Welcome to Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine.
In every monthly issue, we bring you the freshest, best researched, independent reviews and insider information about the complex California wine scene. We buy our wines at retail and blind taste them so that you get the most detailed and unbiased look at what's best for your table. And you don't have to take our word for it. The
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Volume 33, Issue 4: Febuary 2009
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 PINOT NOIR
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Pinot Noir is the bright spot in the local wine world these days. With Cabernet Sauvignon priced in the stratosphere and Syrah seemingly stuck in its status as understudy to the top varieties, it has been and continues to be Pinot Noir that folks are drinking and collecting.
|  CHARDONNAY
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Threatening to steal the show is the most delicious group of collectible Chardonnays to come to market in some time.
|  SAUVIGNON BLANC
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The grassy end of the Sauvignon Blanc spectrum has become quite popular with California vintners, some of whom seem to outdo even the pungent New Zealand offering when it comes to green aromatics. But, this issue finds a couple of wine of a more balanced stripe leading the way.
| MICHIGAN RIESLING
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The returning popularity of Riesling has allowed the Michigan producers to strut their stuff, and in this quick look at wines from the Old Mission Peninsula, we find lots to like.
| PINOT NOIR - 2000 2001 2002
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In this side by side retrospective look at the three varieties featured in our February Issue, we find that each is capable of aging well for six to eight years. But one variety surprised us with two wines that surpassed our expectations and promised to keep getting better.
| CHARDONNAY - 2000 2001 2002
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| SAUVIGNON BLANC - 2000 2001 2002
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| Best Buys
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Highlighted this month are wines that have succeeded beyond what their price point peers. Check into Best Buys and do your wallet a favor.
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CONNOISSEURS' FORUMS with edtiors Charles Olken and Stephen Eliot.
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2006 Ramey Wine Cellars Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard Carneros
Something of a cross between the other offerings from Ramey, this well-fruited, fairly juicy effort is a bit more measured than the Ritchie while having a fair bit of the layering of the Hudson. If it falls back at all, it is due to the less forceful nature of its per-sonality, yet to call it anything but deep and brilliantly executed is to take too much away from it. It earns both its own round of applause and place in the cellar. $62.00
Score: 92
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