At VintageSpec, Stacy and I just posted our Top Ten wines for 2007 - wines that we carried here at the store. My list was as follows:
10. 2004 Alvaro Palacios, 'Les Terrasses', Priorat, Spain, $32
A perennial fave, and an amazing value.
9. 2003 Giacomo Grimaldi, Barolo, "Le Coste", Piedmont, $57
A revelation - a modernista winemaker that lets the wine speak for itself.
8. 2004 Aalto, "Aalto", Ribera del Duero, Spain, $51
Total sexpot. Imagine Sophia Loren, c. 1965. All berries, musk and dry riverbed stones.
7. 2003 Elio Altare, Barolo, Piedmont, Italy, $83
Give it 3-5 years. Silk in a bottle. Its personality is fiery and passionate, but with feet firmly on the ground.
6. 2004 San Giusto A Rentannano, La Ricolma IGT, Tuscany, Italy, $68
A 100% Merlot in my top ten list? Will wonders never cease?
5. 2005 Schrader Cellars, CCS, Beckstoffer Tokalon, Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville, $174
A monster, not for the faint of heart. Classic cab, but structured to age.
4. 2005 Betts & Scholl, Grenache "The O.G", Barossa Valley, Australia, $25
More fun than a barrel of monkeys - the aromatics alone make me do a happy dance every time I have this.
3. 2006 Saracco, Moscato d'Asti, Piedmont, Italy, $15
Hands-down, the best wine under $20 I tasted this year. All white fruits, flowers with a touch of jasmine and honey, beautifully effervescent.
2. 2003 Bruno Giacosa, Barolo, Rocche Falletto, Piedmont, $237
This appeals to my left brain - it demands serious attention ... then, slyly, some seeps over to the right brain, and it's all over. Party Time!
1. 2004 Mas Romani, "La Creu Alta", Priorat, Spain, $115
I nearly wept the first time I tried this. It encompasses all the joy and sadness of the world. An incredible bottle - one of the top 5 young wines I've ever tried. Not to be missed.
However, there's more to wine than the ones we taste at the store - and there are some other top tens that I should acknowledge - what follows are top wines, meals, etc. Then there's the crème de la crap ... the worst stuff! Keep reading ...
Top ten wines - but not tasted at VintageSpec:
At VS, we taste what's available now - and winnow for your clientele. As salespeople have gotten to know us, they necessarily limit what they bring us. And some salespeople decide that we're well-nigh impossible to work with (i.e., "What do you mean, you don't want to carry Kendall-Jackson/Yellow Tail/Turning Leaf" - insert any insipid overproduced/overadvertised/yucky wine here) and ignore us completely.
The following list comprises of wines from my cellar, from the cellars of friends, or tasted with my tasting group, or at trade tastings not related to VintageSpec. The top two from the previous list would make this list as well, but in the interest of diversity, I'm not including them here ...
10. 1990 Guigal, Côte-Rôtie, La Landonne
9. 1990 Giacosa, Barbaresco
8. 1997 Clos Erasmus, Priorato
7. 2004 Clos Erasmus, Priorato
6. 1978 Guigal, Côte-Rôtie
5. 1999 Clos Margalaine, Bordeaux
4. 1990 Guigal, Côte-Rôtie, La Mouline
3. 1990 Giacosa, Barbaresco, Asili di Barbaresco
2. 1996 Alvaro Palacios, L'Ermita, Priorato
1. 1989 Giacosa, Barolo Riserva, Falletto del Serralunga d'Alba
The Worst Wines:
I got through the entire year without a drop of K-J passing my lips. I don't know about you, but I consider that a fine, fine achievement. I need to take better notes when something is truly awful - usually I don't even write it down. I'll make a better effort this year.
Yellow Tail
This is so cheerfully mediocre I want to spank the people responsible for it. All fluff and sweetness, it makes me retch. It is completely without structure or backbone - blech. 1.5??
2004 Donnafugata "Angheli", Sicily
A Merlot-Nero d'Avola mix. Usually I like the wines from this producer - this is uncharacteristically insipid. Damn! I know they can do better! Vile green pepper and chocolate nose. On palate, hot, vanilla, overoaked, chocolate, plums. unexciting. 1.5. Bleah.
Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label Champagne
It just gets worse and worse every year. Once you start down the road of artisanal champagne, you never go back, and this reminds you why. It is not so much a reflection of an ancient agricultural process but an industrialized product - just like cheez-whiz or twinkies. Aromas and flavors? White toast soaked in pissy lemon-water. 1.0
2002 Angus "The Bull" Cabernet Sauvignon, Australia
Buttered popcorn, plums, eucalyptus. WTF is buttered popcorn doing in a red? That's bad Chard territory, there. Wretched. 1.5-
2006 La Chiripada, Rio Embudo Red Reserve, New Mexico
Red cherry so sweet is was medicinal ... like children's Sucrets. No acid to give it structure. Bitter on finish. Tarry. Eh. Give it a 0.5 - how can one blame such idiocy? these people sooooo obviously have no clue as to what they're doing - giving this a zero would be like hating the mentally handicapped.
1. 2003 de Tarczal, Marzemino di Isera, Trentino Superiore
This was definitely the worst, even more awful than the New Mexico red. It just goes to show you that I don't necessarily love all things Italian. I tasted this blind with my tasting group - the particular person who brought this shall remain nameless but was ridiculed incessantly for months thereafter. My note, verbatim: "Vile sulfurous shit. smells like a Grenache/Pinot mix, but not in a good way. Burnt rubber bands. Banana esters. Yuck." Yep, it got a big ZERO on my rating scale - the zilch train came out of the garage. These people should know better! There are many, many talented winemakers in Trentino. Obviously, the owners of this property HATE their customers. Why else would they inflict this godawful filth on them?
Most Overhyped Wines:
Sure, sure, they were good, but annoyingly so. If they were worth the hype, they get a (+), if not, a (-). Sometimes multiples. Simple enough?
2004 El Nido, Clio, Spain (+)
Somehow, it manages to live up to the hype. Pretty tasty, but not for old bones. Even the 2003 is showing some flabbiness already. Drink up!
1997 Sine Qua Non, The Impostor McCoy, Syrah, California (+)
Yes, yes, yes, over the top, and really good. Manfred Krankl rocks my world.
1996 Greenock Creek, Shiraz Roennfeldt Road, Australia (---)
100 points from Parker ... and yet, a complete disappointment.
1. 1998 Screaming Eagle (----)
At $2-3000+ a bottle, this has to be the biggest scam going in wine. Over-the-top, ripe, fruit-driven, immense, and completely without personality. The Mitt Romney of the wine world. I get more enjoyment from $15 bottles of Aussie Shiraz.
Best Restaurant Meals:
Obviously, this reflects where I traveled to over the last year - Italy, New York and San Francisco - in addition to Colorado. 2008 will include France and Switzerland - stay tuned.
10. Blaue Gans, New York City, September 2007
9. Buca di Bacco, Liguria, Italy, October 2007
8. Mizuna, Denver, CO, October 2007
7. La Bottega del Vino, Verona, Italy, October 2007
6. Esca, New York City, December 2007
5. Casa Bleve, Rome, October 2007
4. Terra, St. Helena, CA, April 2007
3. Alle Testiere, Venice, Italy, March 2007
2. Coi, San Francisco, CA, August 2007
1. Dal Pescatore, Cannetto sull'Oglio, Italy, March 2007
Most Indifferent Restaurant Meals:
I can't really say "Worst" meals here, as most of the worst meals I've had this year emanated from my own kitchen ... I'm an acceptable cook, but I have a bad habit of last-minute improvising, which leads, see ... well, let's just say that "gastronomic holocaust" doesn't quite do it justice. What I want to list here are places that I know should do better - they have talent, or at least the possibility of getting it, and simply aren't utilizing it. Laziness is inexcusable when you're charging people for the privilege of eating at your establishment ... but I'm feeling somewhat mellow, so I won't name names nor point fingers. If enough of you want me to open the red envelope, however ... perhaps in a future post?
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