Top Twelve

Shane's Notes

Here’s our eighth top twelve list. A quick review of the rules that we follow: we choose 4 wines in the under $15 category, 4 in the $15 - $30 category and four in the over $30 category. Also, a winery can only appear once on the list.

The Charamba and the La Loggia are two of the best wines we’ve ever tasted in their respective price range. In fact, I have no qualms about serving the Charamba to guests. I bet a lot of people would guess that it costs $10 to $15 or even more. The Chablis was a huge surprise to Jen. She’s the Chablis person in our marriage, and she insisted that a seventeen dollar Chablis could not possibly be any good. This Chablis changed her mind.

I felt like we had been slighting Napa wines, so after some diligent research, I bought a couple of Spring Mountain wines and they both made the list. To my palate, they appear much more concentrated than the wines coming from the valley floor.

For the first time, we had a mild disagreement over a few wines that could not be resolved. I wanted the Loring Pinot on the top twelve list, and while Jen liked it, she wanted the Vosne Romanee on the list instead. Jen loves Burgundies and well, let’s just say that I once said Burgundies would taste better if all the Pinot were uprooted and replaced with Gamay (Please don’t flood us with emails calling me an idiot. I know that many oenophiles think that Burgundies represent the pinnacle of fine wine. However, these determinations are purely subjective, and since I’m writing this, I get to push my point of view). There are several reasons why I don’t like Burgundy. I heavily favor QPR wines and even Burgundianphiles admit that Burgundy is a lousy QPR wine region. Also, I just don’t like the flavor palate of Burgundies. We once bought a Burgundy for around $60 that tasted like soy sauce! Anyway, it is my humble prediction that in a hundred years, new world Pinot will be the standard and Burgundy will have faded into oblivion. So, if you agree with Jen, your top twelve includes the Vosne Romanee, and if you agree with me, your top twelve includes the Loring.

The Montelena and the Condrieu were sublime – both are absolutely world class wines.

$4.99, 2004 Aveleda Charamba
Aye Charamba Redux, 1/29/07

$5.99, 2004 La Loggia, Barbara d’Alba
A Great House Wine, 12/18/06

$9.99, Castano, Hecula, 2003 Yecla red
A Heckuva Hecula (or A Yummy Yecla), 12/8/06

$14.99, 2005 Vouvray, Champalou
Another Great Vouvray, 11/29/06

$16.99, 2005 Chablis, “Champs Royaux” William Fevre
Inexpensive Chablis, 11/29/06

$19.99, 2005 Carl Schmitt-Wagner, Riesling Spatlese, Mosel
A Spicy Riesling, 1/2/07

$24.99, Schweiger 2001 Merlot, Spring Mountain
Return to Spring Mountain, 1/29/07

$26.99, 2003 Walter Hansel Russian River Pinot
A Russian River Pinot, 11/22/06

$39.99, Guilliams 2002 Spring Mountain Napa Cabernet
Birthday Wines, 1/29/07

*$46.99, 2002 Vosne Romanee, Vieilles Vignes, Domaine Armelle & Bernard Rion
Smoked Meat and Leather, 1/9/07

**$46.99, 2005 Loring “Rosella’s Vineyard” Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir
Birthday Wines, 1/29/07

$74.95, 2005 Condrieu, Yves Cuilleron "Les Chaillets"
A Stunning Wine, 11/8/06

$125, 2001 Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
A Napa Cab, 1/3/07

*Jen’s Choice
**Shane’s Choice