BUYING GUIDE - Wine Enthusiast Magazine

La Rochelle 2010 Ferrington Vineyard
93 Chardonnay (Anderson Valley). Comes
down on the austere side of Chardonnay, trading the
modern flashy style for a sober, streamlined wine. It’s
bone dry and bright in acidity, with lemon, lime, honey
and mineral flavors, touched with sweet oak. Expensive,
but elegant and complex. Will challenge sommeliers to
come up with the perfect pairing. Consider shellfish
first. —S.H.
abv: 14.6% Price: $65
93
Maison Nicolas Perrin 2009 Hermitage. A
blend of 70% Marsanne and 30% Roussanne,
this is unusually aromatic for a white Hermitage, with
perfumed notes of pineapple and melon underscored
by hints of graphite. It’s plump on the midpalate and
custardy-rich in texture, yet focused and long on the
finish. Drink now, or sometime after 2017. Vineyard
Brands. Cellar Selection. —J.C.
abv: 13.5% Price: $79
93
Mt. Brave 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon
(Mount Veeder). With raspingly dry, hard tannins,
this is a difficult Cabernet to assess. It’s impressively
rich in blackberries and black currants, with a
firm minerality, and the overall balance is good. Seems
like it should develop over the next decade, maybe even
longer, but those tannins might outlast the fruit. Cellar
Selection. —S.H.
abv: 14.8% Price: $75
93
Pepper Bridge 2009 Seven Hills Vineyard
(Walla Walla Valley). Right on the
heels of the excellent 2008, this estate-grown Bordeauxstyle
blend is equally compelling. Bright and tasty fruit
flavors of blueberry and black cherry introduce a lively,
polished wine with a firm, complex and layered structure.
Seventeen months in French oak, roughly half
new, has wrapped the fruit in a nicely-layered, textural
finish with highlights of mineral, licorice, black olive
and spice. Editors’ Choice. —P.G.
abv: 14.1% Price: $60
93
Salomon-Undhof 2011 Wachtberg Erste
Lage Grüner Veltliner (Kremstal). This is a
ripe, creamy wine made with grapes from a single vineyard.
It’s smooth yet laced with minerality and a tang
of lemon zest, green apple and kiwi. This should age
nicely for 3–4 years. Fruit of the Vines, Inc. Cellar Selection.
—R.V.
abv: 13% Price: $28
93
St. Supéry 2007 Élu Red Wine (Napa Valley).
There’s a lot of complex, youthful charm
in this Cabernet-based wine, which was grown in both
of St. Supery’s estate vineyards, Rutherford and Dollarhide.
It’s very rich and ripe in blackberries, cassis,
blueberries and dark chocolate, with a savory spiciness.
This really defines the Napa style, and demonstrates the
great success of the 2007 vintage. —S.H.
abv: 14.5% Price: $65
93
Steven Kent 2008 Ghielmetti Vineyard
Clone Thirty Cabernet Sauvignon (Livermore
Valley). A very herbal, red-fruit-infused Cabernet,
from, as the name says, just one clone: Clone 30.
This blockbuster California Cab has leather, tobacco
and dusty dark-chocolate-layered tannins, that still
somehow taste softened and are accompanied by a note
of black licorice. Cellar it for 10–12 years and the fruit
should get along even better with the tannins. Cellar
Selection. —V.B.
abv: 14.3% Price: $100
93
Steven Kent 2008 Smith Ranch Cabernet
Sauvignon (Livermore Valley). A brooding
bottle of tobacco and dark chocolate with ever-present
tannins that go down easy and stay awhile. This singlevineyard
designate from Livermore will impress Napa
Valley Cab fans and encourage them to get to know this
producer. Smith Ranch has body for miles, bolstered by
flavors and aromas of blackberry, black plum and fig.
This wine will develop further over the next 5–7 years.
Cellar Selection. —V.B.
abv: 14.8% Price: $60
93
Stonestreet 2010 Broken Road Chardonnay
(Alexander Valley). Intense and concentrated,
this Chardonnay powerfully displays the pedigree
of its mountain terroir. The Meyer lemondrop
candy, orange and apricot fruit flavors are enriched with
minerals and uplifted by bright acidity, while the oak influence
lends a tension of opulence. A very fine, elegant
and sophisticated wine for drinking now. —S.H.
abv: 14.5% Price: $40
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