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| Northwest Wine Fan Presents |
| Wine Spectator's Top Ten Wines of 2007 |
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| The 2004 vintage was the very last in which the Robert Mondavi family was involved in the winery, and it produced the best Mondavi Reserve since the 1996. Comprising of 86 percent Cabernet Sauvignon with Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot, this is a sensational wine from a classic vintage in Napa Valley. Winemaker Genevieve Janssens has brought new luster to this Napa stalwart, and the winery still has access to some of the valley's top Cabernet vineyards. Drink Now - 2018 |
| Released this year, Krug's 1996 is one of the last '96 vintage Champagnes to reach the market and it is the last vintage to draw on the experience of three generations of the Krug family (including now-director Olivier Krug) during the base wines blending. The growing season saw generally warm and sunny days and unusually cool nights, resulting in wines with great ripeness but also high acidity. Grapes were sourced from the vineyards of seventeen different villages. It was disgorged in late 1996. Drink 2009 - 2040 |
| #9 Robert Mondavi 2004 Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon |
| #10 Krug Brut Champagne 1996 |
| 95 Points - $125.00 8,688 cases made |
| 99 Points - $250.00 10,000 cases made |
| Ornellaia - a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot from a 225-acre estate overseen by Lamberto Frescobaldi - remains among the flagship wines from the rapidly growing Bolgheri area on the Tuscan coast. The warm Mediterranean coastal climate tends to favor international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot over Sangiovese, the staple grape of most other winemaking areas in Tuscany. This is the best Ornellaia since the 1997 vintage. Best after 2009 |
| Carnival of Love is made from three contiguous blocks of the Gateway Vineyard, the same site that produces the Mollydooker Shiraz Velvet Glove. Sparky and Sarah Marquis find that they best capture color and fresh fruit character by fermenting Shiraz at relatively low temperatures. They bottled the wine after nine months of barrell-aging in two sets of 100 percent new American oak. Drink Now - 2020 |
| 97 Points - $150.00 11,710 cases made |
| 95 Points - $80.00 4,738 cases made |
| #7 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Bolgheria Superiore Ornellaia 2004 |
| #8 Molly Dooker 2006 Carnival of Love Shiraz - McLaren Vale |
| Two Hand's partners Richard Mintz and Michael Twelftree have excelled with their Garden series, six regional Shiraz bottlings made with purchased grapes. Bella's Garden, from Barossa, is often the best of them. Shiraz for the 2005 Bella's came from nine sites, picked relatively early to preserve freshness and acidity. To better highlight the terroir, the wine receives only 20 percent new French oak, significantly less than most top-tier Barossa Shiraz bottlings. Drink 2008 - 2017 |
| Bordeaux's wet cool 2004 vintage got lost between the exceptional 2003 and 2005, but Jean-Hubert Delon's St. Julien estate consistently delivers excellent wines in both great and difficult years. Half of the chateau's 250 acres are planted in the famous Clos Leoville Las Cases, a gravelly vineyard that gently slopes down to the Gironde River. The wine was fermented in a mix of stainless-steel tanks, oak vats and cement tanks, then aged for about 18 months in oak barriques. Best after 2012 |
| 95 Points - $60.00 5,000 cases made |
| 95 Points - $90.00 20,000 cases made |
| #5 Two Hands Bella's Garden 2005 Shiraz - Barossa Valley |
| #6 Chateau Leoville Las Cases St.-Julien 2004 France |
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| #1 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2005 - France |
| #2 Ridge 2005 Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountain Estate |
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| This estate is run by Lucien Michel, his wife Marie-Jose, and daughter Claire. Keeping to tradition, they make only one cuvee of red Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The 2005 comprises 75 percent Grenache (from vines averaging 90 years of age), 15 percent Syrah and 10 percent Mourvedre and Cinsault. The Michels chose to retain 50 percent of the stems during fermentation to build the wine's structure. The wine is matured in foudres at least two years old. Drink Now - 2025 |
| Arguably the first super Tuscan, this blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc was first produced in 1971. Today as then, proprietor Piero Antinori uses grapes from the 116-acre Tignanello vineyard, part of the Santa Cristina estate in the Chianti Classico region. The long, measured summer of 2004 produced a full, concentrated and velvety wine that matches the quality of the great 1997 and 1998 vintages. Best after 2012 |
| 95 Points - $49.00 4,250 cases made |
| 95 Points - $79.00 26,665 cases made |
| The Chardonnay in the Ridge lineup might be overshadowed by the label's famous Cabernet-based Monte Bello, but Ridge has been making Chardonnay since 1962. The Santa Cruz bottling comes from 12 lots of vines planted on the Monte Bello estate vineyard in the 1980's, with elevation ranging from 1,400 to 1,900 feet. The cool, mountain climate keeps the acidity lively and the flavors fresh and concentrated. Paul Draper is the winemaker. Best Now - 2011 |
| 95 Points - $35.00 2,000 cases made |
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| #4 Antinori Toscana Tignanello 2004 - Italy |
| #3 Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2005 - France |
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| 98 Points - $80.00 7,500 cases made |
| In the Southern Rhone's trio of great vintages starting with 2003, no other Chateauneuf-du-Pape domain has produced better wines than Clos des Papes. Under Vincent Avril, quality has improved steadily and the 2003 (97 points) was Wine Spectator's #2 wine in 2005. At 98 points the 2005 is Avril's best wine yet, displaying an enormous core of fruit and minerality along with massive structure. The Clos des Papes red (the estate also produces a white) is a blend of 65 percent Grenache, 20 percent Mourvedre, 10 percent Syrah and other grapes from 74 acres of vines from around Chateauneuf. Avril keeps yields low, picks vineyard blocks separately for ideal ripeness and vinifies the destemmed grapes in ceramic-lined vats. The wine is aged in large wooden foudres for up to twelve months before the final blend is assembled. Best 2009 - 2030 |
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