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Gismondi on Wine 2007 - Top 100 by Anthony Gismondi and Stuart Tobe We taste thousands of wines a year including a large number of wines that are no longer available through traditional retail channels.
Gismondi on Wine 2007 - Top 100
by Anthony Gismondi and Stuart Tobe
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 2007. 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.
No. 1
96 House of Salon Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil-sur-Oger 1996
Champagne, France
BC $359.00, AB $370.00 fine wine shops, ON $350.00 arriving Fall 2007, QC $350.00 arriving Fall 2007
The House of Salon only makes one wine - the Blanc de Blancs, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. Even then it's only produced in the finest years and its release occurs only when the winery thinks it's ready, usually some 6 to 8 years later - surely a rare occurrence in the modern wine business. The fruit comes off a single hectare of vines known as Le Jardin de Salon and 19 other smaller parcels totalling just over 9 hectares in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. The 1996 is everything you think it should be powerful yet elegant, youthful but drinkable, and packed full of nutty, mineral, citrus flavours. Very fine bubble. Highly refined champagne. (AG-ST)
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No. 2 | |
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95 Kendall-Jackson Stature Red 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlot - Petit Verdot | |
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Napa Valley, California, United States | |
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BC $175.00 Special Order - Summit Fine Wines | |
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The '02 Stature is a 70/28/2 cabernet /merlot/petit verdot blend that is beginning to awaken. Stature is always the best of the best fruit meaning it is a vintage dependent, block by block pick. Love the coffee, leather, tobacco notes as they mix with the spicy, blackberry jam, clove and cedar aspects. On the palate, the wine is rich, round, supple and concentrated. It has fine density to the corners with smoky, vanilla, coffee, peppery, blackberry jam, black cherry, clove, olive, cardamom flavours with a warm, long finish. It's beginning to shape up but with its finesse and length, it has fine potential to age through 2015. Well done. (AG-ST) | |
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No. 3 | |
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95 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon 2004 | |
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Australia | |
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BC $27.99 specialty listing, AB $28.00 fine wine shops, MB $33.00, NF $30.00, ON $30.00 Vintages | |
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Noble One continues to impress one vintage short of its 25th anniversary. The 2004 has undergone two important changes: the switch to screwcap (for those markets who want it) and the addition of 20 per cent un-oaked juice to the final blend. The result is a new level of aromatics that in a sense has allowed Noble One to trade its some mid-palate weight for stunning vibrancy in the mouth. We love the big apricot, botrytised nectarine fruit, the layered spicy, orange marmalade flavours streaked with creamy, smoky, vanilla flecks. The finish is as crisp and clean with plenty of honey, dried apricot, baked apple, melon, grapefruit and butter with a creamy vanilla, toasty, fig finish This should age gracefully for decades under screwcap. Fabulous value. (AG-ST) | |
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No. 4 | |
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95 Penfolds Yattarna Bin 144 Chardonnay 2004 | |
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Henty, Western Victoria, Victoria, Australia | |
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BC $94.00 specialty listing, AB $90.00 fine wine boutiques, MB $86.00, NF $90.00, ON $90.00, QC $90.00, SK $100.00 | |
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Chief winemaker Peter Gago grins when he says there is zero new oak in the '04 Yattarna now under screwcap. In just over a decade Yattarna has gone from the whole, meal deal blockbuster Oz oak bomb to a sophisticated Burgundian style barrel-fermented in French barriques that you can age. This is a sensational chardonnay from Henty, Western Victoria that is surely at the top of the game in Australia. The nose is the best yet, tightly strung with spicy, creamy, lees characters and the scent of nectarine and limes. Roasted nuts and citrus fruit coat the mid-palate before it finishes long clean and balanced. Elegance and power in a tight package. Bravo (AG-ST) | |
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No. 5 | |
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95 Penfolds Grange Bin 95 Shiraz 2002 | |
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South Australia, Australia | |
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BC $329.00 specialty listing, AB $300.00 fine wine boutiques, MB $310.00, NF $298.00, NF $298.00, NS $296.00, ON $320.00, QC $300.00, SK $299.00 | |
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Grange has always been more icon than textbook shiraz. In 2002 the regional fruit sourcing included Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. It's 98.5 per cent shiraz with a dusting of cabernet sauvignon. Based on what Max Schubert termed 'a riper spectrum of fruit' production remains low in the 5000 to 8000 case mark. This is a very fine Grange with plenty of chocolate, coffee and ripe black currant aromas spiked with licorice. The palate is no less intense with dense sweet fruit bathed in a youthful sheen of vanilla and soft tannins. Chief winemaker Peter Gago calls it deceptively accessible. It's his first Grange and it's clear the tradition and the challenge has been accepted. (AG-ST) | |
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No. 6 | |
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95 Kendall-Jackson Stature Red 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlot - Petit Verdot | |
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Napa Valley, California, United States | |
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BC $169.00 speculative listing - Summit Fine Wines, AB $170.00 fine wine shops, ON $107.00, QC $109.00 | |
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The latest Stature (2004) gets 80 percent of its fruit off Stagecoach Vineyard in Napa, with 18 per cent from Mt Veeder and only 2 per cent from Jackson Park in Sonoma's Bennett Valley. It is more opulent than the '03 with a million dollar nose and youthful, spicy, black fruit and powerful fine grained cabernet tannins. The mix is 90/5/2/2/1 cabernet sauvignon/petit verdot/malbec/merlot/cabernet franc aged 20 months in 95 per cent French oak. Just a baby and it is early days, but perhaps this the first Stature with structure and style to warrant serious attention by global cabernet collectors. It would easily give the California cult wines a run for their money at a much lower base cost. No release date yet. (AG-ST) | |
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No. 7 | |
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95 Colgin IX Proprietary Red 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlot - Cabernet Franc - Petit Verdot | |
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Napa Valley, California, United States | |
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US $250.00 | |
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Colgin's 20 acre vineyard sits between 900-1400 feet above sea level. The rocky, low yielding hillside site is home to the 59/22/13/6 blend of cabernet sauvignon/merlot/cabernet franc/petit verdot. The colour is opaque. The nose, magnificent mix of juicy, fruity black cherry and finely chiselled acidity. The tannins are dense yet silky smooth - a real cult wine trademark. The flavours are layered and intense all playing on the rich fruit, dark chocolate theme with a minerality and acidity to balance the equation. Excellent New World red that should be best by 2015. The winery released 1200 cases at $250 in April 2007. (AG) | |
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No. 8 | |
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94 Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 2004 | |
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Aloxe-Corton, Côte de Beaune, Côte d'Or, Burgundy, France | |
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BC $135.00 speculative - Grady Wine Marketing | |
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Spicy, melon, lees, vanilla, toasty, butter, citrus, baked green apple skin, pear, mineral, honey aromas. Dry, rich, tight, concentrated palate with very good acidity. Fresh with green apple, spicy, mineral, vanilla, lees, honey, citrus peel, floral flavours and a buttery, anise finish. Very young, needs 3-7 years. Has structure and vibrancy if a slightly hard edge. Not quite the finish of the Chevalier but it has fine intensity. (ST) | |
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No. 9 | |
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94 Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Chevalier Montrachet Grand Cru 2004 | |
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Puligny Montrachet, Côte de Beaune, Côte d'Or, Burgundy, France | |
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BC $259.00 speculative listing - Grady Wine Marketing | |
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Floral, honey, smoky, mineral, vanilla, citrus, waxy, lees, spicy, peach skin nose with a touch of butterscotch. Dry, elegant, tight, fresh acidity but fine finesse. More mineral, green apple, citrus flavours mixed with butterscotch, lime, peach skin and nutty lees notes with spicy, waxy, honey, vanilla flavours on the finish. Very bright acidity but great long finish with good intensity. Needs time, perhaps 3-10 years. Very fine. (ST) | |
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No. 10 | |
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94 William Fèvre Les Preuses Chablis Grand Cru 2004 | |
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Chablis, Burgundy, France | |
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BC $75.00 speculative - Grady Wine Marketing | |
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The star of Fèvre's 2004's and one to buy. Look for a melon, vanilla, lees, and lemon oil nose with butter, honey, smoky flint, chalk and anise. Round, rich, elegant, dry and fresh. Waxy, lees, lemon, lime, green apple, buttery, honey, floral, pear, juicy flavours. Long and succulent with good acidity and delicacy but full. Excellent, can age 3-7 years. (ST) | |
The complete list is avalible here
