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Home > Blogs > Uncorked > Archives > 2005 > December > 31 > Entry
The Top Wines of 2005
Okay, so this is a bit of a hodgepodge. Some have detailed tasting notes, others not so much. Prices (Ohio retail) might have changed. We ain’t the Wine Spectator here, and our list DEFINITELY isn’t “Sponsored by Cadillac.â€? But here are 15 or so wines that turned my head and pleased my palate in the past year (mostly in the past few months). If you’ve got a favorite – heck, if you’ve got a whole darn list – post a comment and share with us! No tasting notes required! I limited mine to wines that have some chance of still being on store shelves, but you have no such limitation …
In totally random order:
— Allegrini Palazzo della Torre 2001, $19.99: This wine consistently receives rave reviews, and tasted at Jay’s Kitchen Door just this week, it’s easy to see why. Looking for a structured, balanced Italian red that would will improve with age for under $20? Here it is!
— Finca Allende Rioja 2001, $26.99: This combines the best of the new world Rioja winemaking – concentration of fruit and depth of flavor – with shadings of sweet vanilla oak. Not a heavyweight, just beautifully balanced and delicious.
— Leitz 2004 Dragonstone ($15.99). This wine represents all that is right about German riesling, and why this grape can produce wines that are …
… perfect as aperitifs or as an accompaniment to meals such as Thanksgiving dinner. The Dragonstone boasts sweetness of pure Riesling fruit with just the right amount of zingy, refreshing acidity to balance.
— Foreau Vouvray Brut (non-vintage): This sparkling wine’s importer and distributor, David Schildknecht, calls it “perhaps the most complex and versatile sparkling wine made anywhere in the world outside Champgagne.â€? Who are we to disagree? Made from the chenin blanc grape, which reaches its full potential in France’s Loire Valley, this sparkler has a lime-scented minerally quality and brisk acidity to cleanse the palate. $17.99
— Alban 2004 Viognier: Winery owner John Alban also serves as a nurseryman of sorts, selling cuttings of his Rhone varietal grapevines to dozens of other California growers interested in joining the Rhone Rangers. He excelled at making Viognier long before any of his fellow winemakers had heard of the grape, from which Condrieu is made in the Rhone valley. I wasn’t a big fan of this grape – until I tasted John Alban’s. $23.99
— Jean-Luc Dubois 2003 Savigny-les-Beaune “Les Picotinâ€?: Red Burgundy can be, as you know, horribly expensive. And expensive red Burgundy can, as I know, be truly horrible. This wine is none of the above. The scorching-hot 2003 vintage has delivered full, deep pinot fruit flavors to this well-regarded producer’s bottlings, but the wine retains the lip-smacking acidity to balance the cherry-like fruit. $25.99
— Melini 1999 Chianti Classico Riserva “La Savinellaâ€?: Melini was founded in 1705, making it a relative newcomer in Tuscany. In the 1800s, the Melini family was instrumental in creating the straw-covered chianti bottle called the “fiasco,â€? which we all melted a red candle over back in, um, college. It is also one of the few Chianti producers to make a single-vineyard Chianti Classico Riserva. An intense, complex and aromatic red. I’ve also tasted the 2000 vintage of this wine, and it’s just as fine. $25.99
— Robert Pecota 2001 Syrah: THIS is the style of California syrah I’ve been waiting for. It blends the lush fruit that is the hallmark of California reds with the earthy and mineral nuances that make syrahs of the northern Rhone (Hermitage, Cote-Rotie, Cornas) so fascinating and delicious. And it manages to pull off this feat without being too heavy. From a Napa Valley winemaker who found the syrah fruit he wanted in Monterey County. And I, for one, am glad he went looking. $19.99
— Portal 2003 Tinto Crianza: A beautiful Spanish red that jumped up from the tasting bar earlier this month and both Dorothy Lane Market’s Oakwood store and Cuvee Wine Bar in Bellbrook. I remember this as a fine under-$20 bargain, though my notes don’t have the price – I’m thinking it was $14.99, and if I’m wrong, I hope somebody out there will correct me (hey, I told you this was a bit of a hodgepodge …)
— MandraRossa Fiano 2003 ($7.99): I snuck out of town to Columbus earlier this year for a wine-and-food charity event and met a new grape while I was there. The MandraRossa Fiano from Italy is made on the island of Sicily from the Fiano grape, which tastes like a viognier-chardonnay blend, only more steely and intensely flavored. It’s quite a mouthful of wine for the price.
— Qupe Syrah Central Coast 2003 ($16.99): This is a grape to which I need no introduction. We’ve had a long love affair, and it’s flourishing. Here’s a textbook California syrah, not overblown and overripe, but with a solid core of fruit, intense flavors and a hint of fresh-ground pepper on the nose. You can pay more for California syrah and get a lot less.
— Vinum Cellars CNW – I’ve been a fan of this grape (chenin blanc) and this winery since it created their “Chard-No-Way.â€? And I’ve been enjoying it by the glass at Meadowlark Restaurant. I’m not sure what the current vintage is on the shelf, but I haven’t encountered a poor vintage yet. Not sure of the current retail, but it’s comfortably under $20.
— Domaine Baumard Cuvee Ancienne (nonvintage), $28: I tasted this much earlier this year at the Cincinnati International Wine Festival, but I don’t know if it ever made it to Dayton-area shelves. But who can resist a delicious wine with a fascinating story behind it? Not me. This comes from the Loire region of France, home of the best and longest-lived cheninblanc-based wines in the world. And Baumard, established in 1634, is one of the best producers of chenin, whether in the bone-dry or nectar-sweet renditions. When Florent Baumard took over the domaine from his father Jean in the early 1990s, he discovered small amounts of multiple vintages scattered throughout the cellars. So he had a little fun. This wine is a blend of 15 vintages between 1966 and 1988. The wine is ripe and semisweet, or in the demi-sec style or slightly sweeter, but it has refreshing acidity and a long, long aftertaste with a hint of the bitter-lime component that marks fine old chenins.
— Finca Flichman 2002 Vino Reserva Malbec, $12: Add this wine to the growing list of delicious malbecs coming out of Argentina. Malbec was known primarily as a nondescript blending grape variety in France’s Bordeaux region until Argentinian winemakers started making stunning wines at reasonable prices from it. This dry red has impressive concentration but drinks smooth and friendly.
— HRM Rex-Goliath “Giant 47-pound Rooster” 2002 Pinot Noir Central Coast, $7.99: You can tell the serious wine geeks from the pretenders by what they do when they enter a wine shop for the first time. Calistoga Cellars winemaker Barry Gnekow stopped in at Arrow Wine & Spirits’ Kettering store to talk business early this year, but he became so engrossed in the selections, he had to be dragged away from the shelves just to accomplish his mission. On the way out, he singled out this bottling, despite not having any financial connection to it, as a bargain, saying he knew the source of the grapes and it was far more prestigious than the price tag would suggest. It’s an old line in the wine business, but it still works.
— Almost anything by Verget in his vast line of White Burgundies
— Anything by J.L. Chave, including the Mon Couer Cotes du Rhone, the Offerus St. Joseph or, of course, the flagship-but-wildly-expensive Hermitage.
So, there’s my year-ending list. Got any you’d like to add?
Happy New Year to you, and, of course, cheers!
Mark Fisher
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Comments
By Cynthia
January 5, 2006 12:18 PM | Link to this
I heard this story New Year’s eve from a friend of mine. He had asked for a nice set of red wine glasses for Christmas and his co-workers obliged. Unfortunately, they weren’t wine lovers and you guessed it… he received a lovely set of RED PLASTIC wine glasses! Apparently they had to look all over town for them, go figure!
By Cynthia
January 5, 2006 12:15 PM | Link to this
Ok, I admit it. I overindulged during the holidays and am now commited to a few weeks on the wagon. Are there ANY decent non-alcoholic wines out there yet? I tried Fre a few years back but I wasn’t impressed. A nice dinner just doesn’t seem the same without a glass of something besides water!