| Best Reds |
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2000 Chateau Leoville Barton Saint Julien
Bordeaux Blend; Bordeaux; | $199.99 | |
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" Full medium ruby. Knockout superripe nose combines black cherry, licorice and exotic spices. Compellingly sweet, lush and complete, with harmonious acids giving the wine lovely vinosity and extending the flavors. Finishes with lush, dusty tannins and superb persistence. A great vintage for Leoville-Barton." -- Steve Tanzer (94 points)
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2002 Bodegas Alto Moncayo Aquilon Campo de Borja
Grenache; Other Spain; | $139.99 | |
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" Saturated medium ruby. Roasted blackberry, grilled nuts, minerals and smoky oak on the explosive nose. Thick, dense and creamy, with supersweet, liqueur-like flavors of dark berries and maraschino cherry lifted by a mineral component. Lush and mouthfilling but also sappy and vibrant. Finishes with extremely fine, powdery tannins and superb, slow-building persistence." -- Steve Tanzer (94 points)
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2001 Gaja Barbaresco
Nebbiolo; Piedmont; | $189.99 | |
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"Good deep red. Complex, ineffable nose combines red fruits, marzipan, tobacco and minerals. Pure, firm and sharply delineated; boasts superb richness of flavor without any undue weight. The wine's solid acid spine contributes to its impression of structure. Finishes gripping and very long." -- Steve Tanzer (93 points)
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2001 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild Pauillac
Bordeaux Blend; Bordeaux; | $599.99 | |
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" Bright red-ruby. Sexy aromas of raspberry, cedar, coconut, minerals, lead pencil, chocolate and tobacco leaf. Juicy, lively and penetrating, with sharply delineated flavors of blackberry, raspberry and rose petal. Boasts the classic inner-mouth energy of this great first growth, but also grew increasingly silky with extended aeration. Finishes with tongue-coating tannins and superb lift." -- Steve Tanzer (93 points)
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2000 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano
Nebbiolo; Piedmont; | $109.99 | |
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" Good full red. Captivating aromas of red berries, flowers, minerals, menthol and white truffle; seems quite cool for the year. The wine's penetrating, sappy, sharply delineated red fruit flavors offer uncanny sweetness but retain great freshness and verve. Finishes extremely long, with powerful structure and grip. Very classy Barbaresco, and still an infant." -- Steve Tanzer (93 points)
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2004 Chateau Latour Pauillac
Bordeaux Blend; Bordeaux; | $399.99 | |
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"Ruby-red. Highly complex aromas of dark berries, graphite, licorice, minerals and cola. Lush, dense and sweet, with a wonderfully creamy, opulent mouth feel for the vintage but no impression of excess weight. This boasts superb fruit and palate coverage. Finishes with very suave, spreading tannins and outstanding persistence. An aristocratic expression of ripe cabernet sauvignon." -- Steve Tanzer (93 points)
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| Best Whites |
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NV Chambers Rosewood Winery Rare Muscat Rutherglen (half bottle)
Muscat; Victoria; | $199.99 | |
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" Green-edged medium brown. Exotic orange peel, maple syrup and marzipan aromas; as with the last pair, this is fruitier than the Rare Muscadelle. Wonderfully thick but perfectly framed by electric acidity. Boasts incredible fleshiness of texture and concentration. Like a solid on the back half, building inexorably and saturating the entire palate." -- Steve Tanzer (96 points)
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NV Krug Grande Cuvee Brut
Chardonnay; Champagne; | $139.99 | |
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" Explosive but fine mousse Complex, yeasty aromas of lemon, honeysuckle, wet stone, toffee, hazelnut and caramel. Subtle and creamy on entry, then dense, powerful and youthfully brisk, with flavors of minerals, nutmeg and mace framed by strong lemony acidity. Solid, vibrant, dry and rather backward. Not quite as large-scaled or harmonious as last year's release and a bit more youthfully unevolved." -- Steve Tanzer (93 points)
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