2006 Wines of the Year

Joe,

It's probably more an educational thing than anything else and draws special significance with the bevy of producer's of Bordeaux, Burgundy and German Riesling. Knowing whether a particular Chateau, Domaine or Estate is from "here or there" is a major part of the learning curve and a good habit to get into when publishing tasting notes. Perhaps the micro-climates of Burgundy being the paramount example where a large firm like Louis Jadot makes red and white Burgundy from hundreds of specific sites in just about every appellation throughout the Cote D'Or.

Well, you can't say that you drank a Jadot and have people know what you are talking about since they make 125+ wines, but when you say "Haut Brion" all that really needs to be specified is blanc or rouge...

But, I digress, I still have trouble understanding, but there's no great suprise there.

Best,
Joe

Joe,
Where are the Italian wines? You got something against Italians? You got something against a little acid? You got something against wine that goes well with food?

I would definitely have some Fruili whites on my list and the '95 Felsina.

Walt

Walt,
Instead of giving Joe crap about his list (and I need to hang with Joe if he is drinking that kind of quality) why don't you get your own list together? Or can't you get it together? Do you have some weak Florida Jim excuse? I, on the other hand, will sit here and razz you.
Cheers!
James

James, like many I do not keep great notes and do not really rate wines but here are some memorable ones.

<b>Red</b>
'91 Dominus
'95 Felsina CC (just bought the '95 Rancia but haven't tried)
'90 L'Angelus
'82 Margaux

<b>White</b>
'96 Drouhin Les Clos
'98 Hirsch Riesling

<b>Fun, Easy Drinking, Value</b>
'05 Brun Beaujolais VV $12.50
'96 Deletang Mont St Louis sec $11, 4 years ago
'96 DVX Mums Napa $20 (local distributor cleared it out)
Many inexpensive whites from NE Italy

Thats the best I can do from memory. James, where is your list? Did I miss it or do you not drink wine?

Walt

[James Roscoe]

Walt,
You are a better man than I. I could hang with you too. Those are some seriously nice wines. Excellent work. I will cease giving you crap now.
Happy New Year!
James

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'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.

Howie,
Forgot to mention Hart Cellars '04 Foch-Vidal
Walt

Howie,
Forgot to mention Hart Cellars '04 Foch-Vidal
Walt

Hey! There's one I've had! (LOL)

All I can really say is that I am in serious envy of those who get the opportunity to taste 20 or so year old first growths. That just doesn't happen in my world.

Glenn

I've got to give my buddies at California Wine Club credit for that, as I get a lot of <i>selected</i> California wines that fit my style preferences as a result of our connection with them.

Reverie Winery 2001 Napa Valley Diamond Mountain Red Table Wine ($75)

I just discovered Reverie a couple of weeks ago, Robin. I know it would be infanticide, but their 2004 Diamond Mountain Cab is almost ready now (but I will keep it for quite a while)! Delicious!

JoePerry, if I may, I will comment. There are many similar/exact names in and around Bordeaux, but in differing communes. I think I read somewhere that there are 15+ Latours,La Tour, etc. So naming the commune removes the potential confusion. Another quick example I can think of is Ch Lagrange..is the St Julien or Pomerol?

[Robin Garr]

I just discovered Reverie a couple of weeks ago, Robin. I know it would be infanticide, but their 2004 Diamond Mountain Cab is almost ready now (but I will keep it for quite a while)! Delicious!

No kidding! The Delectus Cab really blew me away too. I had almost reached the point where I was drinking just about zero California wines other than Laurel Glen and ESJ and one or two others, but the monthly box from CWC has kind of recalibrated me a little bit. I still don't like points-chasing fruit bombs, but they manage to avoid those at least 75 or 80 percent of the time.

here's a bunch:

Red: Drouhin Musigny 1964
White: E. Müller Scharzhofberger Auslese auction 1976
Dessert: Dönnhoff Niederhauser Herrmannshöhle TBA 2003
Sparkling: Taittinger Comtes de Champagne blanc 1966
Fortified: Bodegas Tradicion Ammontillado muy viejo

Cheers,

Peter

[David M. Bueker]

Dessert: Dönnhoff Niederhauser Herrmannshöhle TBA 2003

Name dropper...boy am I jealous!

Name dropper...boy am I jealous!

I only put it in for you...

Peter

off the top of my head,
Sparkling
1971 Moet Brut Imperial en Magnum
1982 Salon
Fortified
1870 Blandy Malmsey
1912 D'Olivera Verdelho
Whites
1992 Robert Weil Spatlese
1998 Dorigo Picolit
1993 Prager Klaus Smaragd Riesling
1997 Frei Weingarten Achleiten Smaragd Gruner Veltliner
Reds
1982 Cerretto Barolo Zonchera
1974 Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
1975 Costanti Brunello di Montalcino Reserva
1989 Chateau Beaucastel

Red:
De Conciliis "Naima" 2000 (Paestum IGT - all Aglianico)

Honorable mention red:
Daniel Gehrs Syrah 2001 (Santa Barbara County)

White:
Chateau Montalena Chardonnay 2002

Admittedly TJcentric:

1996 Stags’ Leap Winery, Napa Valley, Petite Syrah

2001 Tobin James, Silver Reserve, Syrah

2000 Tobin James, Silver Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon

1998 Easton, Shenandoah Valley, Zinfandel

2001 Tobin James, Commemorative, Zinfandel

1998 Chateau Puy-Blanquet, Saint Emilion

1998 Tobin James, Ranchita Caynon Vineyard, Paso Robles, Petite Sirah

2001 Tobin James, Silver Reserve, Rofosco

1999 Galante, Rancho Galante, Carmel Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon

2000 Tobin James, Silver Reserve, Merlot

and '58 Vallana Spanna

Ah, 1998 Monte Real Reserva...

Enjoy whatever bottles you still have of that, Joe, as Riojanas has now changed the style of Monte Real Reserva very radically, to make it disgustingly darker and more "modern". The last vintage in the old style was 1999. Then came 2000 and we lost one of the QPR greats of all time.

My year was full of many beautiful wines, most of which are imported by Neal Rosenthal or Joe Dressner. One of the most memorable whites has to have been the 2005 Hirtzberger "Singerriedel". One of the best Champagnes was the fabulous, youthful, intense 1988 Pol Roger Brut Chardonnay. Best sparkling wine overall (or well, maybe not quite sparkling due to age) was 1967 Huet Pétillant. Best Beaujolais was the 2005 Coudert "Tardive". There were a number of very impressive older Bordeaux, but I won't single out any in particular, since, given the state of Bordeaux today (yech!) this only serves to plunge me to the depths of depression. As many of you know, Spain is pretty much dead to me these days. Almost nothing worth tasting, let alone drinking. A 1981 Vega Sicilia "Único" at Kane's Vega Sicilia extravaganza of a few months ago was quite nice. Ditto for a 1989 Valduero. From Rioja it was all about the usual suspects. Pick whichever you want. They're always the winners. Maybe 1962 Bosconia, or 1970 Imperial, or 1946 Riscal, or 1976 Conitno. I don't know, It's all a blur...

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.

Surprises of the year?

How truly lovely 1993 Château Certan de May is these days.

That Rhys Pinot Noir, the praises of which I started singing until I found out its price.

Eric Texier's 2004 CdP. This, had on New Year's Eve, proved to be the one Châteauneuf (quadruple-yech!-plus-gag, usually) that both Jay Miller and this humble Liquidator could actually enjoy.

How well 2000 red Burgundies are drinking these days.

Of course, what I'm still waiting for, now that everyone's gotten this whole "Best of 2006" stuff off their chests, is the "Worst of 2006". I have a few... In fact, one of them is that horrible roadkill-on-the-Jersey-turnpike-close-to-a-chemical-plant red from Almería we had at Artisanal the other day.

Ah, 1998 Monte Real Reserva...

Enjoy whatever bottles you still have of that, Joe, as Riojanas has now changed the style of Monte Real Reserva very radically, to make it disgustingly darker and more "modern". The last vintage in the old style was 1999. Then came 2000 and we lost one of the QPR greats of all time.

Manuel,

Do you know if Riojanas did the same to the Viña Albina? It's available locally for around $17-18 (I think the current vintage being sold is the '99) and I've bought some but have been debating whether to get some more?

Thanks for your infinite wisdom.

-- Bruce

I don't know about the "infinite wisdom" bit, but am glad to help whenever and wherever I can.

As far as I know, the big change applies only to Monte Real Reserva from the 2000 vintage onward. Riojanas hasn't messed with Albina yet (there would be little point in doing this, since they market a "modern" version of Albina as "Gran Albina" already; major toothpicks... "Updaitng" the standard Albina would mean it would be in direct competition with Gran Albina and would leave a niche in the market completely uncovered).

The '99 Albina was very nice the last time I tasted it (late 2005), though perhaps for shorter-term cellaring than its brethren from 1996 or 1998. At $15 or so, one can't go wrong holding a few bottles.

I still can't fathom why Riojanas would muck up Monte Real the way they did. As if there wasn't enough anonymous, pseudo-modern wine product in Rioja already. They gave up one of the most distinctive wines in the region, with one of the best track records for QPR, and are now... Well, let's just say that they're well fit for the Jorge Ordóñez portfolio, if he'd have them.

Jenise, you get the "Nonchalance" Award for pairing 1929 Margaux with "neat."

My faves of the year were a Rene LeClerc Griotte-Chambertin 2000 -- so gorgeous, so intense, and yet almost weightless -- and a 2004 "Le Nain Violet" from those lunatics Mark Hoddy and Richard Case at Domaine de la Pertuisane.

Oh, and I guess the bottle of Domaine Gauby "Les Calcinaires" we drank at L'Epi Dupin. I don't remember the vintage, just the perfume of raspberries...

Ah, one more: Diebolt-Vallois "Fleur de Passion" 2000 Champagne. Mango and cocoanut on the nose, luscious decadent fruit on the palate, yet finished clean as a whistle. Wow.

Many thanks for your wisdom, infinite or otherwise. I am very grateful for your warning and share your disgust with what they did with the Monte Real Reserva -- while I haven't had the dubious distinction of having tasted a spoofulated 2000 or later bottle, as you have, the pre-change bottles I have had ('96, '97) are among my favorite Riojas ever. Thankfully, I have easy access to Puerta Vieja Crianzas, Albina Reservas and even the Medieval (joven?) at various stores near where I live.

Of course, what I'm still waiting for, now that everyone's gotten this whole "Best of 2006" stuff off their chests, is the "Worst of 2006". I have a few... In fact, one of them is that horrible roadkill-on-the-Jersey-turnpike-close-to-a-chemical-plant red from Almería we had at Artisanal the other day.

That sounds like fun! I will nominate that awful, harsh caramel and oak bomb Oakville AVA Cab (Tamber Bey) I had this weekend (that others liked. Tastes do differ! )

The stinky hippy wine (Rancho Las Flores) was pretty bad, too.

Third: Castle Rock Vino Raw Bell Pepper (er, Cabernet Sauvignon).

[James Roscoe]

I had a 1955 Suduiraut this past December that was better than any wine I've ever tasted. I need to get my notes together and post them as I had some other amazing wines that evening. This was the best of the night and of the year. I don't know if I'll be able to top it in 2007.