2006 Wines of the Year

"By the way, 1985 Contino is indeed a discovery. What most surprised me about it was the intensity of its earthy component, with a very compelling iron-and-gravel element that put my mind somewhere between Saint-Émilion and Nuits Saint Georges."

Wow, dead on there.

Granted, it's an unusual wine. I've never asked about the composition, vineyardwise, of it and how the vintage was at Contino, specifically.

Must do that.

The strange thing is that I've tasted almost every wine ever made at Contino (by various winemakers, in various styles that are variations of the same proto-modern riff) and the '85 is the only one where this element is so pronounced.

M.

Have had a pretty lucky year with the following top 10 -

1975 Château d'Yquem
1980 Krug Champagne Clos du Mesnil
1963 Mildara Cabernet Sauvignon
1982 Château Léoville Las Cases
1985 Château Cheval Blanc
1996 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne
N.V. R.L. Buller & Son Calliope Rare Muscat
1967 Château d'Yquem
1966 Château Haut-Brion
N.V Krug

Maybe a bit late, but I can still remenber these goodies:

1. Nuits-Saint-George Argilliers 1989, Rion
2. Chablis Montains 1998, Duplessis
3. Moulin Touchais 1989
4. Ch. Bastor-Lamontagne 1990
5. Chablis Vaillon VV 1995, Jean Dauvissat
6. Chambolle-Musigny 2003, Mugnier
7. Madeira Malvasia Colheita 1994, Barbeito

With hopes for even better wines this year.

Here's a few that caught my attention for one reason or another:

2002 Bourgogne "Cuvee Gravel", Marchal
1996 Mt. Langhi Ghiran Cabernet-Merlot
1982 Ch. Langoa Barton
2001 ESJ Syrah, Peay Vyd.
2002 ESJ "The Shadow"

I've read the names of every wine posted by everyone in this thread so far and I don't think I had any of them. Either I'm not drinking the right wines or nobody else is. Instead of specific wines, my best wine experiences of the year were MOCOOL, especially all the '90 vintage Champagnes and NiagaraCOOL with the Rieslings.

For the most part, I recognize the names, and the fact that I can't afford to drink these wines.

I've read the names of every wine posted by everyone in this thread so far and I don't think I had any of them. Either I'm not drinking the right wines or nobody else is. Instead of specific wines, my best wine experiences of the year were MOCOOL, especially all the '90 vintage Champagnes and NiagaraCOOL with the Rieslings.

I guess you are one up on me then. I haven't even heard of any of them. I guess thats why I am a noob at this stuff.

Joe

I've read the names of every wine posted by everyone in this thread so far and I don't think I had any of them. Either I'm not drinking the right wines or nobody else is. Instead of specific wines, my best wine experiences of the year were MOCOOL, especially all the '90 vintage Champagnes and NiagaraCOOL with the Rieslings.

I guess you are one up on me then. I haven't even heard of any of them. I guess thats why I am a noob at this stuff.

Joe

Fibber. You've had both the Shadow and the 73 Riojanas

Fibber. You've had both the Shadow and the 73 Riojanas

Oh, is that what those were? Well, my official review of them is this... They tasted pretty good. They probably both smelled like tomatoes (as pretty much every wine smells to me).

Ciao,
Joe A.