quicksearch
Gismondi on Wine 2010 - 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 2010 - 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 2010. 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.
Number 1
97 Cheval des Andes 2006 Malbec - Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlot
Las Compuertas, Vistalba District, Luján de Cuyo, Northern Region, Mendoza, Argentina
BC $83.00, AB $75.00, ON $85.00, QC $76.00
The star of the 2001 to 2006 vertical is the soon to be released '06 Cheval des Andes. Pierre Lurton (Cheval Blanc) and Nicolas Audebert (Cheval des Andes) have made the ultimate French style Argentine malbec in '06. The colour is black the nose an exceptional scent of minerality toasted bread, floral notes and liquorice. On the palate the wine is silky smooth and loaded with sweet tannins and big spicy, savoury, black cherry, violet flavours. There is perfect tension between acidity and the fruit that gives this 60/35/5 blend of malbec, cabernet sauvignon and merlot wine the finesse, complexity and structure to age for a decade and beyond. Seriously good. (AG-ST)
No. 2 95 Bodegas Alion 2004 Ribera del Duero, Castilla-Leon, Spain BC $480.00 (3000 ml) speculative listing - Mark Anthony Brands, BC $85.00 specialty listing, BC $160.00 (1500 ml), ON $81.00, QC $83.00 Alión is made not far from the River Duero and the famed Vega Sicilia. That said it is an entirely different wine, modern to begin with, and bold with intense dark fruit and meaty, mineral liquorice flavours. It is 100 per cent aged in French oak with substantial if round tannins in the back end. Very impressive now but will clearly improve in bottle as it ages say five to ten years. (AG-ST)
|
No. 3 | |
|
95 William Fèvre Chablis Bougros Côte Bouguerots Grand Cru Domaine 2008 | |
|
Chablis, Burgundy, France | |
|
BC $89.00 specialty listing, AB $92.00, ON $77.00 | |
|
Orange, lime, floral, spicy, seashell, lees, granny smith aromas. Rich, round, good concentration, full, juicy palate. Seashell, seaweed, granny smith, lime, spicy, lees, honey flavours with creamy acidity. Very fine, will age and improve well. Bougros Côte Bouguerots makes up 2.11 ha of 12.6 ha Bougros appellation. Impressive bottle. (ST) | |
|
No. 4 | |
|
95 William Fèvre Les Preuses Chablis Grand Cru Domaine 2008 | |
|
Chablis, Burgundy, France | |
|
BC $86.00 speculative listing - Grady Wine Marketing | |
|
Like all the Fèvre wines the nose has big floral component with lime, lemon, spice, lees, and oyster shell and seaweed aromas. The palate is rich, round and elegant with juicy, concentrated but lots of finesse. Floral, creamy, spicy lees, lime, green apple, oyster shell, lemon, vanilla, grassy flavours. Long and very fine, has concentration and finesse. (ST) | |
|
No. 5 | |
|
95 William Fèvre Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru Domaine 2008 | |
|
Chablis, Burgundy, France | |
|
BC $99.00 specialty listing, ON $86.00 | |
|
There something about Le Clos that attracts you immediately to Chablis. Expect an enticing mix of honey, floral, spicy fruit aromas with lime, seashell, butter, waxy, ripe apple and peach scents. Full, ripe, rich, juicy, creamy palate, quite ripe. Floral, lime, green apple, orange, seashore, seashell, mineral flavours. Long, juicy, tight, excellent concentration, will age well. Outstanding quality that may merit a higher score down the road in a year or two. The Fèvre Grand Cru's all showed exceptionally well, very few marks difference between them. The edge goes to Les Clos and Les Preuses but there is only a 1 point separation between any of them. (ST) | |
|
No. 6 | |
|
95 William Fèvre Valmur Chablis Grand Cru Domaine 2008 | |
|
Chablis, Burgundy, France | |
|
BC $86.00 speculative listing - Grady Wine Marketing | |
|
Full, precise, concentrated and juicy with a tart tautness best describes this edition. Love the floral, lime, citrus, green apple, lees, seashell, honey aromas and the additional mineral, seashell, seaweed, floral, nectarine, smoky, chalky flavours. Long, great, juicy texture and creaminess. Needs time but will be outstanding. Lots of stuff here. One to buy for the long haul and cellar. The Valmur comes off 1.15 ha of the total 13.2 hectares exposed south by southeast. A super bottle too. (AG-ST) | |
|
No. 7 | |
|
95 Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon Casa Real 2005 | |
|
Buin, Valle del Maipo, Region del Valle Central, Chile | |
|
BC $80.00 specialty listing | |
|
Last but not least is the Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon Casa Real 2005, perhaps the best I have ever tasted. Made with 40-plus year old fruit the Casa Real entices you with its sublime nose of mint, cassis and spicy liquorice all supporting pure plum fruit. The textures are sublime, so supple, so balanced and zero green. Nothing but rich dense fruit in a sophisticated cabernet sauvignon. The best since 1999 and perhaps already better than that fine bottle. (AG) | |
|
No. 8 | |
|
95 Frescobaldi Giramonte 2006 Merlot - Sangiovese | |
|
Tuscany, Italy | |
|
BC $79.99 speculative - Grady Wine Marketing, AB $86.00 fine wine shops, ON $79.00, QC $85.00 | |
|
An 80/20 blend of merlot and sangiovese Giramonte is a small production, single-vineyard wine grown at Frescobaldi's Tenuta di Castiglioni estate. Love the ripe black cherry, coffee, chocolate, savoury nose flecked with cedar, meat, peppery, and barnyard, leather aromas. Rich, round, dry, supple grained tannins with balanced acidity with fine succulence. Smoky, peppery, earthy, black cherry, plum jam, espresso, cedar, tobacco, liquorice and orange peel flavours. A huge wine that is but a bambino and will need a decade or more to reach its potential. Great fruit and intensity. A wine that will outlive most buyers. (AG-ST) | |
|
No. 9 | |
|
95 Domaine Christian Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 2008 | |
|
Chablis, Burgundy, France | |
|
BC $67.00 specialty listing, AB $55.00 fine wine boutiques, MB $65.00 | |
|
Floral, light honey, light lees, lime, acacia, seashore, green apple, pear skin, slightly nutty lees aromas. Fresh, round, elegant, juicy, clean palate with honey, nectarine, nutty lees, spicy, lime, lemon, seashell, light butter, floral, vanilla flavours. Very long, juicy, ripe creamy acid finish with cool fruit. Chiselled but full. Drink now or keep for 3-7 years. The very rocky soil at les Clos is Kimmeridgien marl-calcium carbonate mixed with white, dense clays. Vine density is 7000 vines/ha., but the vineyard is only 10 years old. Some 65 percent is aged in stainless vats the remainder is in 10 per cent new barrels and 90 percent one, two and three year old barrels for six months. (AG-ST) | |
|
No. 10 | |
|
95 Louis Jadot Chambertin Clos de Beze Grand Cru (Domaine Louis Jadot) 2006 | |
|
Gevrey-Chambertin, Côtes de Nuits, Côte d'Or, Burgundy, France | |
|
BC $320.00 Speculative - International Cellars Inc. | |
|
Spicy, peppery, sauvage, compost, cherry, strawberry, menthol, tobacco, meaty, coffee, carrot top aromas. Rich, ripe, round and full with good finesse and some light, grainy tannin with fresh acidity. Floral, strawberry, meaty, spicy, smoky, coffee, tobacco, sage, minty, barnyard flavours. A bit tannic with some rustic notes now but has a good long, full intense finish. Needs 5-7 years. Domaine Louis Jadot controls 2.04 acres in Clos-de-Bèze of which half were acquired in 1985 through the purchase of Domaine Clair Daü, with the balance under long-term contract. (AG-ST) | |
