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Gismondi on Wine 2013 - Top 100 by Anthony Gismondi and Stuart Tobe Our annual top 100 continues for 2013.When we first began our picks there were few such lists in the wine world.Today they are a dime a dozen but few if any match our consistency andpersistence.
Gismondi on Wine 2013 - Top 100
by Anthony Gismondi and Stuart Tobe
Our annual top 100 continues for 2013.When we first began our picks there were few such lists in the wine world.Today they are a dime a dozen but few if any match our consistency andpersistence. We have tasted (and kept detailed notes) on an average 2500 to3000 wines per years for over twenty years. The majority of the wines aretasted under ideal conditions at our office the rest are a result of ourextensive travel schedule and trade tastings. All are, or have been, for salein Canada at some point in the year, either in government stores and privatewine shops or direct from local distributors or agents. Most of the wines werereleased in late 2011 or 2012 and many are still likely to be availablesomewhere in your market. Prices are in Canadian dollars and reflect the costof the wine when it was tasted. Prices and availability vary globally. Wherepossible we have noted the grapes used in any of the wines that are blends. Ifyou favourite wine is missing from our list it only means we likely did nottaste it this year.
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Number. 1 |
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98 Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas Vinha Velha 2011 |
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Douro Valley, Portugal |
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BC $247.00 private wine shops |
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I thought the Vinha Velha 2009 was off the charts but this wine is better. Chosen from the oldest vines grown on the five plots known to be the 'old vineyard' at Quinta de Vargellas, the 2011 is a sensational bottle. Conditions were so favourable in 2011 David Guimaraens, Taylor's Winemaker remarked that the levels of ripeness were consistent across all varieties, especially important given the varietal diversity of the old vineyard at Vargellas. Just a baby the complexity and immense mouthfeel of this wine is almost overwhelming. Concentrated and full of the pure fruit that is the hallmark of the vintage. Length volume complexity and much more to come over the next fifty years. The terraced plots containing the oldest vines (80-120 years) account for over 15% of the estate's total production although Vargellas Vinha Velha vintage port seldom exceeds 2% of the total production of the property. A worldwide bargain when compared to first growth Bordeaux or Grand Cru Burgundy. (AG) |
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No. 2 |
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98 Opus One 2009 |
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Napa Valley, California, United States |
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BC $400.00 specialty listing, ON $385.00 |
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This wine just wowed me in the tasting so elegantly straddling the New and Old World. Length, complexity, finesse all permeate its floral stony, mineral, liquorice red fruit flavours. Persistent fine grained tannins mark a refined, balanced finish. Try this again in 2019. Super effort. The fruit mix is 81/9/6/3/1 cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, petit verdot and malbec. Wolf Blass Master Blend Classification Montreal. (AG-ST) |
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No. 3 |
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97 Fonseca Vintage Port 2011 |
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Douro Valley, Portugal |
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BC $75.00 (375 ml) speculative listing - Pacific Wine and Spirits, AB $126.00 private wine stores, AB $65.00 (375 ml) private wine stores, BC $135.00 specialty listing, MB $125.00, ON $125.00 special order, QC $140.00, QC $73.00 (375 ml), SK $120.00, SK $375.00 |
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Another heady, exuberantly fruity 2011 with aromatic, blackberry jam, liquorice, black tea and spice on the nose. The attack is full on mixing fruit and soya with big concentration and length. Love the approachability of the wine but clearly it will keep for decades. Fruit stones and assorted mineral notes are all part of what will be a delicious port for decades. Young collectors should be stocking up on this. (AG-ST) |
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No. 4 |
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97 Dom Pérignon 2004 |
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Champagne, France |
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BC $217.00 specialty listing, AB $235.00 fine wine shops, ON $219.00 LCBO, QC $230.00, US $119.00 Costco |
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Winemaker Richard Geoffrey, never at a loss for the perfect words to describe his wine, has called the '04 Dom Pérignon 'tactile, dark and chiselled'. The nose is an exquisite mix of fragrant brioche, seashells and minerality that is as dense as it is intense. The blend is 53 percent pinot noir and 47 percent chardonnay in what was a fairly exuberant year for fruit. In the glass this wine is all serious a brooding sparkler whose lees and sparkle have yet to fully knit into what will surely be one of the great seamless Dom's of the decade if not the first half of the decade. This is great stuff and given the ridiculous price of top Bordeaux and Burgundy you may want to consider laying some away. (AG-ST)
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No. 5 |
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96 Altesino Brunello di Montalcino Montosoli 2008 |
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Montalcino, Siena, Tuscany, Italy |
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BC $149.00 speculative listing - Stile Brands, ON $120.00 |
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Altesino was the first Montalcino estate to select and bottle single vineyard cru wines in this case the famed Montosoli in 1975. The latest 2008 in the market is outstanding. Sleek, silky smooth, powerful and yet as elegant as they come this is a special bottle of Brunello. Montosoli is aged a full four years at the winery two of which are in large Slavonian oak barrels before spending three to four months in French barriques and then another four months in bottle. Crazy good with spice, truffle, floral, pure red fruit undertones always with perfect acidity that keep it bright through the finish. This will age forever. An old piece of cheese is all you need. Seriously, this is a bargain. (AG-ST) |
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No. 6 |
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96 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port 2011 |
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Douro Valley, Portugal |
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BC $130.00 specialty listing, AB $144.00 fine wine shops, MB $140.00, NB $142.00, ON $120.00, ON $249.00 (1500 ml), ON $62.00, QC $141.00, SK $107.00 |
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This will be a great Taylor for the cellar. Vargellas was the first Taylor quinta to harvest beginning September 10 smaller amounts were contributed by Terra Feita and Quinta do Junco. As always the nose is fragrant with floral violet tones, black tea and dried herbs. The palate is stacked with dark berry fruit and a wealth of sweet tannins - plum jam, liquorice root, mineral orange peel and black tea fill out the finish. Rich powerful yet well managed and easily identifiable as Taylor. One to age for decades. Super port. (AG-ST) |
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No. 7 |
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96 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 2004 |
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Champagne, France |
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BC $167.00 specialty listing, AB $245.00 private wine shops, NS $160.00, QC $153.00 |
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The 2004 Comtes de Champagne follows the outstanding 2002 and it too is a good one. Creamy, mineral chalky, precise, elegant, forceful and still taut and high strung. The style is bright the fruit comfortably nuanced under floral, mineral notes with a twist of oyster liqueur. This is a brilliant bottle of bubble with the structure and breed to age gracefully for a decade and more. Über cool, über elegant and simply delicious. (AG-ST) |
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No. 8 |
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96 Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2009 |
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Pauillac, Haut-Médoc, Médoc, Bordeaux, France |
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BC $1,800.00 specialty listing, ON $1,400.00 |
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Super smoke and toasted oak, as is the pattern of first growths only this time there is plenty beneath the façade including tobacco, blackberry jam, cassis, curry and cedar aromas. The palate is awash in brooding fruit that is rich long and luxurious with acidity, finesse and persistence. A fabulous bottle of wine and it is only beginning its life. The blend in '09 is 88 cabernet sauvignon 12 percent merlot. A great bottle at a crazy price. Wolf Blass Master Blend Classification Montreal. (AG-ST) |
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No. 9 |
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96 Krug Grande Cuvee N/V |
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Champagne, France |
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BC $256.00, AB $265.00 private wine shops, NF $272.00, NS $251.00, ON $245.00 LCBO - Vintages, QC $275.00 |
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"Cuvée Number One" is how the Krug family refers to its Grande Cuvée Brut and for good reason. A mix of some 130 individual sites and wide use of reserve wines make their way into this complicated, sophisticated, crazy delicious blend. There can be as many as twenty harvests in any one bottle only adding to its mystery. The nose is rich offering dried fruits marzipan, lemon brioche with an under dose of earthy cedar. How a wine can be so elegant and so powerful is a mystery that makes Krug worth every penny. Six years in the cellar are only the beginning for a wine that can sleep decades in yours. (AG-ST) |
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No. 10 |
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95 Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2010 |
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Pauillac, Haut-Médoc, Médoc, Bordeaux, France |
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BC $1,800.00 specialty listing |
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Smoky coffee, tobacco, blackberry jam, cassis, earthy, vanilla, curry, barnyard, leather and cedar aromas, very open and ripe. Dry, round, full, suave but tannic palate with very good finesse and intensity. Vanilla, smoky oak, leather, cedar, peppery, five spice, licorice, coffee, chocolate, blackberry, cassis jam flavours. Fresh acidity on the slightly warm and oaky finish lends this balance but it is definitely more forward in style with more elegance than some of the past great vintages. Cabernet Sauvignon makes up 94% of the blend with 6% Merlot. A great bottle at a crazy price. (AG-ST) |
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