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Market Monitor
By: Stephen Tanzer
Recent and impending developments affecting the retail wine market:
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Chablis 2010 and 2009
By: Stephen Tanzer
Chablis lovers who find the 2009s too rich and fruity will enjoy the more classic 2010s, a small crop of juicy wines from an erratic growing season. The newest crop of wines offers a captivating combination of fresh fruit, sound acidity and brisk minerality. And thanks to the ripeness of the grapes, relatively few of these wines are too austere to enjoy in their youth.
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Focus on Oregon Pinot Noir
By: Josh Raynolds
In his most extensive annual coverage yet of Oregon pinot noir, Josh Raynolds reports on late releases from the outstanding 2008 vintage. The deep, structured 2008s would appear to make ideal cellar candidates, says Raynolds. The 2009s, from a hot growing season, are far more variable in quality as well as style, having produced everything from tight, racy wines to rich, opulent pinots with lower-than-average acidity.
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2006 Brunello di Montalcino
By: Stephen Tanzer
This exciting vintage has yielded a greater number of outstanding Brunellos than ever before. The better wines are utterly complete examples of sangiovese: perfumed, rich, silky and complex, with firm but ripe acids and tannins that should give them 10 to 20 years of aging potential.
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New Releases from Australia, Part One
By: Josh Raynolds
U.S. importers are placing increasing emphasis on cooler-climate producers, reports Josh Raynolds in his coverage of Australia this year. His annual review of Australian wines includes an early look at the consistently very good to outstanding 2010 vintage, with more wines to follow in the next issue.
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The 2008 Clarets
By: Stephen Tanzer
The classic, refined 2008 Bordeaux are now the stealth vintage in the marketplace, and the wines can be tricky to find on retailers' shelves. But because their opening prices were reasonable, they're far less expensive today than are the widely hyped 2009s and 2010s. The '08 vintage looks to be ideal for mid-term aging, but many of the better wines will also be approachable in their youth.
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