WOTY & Champagne of the Year:
Egly-Ouriet - Blanc de Noirs Grand Gru
- not only was the company and the evening everything one could hope for, this wine was was just wow. I don’t/didn’t drink much champagne and to drink one of this caliber was a highlight of the wine year.
White
Given my cellar, no surprise that two Riesling wines are there:
2012 Weiser-Künstler Enkircher Ellergrub Riesling Kabinett
- This was just such a terrific wine in every way and comes out top of the white wines this year.
2022 Hofgut Falkenstein Niedermenniger Sonnenberg Riesling Kabinett trocken “Munny”
- I love this wine for its drinkability and overall qualities. There is sometimes too much focus on old and aging wines, and I move between moments of loving aged (yet fresh with primary notes included) and that fresh younger direction. The latter more in the last years. Maybe its the aging of oneself?
Back to the wine, to be fair, this tasted much better, in fact terrific in 2024, though the bottle was opened 21 December.
Amber
Tie, cannot pick between:
2016 Blažič Rebula Selekcija
2018 Skerk Ograde,
really like them both a lot.
Red
2016 Foradori Teroldego Sgarzon
- To me this, after the funk and I don’t know what blew off on the second night is the best Foradori wine. It knocked me out of my socks and I cursed myself for pouring two large pours the first night. Red of the year and below are two honorary mentioning that coincidentally are from 2012:
2012 Schiavenza Barolo Broglio
- What a Serralunga wine, loved it for all it’s contractions
2012 Vedran Kiridžija Plavac Mali Dingač
- A beautiful expression of Dingac, one of the best that ages effortless it seams.
DOTY
2018 Giuseppe Gorelli Rosso di Montalcino
- A beautiful RdM, can’t even imagine what BdM would be up to within a couple of years.
2010 Dominique Lafon Beaune 1er Cru Epenottes
- I rarely drink Beaune wines and coming across this on a wine list now in December was a real treat. Drank terrific from the go, in fact so good that decanting didn’t make sense, however that might have been a misjudgment as the wine shifted gears along with the last glasses.
Reconfirmation of the year:
Langhe Nebbiolo - the quality level among serious producers is just terrific. The better ones give many good Barolo/Barbaresco wines a run for your money.
Didn’t live up to my expectations OTY wine:
2011 Azienda Agricola Elvio Cogno Barolo Ravera
- It’s wasn’t a bad wine at all, I just had higher expectations and this wine felt quite chunky and square (while I had hoped for more of elegance).