Top Wines of 2007?

The thing is, WS claims that their list is not a quality hyerarchy, but rather an index of how exfciting they found the wines tasted throughout the year, by some wighted sum of scores on 4 criteria:

- quality (represented by score);

- value (reflected by release price);

- availability (measured by case production or cases imported);

- an X-factor we call excitement.

Given this information it is astounding that Cote Rotie by Chave would come it at 89, only 2 above Borsao, and way below something as unexciting as Chardonnay by Planeta.

I think they run the list through some random sort just before printing. Except for the obligatory CdPs on top. Aaaargh, why do they do this to us? :-)

So what did I like in 2007?

What tends to stick to my mind is the stickies :-)

My most recent memorable wine was Ruster Ausbruch 1996 by Wenzel, truly remarkable deep explosion of aromas (everything: quince, orange marmalade, grapefruit) with fantastic balance.

But the top emotion was without a doubt Le Sens du Chenin 1997 by Domaine Patrick Baudouin, the title a play on words alluding to the rare Tokaj cousin that inspired this Loire "wine", 690 g/l of residual sugar and 13.6 g/l acidity, left to ferment in demi-johns until 2003 and developing only 0.9° of alcohol due to the sugar concentration being toxic for the poor yeasts (much like honey, it is hard to ferment undiluted and needs no preservatives to keep it stable: yes, stickies with no SO2!). We opened this for Cathy's 50th bday bash, a few centilitres of pure heaven, dense yet leaving no sensation of weight or cloying, the taste lingering on the palate for what seemed like ten minutes, powerful apricot flavours with porcini, beeswax, cocoa and truffle.

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

Value Winners,Previous Releases

Non-dry

Current Releases

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

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.

Here's my list:

About half of the wines are in that last for either exceptional value or exceptional promise; the remaining wines are in there because they were truly memorable experiences.

Mark Lipton

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' :-):

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

Wow, Salil, I wish that I'd drunk a tenth as well as you do back when I was a student. Alas, in those days I was restricted by budget, knowledge and peer group. I would never have imagined you for a fan of the S. Rhone. As it happens, so am I, and I have a vertical of Pegau's Cuvée Réservée going back to '90. All the more reason to find some excuse for getting together before too much longer...

Happy Holidays! Mark Lipton

Yup - have to say that becoming part of a tasting group in Chicago with some really knowledgeable and generous folks hasn't done me any harm (except in the wallet :-).

Fun story with the 2000 Pegau Cuvee Reservee - the wine was very mildly corked. There was just a hint of wet cardboard mustiness to it, but that faded after some time as the fruit/leather/Provencal herb character started to really come to the front. By then I was hooked (and figured that if a flawed wine could be this good, how amazing would one in pristine condition be?) And yes, I'm quite a fan of the Rhone - have had a couple of hit and miss experiences with certain Chateauneufs (at least the 03s), but generally love most things with Syrah and Grenache in them. And yes, we definitely do need to catch up at some point over some Rhones and/ or Rieslings.

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