's complexity (melon, nutty, flowery all at once and a super smooth finish that evolves on the palate well after swallowing. I was skeptical upon hearing about this wine, but it won me over. I purchased a bottle and am still undecided about with what to pair it. ( 60-90$ - internet auctions )

2) Guffens-Heynen "Macon-Pierreclos" 2000 This was one of those wines that are perfect, but ephemeral. Paired with seafood, it was divine this summer. Crisp and fruity with elements of limestone, jasmine and a touch of butter. Long and clean finish. Sadly, it barely lasted an hour open and it was clear this was not a wine to age. ( 20$)

3) Cuilleron "Essence d'Automne" 1999 A most amazing dessert wine. Delicate lavender start, apricot body and the lightest finish with honey all balanced with enough acid to pull it together and keep it clean. Perfect in early autumn with a soft, rindy cheese and some raison-grain-seed bread. ( 80$)

4) Bonny Doon "Le Cigare Volant" 1999 Released at this exact time last year, it showed even better than '99 Les Cailloux during a roast-lamb course of a holiday dinner. Very full-bodied, but tannins under control. Long earthy finish. Cassis and pepper. Good aging potential. In all fairness, I am probably way biased in favor of LCV as it is the wine that got me into wine. (32$)

5) Kistler "Carneros Chardonnay" 2000 I had never had Kistler before and happened on some in a wine shop when visiting my parents. I figured to give it a whirl, fully prepared to harsh on it. I had to drink my words. Nectarine and citrus with long creamy finish. Earth and dried flowers. Finish went on forever. Great potential for aging. Mind-blowing pairing with oxtail ravioli in a lobster-saffron broth. Had my mom go and buy out the store's stock. (70$)

6) Araujo "Eisele Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc" 2000 One of the most food-friendly whites ever. We drank copious amounts of this restaurant-only wine at our favorite restaurant here in Columbus. (I later found some on a secondary market.) Super crisp and clean with all the great floral and herb notes, but measured out precisely (as opposed to NZ 'rub your face in the hay' SBs.) Extremely consistent pleasure between numerous bottles. Great price as well. (25$)

7) Bacio Divino "Bacio Angelico" 1999 Sangio-Cab-Zin-Alicante blend. Full-on fruit with a nice tobacco-ey edge. Very soft finish. Currant and plum notes as well. A sweet little sister to the great Bacio Divino which misses this list as we didn't drink any of the current release last year. Supreme pairing with pasta, meatballs and red sauce. (50$)

8) Karl Lawrence "Cabernet Sauvignon" 1999 We had a half-bottle at the French Laundry and were blown away. Have since purchased for our cellar. Very measured and subtle. Cherry and leather notes with almost coffee-like tannins. Very hard to put into words since no elements really dominated. Should age very well and be excellent at all points in between. (60$)

9) Turley "Old Vines Zinfandel Napa" 2000 One of those rare moments Zins are capable of when drank shortly after bottling- boom! boom! boom! fruit assault but neither the acid or the tannins have yet taken over. Almost painful blackberry jamminess. After being opened >1.5 hr, tannins firmed nicely and rose elements bloomed. A divine wine of that moment and probably tastes rotten at this moment which is why the other bottles will sit for some time. Amazing pairing with zin-braised beef short ribs. (40$)

10) Littorai "Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir" 1999 Runner-up WOY. First had this at Gary Danko (the highlight of dinner there and a special thanks to the sommelier for the push) and at Tru as well as at home. The most food-friendly, yet complex red I have encountered in a long time. Accessible, yet deep with fertile field notes and deep fruit. Super kudos for not trying to imitate Burgundy, but using a Burgundian/terroir-conciousness to make the wine fit its home. This wine should age very well as it tasted as good two days open. Amazing autumnal pairing of pumpkin ravioli with chanterelles and braised rabbit with aligote in a roasted squash(which I didn't get to eat until two days later as I got horribly sick mid-meal from the single raw oyster in the amuse I made and that is how I know the wine still tasted great two days later.) (45$, expect ~ 90$ restaurant)

The list is very heavily US-centric which doesn't reflect our drinking habits. It just tends to be that American wines are the ones we drink young and the French and Italian wines we put at least a few years on.

A few other notes from the year in wine:

The biggest disappointment: 1999 La Doriane from Guigal. That's it, I wash my hands of Guigal. This edition of La Doriane was thick, cloying and assaulting. La Doriane used to be one of my favorite wines for its expression of Viognier. Simply put, Guigal is raping those helpless grapes now. There is no excuse- 99 Grillet and Cuillerons were delightful- playful and expressive with pure blossom notes competing with underlying minerality. There is also no excuse for me buying Guigal again. Once I drink the 2000 La Doriane (and I am dreading it), I don't think I will ever buy a Guigal again. And with a steady supply of Cuilleron, who needs to? The other theme of the year: Cuilleron rules!

This year was our 10th anniversary, so we drank some of our '92s. (The time to purchase these wines was during those lean grad/medical school years, so we didn't have a lot.) Overall things were pretty good. The Hess Collection cab really stood out (and we were worried because the '91 had totally fallen apart when tasted last year). Caymus and Diamond Creek stood strong (remember when these could be had at a reasonable price?) as did Le Cigare Volant and Orion. Bollinger Grand Annee 1992 really stole the show at our anniversary dinner party. The biggest let-down was Alban Reva Syrah which developed a port-like note and taste that it would not relinquish even after airing >2.5 hrs. (We even opened a bottle of '94 Reva to see if this was going to be a trend with that wine, but it was still going strong.) We'll probably tap our last bottle of Diamond Creek over the holidays as well as Ferrari-Carano Reserve (what I believe is now called Tresor.)

We also like to hit certain wines at the 5-6 yr mark (especially CA cabs and Rhones). 1996 is often neglected since 1997 was so touted in California. We found some amazing wines out of the 96 vintage that can be snooped out at a good price. Special stars were Harlan's "The Maiden" which caused my best friend and I to seriously debate whether or not to share it with our spouses or leave it in the cellar to sneak back later to quaff for ourselves. (Spouses won.) Melka Metisse 96 was another star which was able to trick my wife (tasting blind) to peg it as a Bordeaux. In general, 96 CA cabs drank very well and didn't require >30 min decant. "Lesser" Rhones like Vacqueyras of 96 were peaking and the 96 Chablis were really showing well, but can easily take a few more years. Bigger Rhones of 96 were very awkward and after a few missteps, we avoided them. Same goes with Burgundies, although the generic AOC LeRoy 96 which can be a good bellwether for Cru Burgundies was a total mess. I hope it was just a bad bottle, not a sign of where the vintage is heading.

The real stand-out of the year was the 1997 Mario Perelli-Minetti Miriam. This was quite simply the best CA cab I have *ever* had. It is hard to find and I have yet to see it on a wine list.

The other nice surpise was the wines at Clos Pegase winery. While we have always found their general releases are fair-to-good but over-priced, some of the wines available only at the winery are real treats. A "port" and a reserve Cab Franc really stood out. Of course after buying a case, we will see if this holds as true in the dark of my cellar as it was under the sun of a beautiful Napa day spent driving around in a Mercedes convertible on our first vacation sans bebe and anticipating lunch at the French Laundy. Sometimes with wine, context is everything!

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone had a really good wine year. Feedback is loved and I hope others more wide-ranging of palate this year will post their own lists.

A.

Edited December 6, 2002 by baphie (log)

[GordonCooks]

1.) Turley "The White Coat"  2000 Turley's first white wine, Viognier/Rousanne blend and my tasting notes from a BYOB tasting where I first had it was one word,"WOW!"

Do you mean her first white blend ?- I had her incredible Marcassin Chardonnay on a few occasions.

[baphie]

1.) Turley "The White Coat"  2000 Turley's first white wine, Viognier/Rousanne blend and my tasting notes from a BYOB tasting where I first had it was one word,"WOW!"

Do you mean her first white blend ?- I had her incredible Marcassin Chardonnay on a few occasions.

I believe it is the first put out on her own label, not the first she has ever made.

A.

[GordonCooks]

1.) Turley "The White Coat"  2000 Turley's first white wine, Viognier/Rousanne blend and my tasting notes from a BYOB tasting where I first had it was one word,"WOW!"

Do you mean her first white blend ?- I had her incredible Marcassin Chardonnay on a few occasions.

I believe it is the first put out on her own label, not the first she has ever made.

A.

She done Sauv Blancs under the Turley name

[Ron Johnson]

Nice post Baphie, you are clearly a white wine afficionado, of which there are too few.

I have not had an opportunity to come up with a full list yet, but two whites that jump out at me are the 1996 Trimbach Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile and the 1998 J.L. Chave Hermitage Blanc.

I guess I would add for reds the 1997 Argiano Brunello di Montalcino. I will add more as they come to me.

[Charles Smith]

A.

She done Sauv Blancs under the Turley name

[GordonCooks]

A.

She done Sauv Blancs under the Turley name

The Turley brand is her brother's- Larry Turley.

The winemaker is Ehren Jordan- she has nothing to do with them

She made the original zins there, but Jordan took over 4-5 years ago.

[Kikujiro]

Those of us less familiar with some of these names might appreciate an indicative retail price where appropriate, so we can get our bearings

[bushey]

Turley "Old Vines Zinfandel Napa" 2000

Baphie, this is the only wine on your list that I've had this year and I gotta tell ya, my immediate reaction was "Robitussin with a splash of vanilla extract". We had it about about six months ago, at a steakhouse. My husband ordered it based on one of his past experiences with Turley. Let's just say he was not best pleased with my assessment but was most happy to drink most of the bottle himself. We were with another couple, one of whom also was not wowed, so he and I shared a bottle of '98 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon, which was much more to our liking.

Just before dessert my husband stood up and announced he'd be in the car. We found him shortly thereafter, out cold. We've since had many good chuckles about that night.

[Robert Nesta Marley]

[Robert Nesta Marley]

oops. charles beat me to the correction, i see now.

[baphie]

it's not *her* label anymore, just her brother's. and i don't think she's the winemaker there, either.

My slip. I had not intended to use any gendered pronoun. I am not familar w/ any SBs put out by Turley, so let us just say White Coat is Turley's first white blend.

Bushey: I debated about putting this one on the list, but I had to be honest - at that moment it was incredible. As I mentioned, we appeared to have caught it at a perfect moment - bottle shock had passed and the wine had not closed up yet. I know exactly what you are describing and I have had Zins that went down that road. This one was right on the edge and not for every taste. I am not going to touch another bottle of the 2000 for a while.

Kikujiro: I will edit the post to include prices.

[Kikujiro]

Kikujiro: I will edit the post to include prices.

baphie -- many thanks for doing this

[Beachfan]

Nice post. I haven't had much of the recent releases. I'll list some memorable wines; not necessarily the best (which were usually older wines).

One I did love is the 2000 Jannasse Cote du Rhone Village, an outstanding QPR, very tasty in it's own right.

I also tasted the 2000 Jannasse CDP, which was great, but it was only a small taste; my bottles are still in the cellar.

The Turly Old Vines 2000 also was a great QPR, I think I got mine at $20 or $25.

Oh, how could I forget the 1999 La Fleur de Confiance Rasteau from Soumade. And given the price, I'd put the regular Confiance there too (thanks to Steve P for the Soumade tip).

It's no longer the current release but 1999 Etude Pinot Gris was a very nice 90 point wine for under $20 retail, great with food. I ordered it several times at restaurants, sometimes in half bottles.

Ogier's regular Cote Rotie was delicious, and the tasting at the winery was very memorable. His La Belle Helene might be my wine of the year (i.e. current release that I've tasted). Stunning!

The other killer new release was Chapoutier's Cote Rotie Morderee 1999. Wow! Better than his more highly rated Ermitage Le Pavillion. I also found true in the whites, preferring the Ermitage le Meal to the Ermitage l'Ermite (which was a 100 point wine). That tasting at the winery was my luckiest one ever, to find so many top bottles being poured (a wine writer had been there earlier in the day).

I liked the 2000 Martinelli Bondi Home Reserve Pinot a lot. It's not as deep as there regular reserve, but I like the clear fruit notes.

Edited December 7, 2002 by Beachfan (log)