SF Chronicle Top 100 Wines for 2009

WINE TALK
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Jon Bonné’s list of the top 100 wines for 2009 is online today: Top 100 Wines 2009

Some local East Bay and San Francisco faves made the list, including 2007 A Donkey and Goat “The Prospector” Mourvedre, 2007 Broadside Cabernet Sauvignon (made by Chirs Brockway of Broc Cellars and Brian Terrizzi of Giornata Wines), 2007 Roar Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir (made in SF by Ed Kurtzman) and 2008 Ah! Wines Bebame Red Wine, which Steve Edmunds had a hand in making. And other wines from folks we know here on the board, including Larry Schaffer’s 2008 Tercero Grenache Blanc. Congrats to all! Plus there are a bunch more wines from people I know and admire - looks like a good list.

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That is one of the more unexciting lists I have seen put together…

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Looking at that list…I think it’s one of the most interesting “Top 100” list of wines I ever done see’d.
There are lots of things on there I’d be interested in trying…like the Ah! CabFranc/Gamay blend, made by SteveEdmunds.
How many people even know about that wine…be they in Monktown or NYC??
Tom

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Just a few really smart people with discerning palates [basic-smile.gif]

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And congrats to Don, Jayme and Steve for the well-deserved accolades on their very first effort!

5

My general thoughts on their list:
Champagne selections: bleeehh. Safeway and Costco selections.
Pinot noirs: not bad. Differing styles for people to try.
Cabernet: Thumbs up for the 2007 Anthill Cabernet. Good luck for anyone trying to buy it now, even if on the mailing list
The others categories have some interesting picks I might seek out.

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Gasp…like you followed this wine “from the very start”?? I’m impressed, Michael.
Steve told me about this effort last Summer and gave me a source to track it down in Berkeley.
Tom

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I owe all credit to an Alice, and not the one on the label. But at least I was smart enough to get Don to open a bottle over a free lunch! I’m just glad somebody out there noticed this humble yet great little wine.

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I was pouring wine next to Steve at an open house event in Berkeley yesterday and he was totally surprised about the Ah! wine being on the Top 100 list.

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I’m just anxious as heck to try their rose when it comes out.

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It feels so random. I wish they would reveal why they made their selections.

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Maybe just a slow reader but it took awhile for me to grok there were no international wines involved. ‘West Coast’ only, end of paragraph 2.

I’m kind of assuming these were chosen from the weekly columns over the last year?
That might explain the list, though I didn’t see that it said that anywhere.

Not sure I got the syrah comment either. Does he meant that people enjoying the bigger style pinots maybe should try some syrahs? Guess that would make some sense, to me anyway. Probably not to others like those who really like big big pinots.

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Not quite sure of the methodology they used for their selection. Many of those wines were not reviewed/mentioned
in any of the SFChron weekly columns, which are mostly, but not all, written by JonBonne. It’s advertised as the SFChron’s Top100
list, not as JonBonne’s Top100 list. It’s a rather eclectic list and I wouldn’t interpret it as the SFChron’s Top 100 list out
of all the WestCoast wines available. Just take it as a quirky/eclectic list of wines they liked and start tracking some of
them down to try.
Tom

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Makes sense Tom. I stopped reading the Chron when I moved to Seattle in May, so was just making a WAG.

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The favorite Zin was the 2007 Ridge Geyserville.

I had that a couple of weeks ago, and it was so overripe you would be convince it was port by the aroma. That is a quality I can’t stand (I know some people like it and that’s okay), but I couldn’t even drink it.

Some of the other wines listed are pretty tasty, though. Pretty standard stuff.

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Odd. Popped that with a couple locals Thursday. Seemed classic, balanced and packed with fruit. Took an hour or more open to come together and still needs some years to me but overripe was not close to what we had.

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That is quite interesting because there was no question of overripeness in the bottle I had. I wonder what may have caused that. Thanks for the comment, though. Curiosity might make me buy one for verification.

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I’ve had 2 or 3 bottles and I have to agree with Cris: it’s classic and not overripe. If you’re typically a Geezer fan I’d try another bottle. BTW, I think the Green & Red Chiles Valley 07 Zin they listed is pretty terrific in a leaner, Napa sytle.

On the whole I liked the list. Lots of stuff that’s widely available, some nice oddballs and good variety. Top 100 lists are what they are.

18

tom, i picked up 3 btls of Ah CabFranc/Gamay at Paul Marcus in Oakland (by Olivetos). they have a whopping 1 case.


cheers,
sasha
itb: make wines under “eno wines” label

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Steve directed me to Peter at VintageBerkeley, where I ordered a hlf cs, sight unseen. Figured I couldn’t go wrong w/ one
of Steve’s wines…especially at that price.
Tom