2010 TOR Kenward Family Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Tierra Roja
2010 Lillian Winery Syrah
2012 Kutch Pinot Noir Falstaff Vineyard
2012 Carlisle Zinfandel Saitone Ranch
2011 Kistler Chardonnay Durell Vineyard
2010 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains
2010 Torrin The Maven
2011 Booker Vineyard My Favorite Neighbor
2011 Ceritas Chardonnay Peter Martin Ray
2012 Littorai Pinot Noir Savoy Vineyard
2007 Saxum Broken Stones
2002 Holle GG Trocken
2013 Bedrock Oakville
2008 Denner Dirt worshipper
2002 Dom Ruinart
2008 Saxum JBV
2006 Beaucastel
2005 Chateau Giscours
Krug NV
1996 Heitz Marthas Vineyard
The year isn’t over but so far these come to mind.
1920 Gruaud Larose
1961 Pichon Lalande
1982 Cheval Blanc
1969 Remoissenet Clos Vouget
1996 Salon
1916 Gruaud Larose
1982 Gruaud Larose
1990 Margaux
1989 LMHB
not in any order:
1978 DRC La Tache
2005 Troplong Mondot
2005 Pavie
1993 Rousseau Chambertin
1990 Leroy Les Beaux Monts
1989 Haut Brion
2002 Two Hands Deer in Headlights Shiraz
2002 Leflaive Batard Montrachet
1991 Harlan Estate
2007 Mount Pleasant Maurice O’Shea Shiraz
biggest disappointment:
more than half of every 2011 wine I tasted, from anywhere.
•2001 Château Rieussec - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (6/29/2015)
Worldwide Chards (Edina Country Club): Outstanding effort with honey, apricots, minerals and ripe fruits. Concentrated with a long finish but plenty of acidity to balance it out. Wow! (96 points)
•2004 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Coeur de Cuvée - France, Champagne (1/11/2015)
Wow! Amazingly complex and showing well now. Minerals, apple, grapefruit, candied fruits and nice acidity. Extremely long finish and should shine for another decade. (96 points)
•2005 Dr. Loosen Erdener Prälat Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (11/20/2015)
Beautiful wine with honey, peaches, slate, orange peel and butter scotch. Medium to long finish and rich. Awesome!!! Wow did not like this 11 and wow has this improved! (95 points)
•1998 Penfolds Grange - Australia, South Australia (9/20/2015)
Wonderful wine. Thanks Jason. White pepper, red fruits, violets and spices. Multilayered, complex and long finish. Very anti Aussie character. Wow! (95 points)
•1998 Greenock Creek Shiraz Seven Acre - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley (8/2/2015)
Absolutely amazing wine and for $30 a bottle the steal of the last five years for me. Evolved over 3 days this features many characteristics of an aged Northern Rhone. White pepper, funk, damp earth, tea leaves and subtle fruit. While there is some dried prunes and blueberries this features the earth components. The complexity of this wine is off the charts and the finish is a full two minutes. Not sure if there could be a better QPR and I know I stole 3 of these at $30 a bottle. AWESOME!!! I could see this going strong for another five plus years. (95 points)
•1982 Château Léoville Las Cases - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (4/18/2015)
Big Bordeaux 9; 4/17/2015-4/24/2015: Medium purple. Concentrated wine with blueberries, cherry, coffee beans, and super complex. Long finish and in its drinking window. Should go another decade plus. (95 points)
•1982 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac (4/17/2015)
Big Bordeaux 9: The hype didn’t live up to the expectation. It is hard to believe my friend paid what he did for this wine as the 04 I am drinking now is not that much worse for the ware. Medium purple. Coffee, spice, blue fruits, and earth. Balance and elegant. Medium to long finish. Drink now to 2020. (95 points)
•1989 Château Suduiraut - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes (3/29/2015)
Favorite wine of the night with apricots, honey, minerals and peaches. Outstanding. (95 points)
•2002 Barossa Valley Estate Shiraz E & E Black Pepper - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley (1/2/2015)
Lunch Offline (Joe’s House, Minneapolis): Back at peak performance. Pop and pour and consumed two tastes over 3 hours. The beauty of the second taste was it was as good as the first. If you don’t like Aussie wines try this and then say you don’t like Aussie wines. Blueberries, white pepper, roasted meats, cedar and floral notes. Good acidity and tannins are fully integrated. A great start to 2015. Kevin I will just add that half point for a 95. Drink now or hold for a few years but why wait? (95 points)
•2009 Ramey Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard - USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros (6/29/2015)
Worldwide Chards (Edina Country Club): Clear wine of the night and the most interesting and complex with minerals, citrus, oak and fruits. Medium to long finish and balanced. Drink now to 2018. (94 points)
Somehow I need to add and subtract to account for 07 Prevost Beguines, 1999 Truchot GC Combottes, 1991 Peter Lauer Saar Riesling Sekt Reserve and 2000 Dauvissat Forest that I have had since I wrote this list. I will have to get it down to 10 at the end of the year.
I wouldn’t change my original list much but I definitely would add a recent 96 Salon to the list and an unexpectedly transcendent 2010 Armand Rousseau Gevrey Chambertin that drank more like Rousseau’s more exalted Ruchottes then a basic village Gevrey.
01 Rousseau Gevrey Chambertin Beze
85 Diamond Creek Volcanic Rock Cabernet
88 Robert Chevillon NSG - Vaucrains
01 Mugnier Chambolle Musigny - les Fuees
96 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet
08 Guiseppe Rinaldi Barolo - Le Coste
91 Georges Noellat Vosne Romanee - Le Beaux Montes
04 Dom Perignon
96 JL Chave Hermitage
01 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
Y’all are drinking much better than I am.
Beaucastel 2001
Bedrock Ode to Lucien 2013
Carlisle Sonoma County Zin 2013
Dutton Goldfield Devil’s Gulch Pinot Noir 2012
Grahams Vintage Port 1977
Ravenswood Old Hill 2012
Carlisle Saitone Vineyard Zin 2012
I am sure that I have forgotten some others, particularly whites…
No trophy wines here but I truly enjoyed these:
2011 Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Ruchottes
2010 Bereche Campania Remensis Extra Brut Rosé
1997 Tedeschi Recioto della Valpolicella Classico Capitel Monte Fontana (the biggest surprise by far)
2011 Marcarini Barolo Brunate
2007 François Chidaine Vouvray Le Bouchet
2013 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barbera d’Alba
1998 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Fontalloro
2011 P. Dubreuil-Fontaine Père & Fils Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Clos Berthet
2011 Château de La Mar Roussette de Savoie Marestel
1975 Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino
2005 McHenry Vineyard Pinot Noir Estate Vineyard
2012 Ceritas Pinot Noir Hellenthal Vineyard
2012 Thomas Pinot Noir Dundee Hills
2013 Arnot-Roberts Chardonnay Watson Ranch
2013 Ladd Cellars Chardonnay
2011 Kosta Browne Chardonnay One Sixteen
2007 Walter Hansel Winery Chardonnay The North Slope Vineyard
2005 Martinelli Pinot Noir Bondi Home Ranch Water Trough Vineyard
2005 WesMar Pinot Noir Olivet Lane Vineyard
2006 Peter Michael Sauvignon Blanc L’Apres-Midi
I haven’t written many notes this year. But I did for a number of pinots and chards, for some reason.
I heard those South Bay Girl Scouts only serve Meo Camuzet.
These three have come from the last week, the rest TBD.
2001 Von Kesselstatt Kaesler Nies’chien Riesling Spatlese
2010 Rhys Alpine Chardonnay
1989 Leoville Las Cases
2015 has been an awesome year of wine both grand and simple. More than anything what makes these wines stand out are the people they have been shared with.
1995 Tempier La Migoua: Celebrating the end of the vintage with Michael Cruse and John Trinidad. Majestic. Ring the bells. Though a long life ahead, I can’t fathom how it can improve.
1963 Inglenook Cask Reserve: With Levi Dalton and Kelli White at PRESS for my 42nd birthday
Stunning. Monumental. An incredible wine to enjoy with two of my favorite people in wine.
2005 Sainte Epine from 1.5L: At Hervé Souhaut’s in the Ardeche
In '11 I was served the '05 Sainte Epine blind. It hit every button and rang every bell. It was incredible treat to have this (a long with a ton of other bottles) with Hervé and friends in the Ardeche.
Selosse Initial: On the edge of the Pacific at Steep Ravine with my wife and some of our closest friends.
During a spectacular sunset with my wife and another couple. The most beautiful CA day I have spent.
2001 Radikon Ribolla: With my wife and neighbors for my neighbor’s birthday.
My neighbor is a Radikon nut and we surprised him with this bottle for his birthday. Mature, classy, and eyes closed it was almost a maturing Rioja (red)…
1974 Ridge Fiddletown Zinfandel: Shared with my dad.
A busy night at Bern’s where we did what we never do- order from the menu. It was one of those great nights of joy with my dad that I will always remember.
2011 Magnon “Métisse” Rose: In Alice Feiring’s apt with an incredible group of friends.
This wine made me do a double-take. It was almost everything I wish I could make in wine. Among dozens of open bottles, it kept pulling me back and back.
2010 Foillard Fleurie: Late late night with Jean Foillard and Remi Dufaitre in Brouilly
After dinner, we began drinking (or better yet celebrating) I remember a lot of laughter, banging on a table in the farmhouse, and some head butts with Remi- What was crystal clear was just how freakin’ good this bottle was. Then at 3:30 in the AM the three of us looked around and realized all our friends had all disappeared.
2013 ('14?) Bobinet Du Rififi Pet Nat: With Rowdy and I frozen in a café in Bourgueil.
I picked up Rowdy from the train station in Angers and we drove all over creation trying to find our friends at La Grapperie. At about the time when the GPS stopped working and cell reception failed, we high tailed it back to Bourgueil and popped a bottle of this and ate a bunch of ham. Simple, freakishly delicious juice. Anything more complex would have just got in the way of pleasure.
There’s still time for 10…
In no particular order:
1990 Chateau Musar
2009 Guiberteau Les Arboises
2000 Monte Bello
1966 Beychevelle
2008 Il Caberlot
1991 Spottswoode
1995 Raffault Picasses
2010 Kutch McDougall
1990 Jaboulet-Vercherres Cortin-Bressandes
2002 Peay SC Pinot
Bummer no Musar in my list. Still a year with some amazing wine.
My top wine was a 1990 Chateau Margaux. After that an 11 way tie:
2002 Colgin Herb Lamb
1988 Dujac Combottes
2005 Littorai Charles Heintz Chardonnay
2001 Shafer Sunspot
1985 Trapet Chapelle-Chambertin
1982 Chateau Cheval Blanc
1998 L’Eglise Clinet
1989 Pichon Lalande
1993 Sandrone Barolo Cannubi Boschis
1989 Krug Brut
1990 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne
This will make my top 10 as well. I’m a sucker for a Mourvedre heavy blend and this one is killer, kicking myself for only ordering a couple.
2011 Coche-Dury Corton Charlemagne
1996 Giacosa Asili Riserva
1990 JJ Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten GK Auslese
2013 Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Auction Eiswein
1997 Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Auction GK Auslese
2008 Louis Carillon Bienvenues Batard Montrachet
1953 Ponnelle Corton-Clos du Roi
2002 Salon
2000 Cheval Blanc
1959 Calon Segur
Yeah, it might not be easy. The 1966 Krohn’s Colheita needs to be added to my list but I’m not sure what would go to make room.
This is a wine I really want to drink someday… Louis Carillon Bienvenues Batard Montrachet
Yquem 1869 , 1937 and 1967
Romanee Conti 1978
DRC Richebourg 1969
Clos de la Roche 1971 Ponsot
Ausone 1947
Haut Brion 1929 from magnum
Corton Charlemagne Coche Dury 2005
Philippe Colin Chevalier Montrachet 2008
another good year