Top Wines of 2007?

A couple of wines come to mind for completely different reasons. 1985 Clos de Tart was a reminder of what I always felt that burgundy was supposed to taste like. Cherry fruit with mushroom, earth and minerals with a richly decadent elegance. A nose of exotic spices that one could enjoy for hours. 1997 Fuligni BdM with it's power and finesse brought back the smells of Tuscany and each sip revealed a different aspect of the wine from deep black fruit to sweet red berries. How they get so many flavors from one grape is a mystery to me. 2004 Tenuta de Trinoro Le Cupole was an exciting racy Bordeaux blend from southern Tuscany that was a treat far beyond it's $30 price tag. 2005 Orin Swift The Prisoner reminded me that sometimes odd blends of good fruit can produce wines of interest and complexity and that California can still produce world class wines below $50. A number of bottles of various vintages of Trimbach Clos St Hune but specifically the 1983 returned my focus on Alsace from which I had strayed. These wines reminded me why I always felt that of all white wine grape varietals that Riesling was my favorite for it's versatility and it's ability to translate a sense of place much like red wine. A recently opened bottle of 1991 Diamond Creek Lake reminded me of time spent with Al Bounstein over the years and we drank it as a part of an homage to Al. The wine was Napa Valley history in a glass and while Diamond Creek hung it's hat on the aspect of terroir in Napa this wine tasted like it came from a hundred places with each taste evoking questions of the ancestry of the vines. A badly broken thumb (bird hunting accident) has kept me from the keyboard recently but I thought this thread was worth the effort to type with one finger on one hand. Thanks Mark.

This isn't an actual search, just ones that occurred to me:

Best Wines, Previous Releases

1961 Pape Clement 1970 DDC 1981 LdH Tondonia GR 1983 Haut Brion 1990 Haut Brion 1996 Rousseau Clos St Jacques

Value Winners,Previous Releases

1990 Pape Clement 1978 Maurice Ecard "Les Serpentieres " Savigny-les-Beaune 1994 Saintsbury Reserve

Non-dry

1983 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch GKA

Current Releases

2004 Lafite

Value Winners,Currently in market Virtually any top producer's 2005 Beaujolais (inc. Vissoux, Brun,Desvignes)

2001 Edmunds StJohn Wylie Fenaughty Syrah 2006 ESJ Bone Jolly rose 2004 Catherine et Claude Marechal "Cuvee Gravel " Bourgogne 2006 Pepiere Briords (and the regular 05/06 Muscadet for current drinking) 2006 Nigl Kremser Freiheit GV 2004 Domaine de Belliviere "L'Effraie" Coteaux du Loir

Generally, any such list from the Wine Dictator ranks, for me, right along with other brilliant compilations such as "George Bush's list of foreign name pronunciations". But I will take a great interest in the lists of some of the folks from this group and will attempt to review my TN's from the year and compile my own.

Meanwhile, time to go to a dinner party with a well-meaning group of friends whose company I enjoy - but whose tastes in wine barely surpass Yellow Tail. ... sigh .... I don't think that any wines from tonight will make this list.

Thanks for the extra work typing! CSH is just so great, is there a more consistent wine? I have only tasted one Clos de Tart that I can remember, off vintage that didn't impress, but I think the consensus is the terroir is great. Someone recently posted a "hierarchy" of Burgundy vineyards from 1913, CdT was in the top category:

Romanee Conti ... Vosne Clos de Vougeot ... Vougeot La Tache ... Vosne Richebourg ... Vosne Romanee ... Vosne Chambertin ... Chevrey [sic] Musigny ... Chambolle Le Clos de Tart ... Morey Corton (part)... Aloxe Saint-Georges ... Nuits

Interesting. CdV, Corton, CdT, and Les Saint Georges are higher than they would show in most rankings today.

Since the terroir hasn't changed (or has it? Is it possible?) I can only assume that it's the producers or the influences of a change in tastes of the wine buying public! It's an interesting list considering the vineyards that are still on top.

I drink mostly old wines that I bought many years ago when even first growths were not extremely expensive in relation to the cost of living. I have consumed most of my purchase mistakes, so most of the older wines I drink now have a much better chance than average of being quite good. Given the price of young top wines these days, the collection of many newer top wines for long aging has moved to the rich and very rich. The wine world was very different 30 years ago.

Wine of the year: Leacock's Malvasia Vintage Madeira 1906. A revelation of what a vintage Madeira can be. Tasting notes were posted earlier.

Other wines of more than average interest:

Cahors, Clos de Gamot 1937 - Not a delecate wine, but old black Cahors really can keep well.; Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses 1979, Rene Dauvisset - Outstanding and still holding well; Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Auslese 1976, state - Outstanding rich Nahe loaded with apricot and honey; Corton Charlemagne 1976, D. Louis Latour. - Very fine and holding; Romanee-Conti 1970 - Not as complex and intense as their best years, but still holding very well. Unfortunately the current cost of nearly any vintage Romanee-Conti would make even a Hollywood plastic surgeon catering to the stars take notice.

Hi Bi!!,

on Sun, 9 Dec 2007 07:36:57 -0800 (PST), you said:-

I recently translated a book on Biodynamic wiinemaking, and in it, the author suggests that it is the vines themselves which when cultivated correctly, create the "terroir" which we often ascribe purely to the soil exposure etc., of the field in which they grow. I find that suggestion quite persuasive. He goes further in saying that the use of artificial fertilisers and bad vineyard management are returning the vineyards to the state they were in before vines were allowed to inter-react with the soil, and that this is actually destroying the terroir.

(Just back from south America and trying to catch up with 600+ messages!!! Have to add a word about Luis Kracher - a gentleman and a great winemaker who will be sorely missed.)

Thank you in advance.

Btw, take a look:

and

From Decanter (may I add that I know Darrel Joseph - a US citizen resident in Vienna - quite well?):

Very interesting: the link to a PDF of an interview with Alois in the November issue:

M.

Are you speaking of Eric_h_ S_a_lom_o_n, the Austrian winegrower from Undhof in Krems who passed away some two weeks ago?

M.

For sheer quality, the 2003 Harlan Estate, 1999 Zind Humbrecht Pinot Gris VT Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain, 1997 Masseto, 1993 and 2001 Robert Weil Kiedricher Grafenberg Rieslings Auslese, 1995 Pegau Cuvee Laurence Chateauneuf du Pape, and the 2004 Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Auslese stand out the most.

For more sentimental reasons, the 2001 Ch. Margaux and the 1982 Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou top the list, along with a 2000 Pegau Cuvee Reservee Chateauneuf du Pape (a wine that introduced me to the region, and turned me into a Rhone fan straight away).

A bunch of others are very memorable for unbelievably good value (or, 'the mostly-riesling section' :-):

05 Carl Schmitt Wagner Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Spatlese, 05 Alfred Merkelbach Riesling Spatlese, 04 Lawson's Dry Hills Riesling, 05 Emrich Schonleber Riesling trocken, 01 Meerlust Rubicon and the 06 Tulloch Hunter Valley Semillon.

One other that sticks out is a Cloudy Bay Late Harvest Riesling 2004 that I opened recently with my parents. While I enjoy New Zealand Rieslings, had no idea the area could produce wines of this style and level with such quality. Incredibly elegant, polished and tasting very much like a fine Rheingau Auslese - a really thrilling wine to taste. And the fact that it comes in 375 ml bottles under screwcap is just awesome!

Cheers, Salil

When the Wine Spectator came out with its "Vintage of the Century" feature on the '97 Italians in 2000, I found myself perusing their list of top picks. My girlfriend leaned over , saw what I was reading, and asked, "So what should I buy?" I replied, tongue in cheek, "How about this Masseto. It's only $240." She hesitated -- "Uh, that's a bit out of my range at the moment."

I countered, now stifling a laugh, "Okay. How about the Solaia, then. It's only $120." Of course, I knew how strictly allocated these wines were, and how there was no chance of anyone in Seattle coming up with a bottle, let alone my neophyte oenophilic girlfriend.

Imagine my shock when two days later she danced in cradling a bottle of '97 Solaia. Our very astute wine department manager at Metro Market (nee Queen Anne Thriftway) had been allocated six bottles, and for some insane reason one hadn't been claimed.

So, here comes the girlfriend, holding the Solaia and grinning like a Cheshire cat, as if to say, "Look what we're having with dinner tonight." At which point I had to break the terrible news to her.

"I'm sorry, but we can't open that bottle for at least ten years. It would be sacrilege." You never saw a face change from Cheshire cat to droopy Bassett hound so fast! Hahah! And next thing we know, WS had picked the Solaia as its Wine of the Year.

The bottle almost made it to 2010. We opened it this past spring on our annivesary, then went out and snagged some 2001. But just think...it could have been the Masseto. :)

JJ