Our Top 100 Wines of the Year 2003

We taste thousands of wines a year including a large number of wines that are no longer available through traditional retail channels. This list is our top 100 picks that for the most part were released in 2002. Some may still be available somewhere in your market at better wine shops or on auction. Notes and prices are from the year they were tasted.

98 Penfolds Grange Hermitage Bin 95 Shiraz 1998 South Australia, Australia BC $230.00 Specialty, AB $225.00 Fine Wine Boutiques, ON $240.00, QC $236.25

What does one say about the 1998 Grange that hasn't already been said? The '98 Grange is serious juice and is not to be missed by the committed collector. It is a big, plummy red that has dense, luscious, raspberry/blackberry fruit streaked with liquorice and smoky toasted, mocha flavours. Schubert's recipe of old vines and low yields helps to contain the fruit even at 14 per cent alcohol. It's aged 18 to 22 months in new American oak and it's never released before it fifth year. It's early times but the '98 is already drawing comparison with the famed '96, '90 and '1986 Grange labels -- if anything the '98 is less iconic and more serious. Buy what you can afford. (AG-ST)

97 Veuve Clicquot Vintage Reserve 1996 Pinot Noir - Chardonnay - Pinot Meunier Champagne, France BC $84.30 specialty listing, ON $84.95 Vintages Essentials

Described at Clicquot as the most mature fruit ever harvested with the most acid too 1996 is one very fine vintage. The blend or cépage is dominated 59 per cent pinot noir fruit which gives the wine its structure and power and all of the fruit is from a blend of some twenty Premiers and Grands Crus designated vineyards. Big full and rich on the palate it has a citrus and stone fruit mid-palate with a nutty finish. Superb styling and built for the long haul. One of the best young Champagnes I have tasted and it's a dream Champagne vintage for collectors. Drink or hold for 15 to 20 years. (AG)

96 Boisrenard Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2001 Grenache - Syrah - Mourvèdre - Cinsault Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhone, Rhone Valley, France BC $87.95 Specialty, AB $79.95 Fine Wine Boutiques

96 Sterling Vineyards Merlot Reserve 1999 Napa Valley, California, United States BC $79.95 Specialty

We don't throw a lot points away so pay attention this is great bottle of merlot and one of few that respects the variety. Look for a minty, saddle leather, plum jam nose flecked with peppery, chocolate, vanilla, cardamom, black olive and cedar notes. It is rich, round and very concentrated on entry with ripe, grainy tannins. Huge vanilla, chocolate, coffee, plum jam flavours mix effortlessly with a minty, olive, peppery clove undercurrent. The finish is smooth and long streaked with sweet vanilla and black plums. Excellent effort from a winery that seems to have been lost in the Seagram shuffle in Canada. (AG-ST)

95 Vérité Le Désir 2000 Cabernet Franc - Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlot Sonoma County, California, United States BC $175.00 Speculative - Vinterra Wine Merchants

A kind of Sonoma Cheval Blanc, Vérité Le Désir is a 33/51/16 blend of cabernet franc, merlot, cabernet sauvignon all from Sonoma Mountain vineyards. The nose is a mix of tobacco, black pepper, spice, liquorice, earth, black cherry, prune and vanilla aromas. It's very rich, round, concentrated with ripe tannins but again with super balance. Beautiful liquorice, black cherry, cassis, vanilla, coffee spicy orange rind flavours. Very complex, long and classy. Should improve for many years. (AG-ST)

95 Kendall-Jackson Stature Chardonnay 2000 Santa Maria Valley, Santa Barbara County, Central Coast, California, United States $55

Big mango, pineapple, toasted, smoky lees aromas with honey, marmalade and citrus scents. Very rich, round and oily yet well balanced on the palate. Expect intense baked apple, spicy lees, creamy mango, citrus and honey flavours. Very long with good acidity, a top quality chardonnay for those who like intensity and we do. Sensational bottle of wine. (AG-ST)

95 Penfolds Chardonnay Reserve Bin 00A 2000 South Australia, Australia Australia $60.00 Special Events Winery Only

This one-off 'special bin' wine was made alongside the 2000 vintage of Penfolds' flagship white wine, Yattarna. On rare occasions, Penfolds winemakers have issued 'one-off' Special Bin wines that allow them to identify unique parcels of quality wine and releasing them as individual ultra-premium wines. Examples such as the Bin 60A, Bin 90A and Kalimna Block 42 wines are highly sought after by wine collectors the world over. Bin 00A stems from the Yattarna chardonnay project and is a blend of chardonnay fruit 75/25 from Tumbarumba and Adelaide Hills. The entry is awash in lees and citrus fruit with more creamy mineral lees in the aftertaste. Big complex and as rare as it gets this is a fabulous Oz chardonnay. (AG-ST)

95 Poderi Marcarini Barolo La Serra 1999 La Morra, Cuneo, Piedmont, Italy AB $83.00 Fine Wine Boutiques

Wow! This could change your mind about Barolo. So soft and sleek with bags of plummy mineral fruit, fine acidity and fine-grained tannins. Elegance is not a common descriptor of Barolo but this vintage and this wine hit the mark. Buy and cellar for five to seven years and then watch out. Rich and round California-like Barolo. (AG)

95 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve To Kalon Vineyard 1999 Napa Valley, California, United States BC $225.00 Speculative - Maxxium Canada

A select limited bottling from the finest cabernet sauvignon grapes of this vineyard, primarily from a section of 35-year-old vines. The flavours are a mix of intense blackberry and plum jam with spicy, dry cedar and an exotic mineral component. Complex warm, spicy, elegant and long with a dry cassis fruit and currant finish. Napa cabernet all wrapped up in an elegant jacket. (AG-ST)

95 Nicolás Catena Zapata 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon - Malbec Mendoza, Argentina BC $125.00 Speculative - Calibrium