Looking back . . .

Below are the eleven most impressive wines I tasted in 2010 based on how they tasted on the day I opened them. If further information is desirable, please ask.

The best of the year and one for my life list:
N/V Cedric Bouchard, Champagne Brut, La Parcelle
-simply stunning

The next ten in no particular order:
2006 Overnoy, Arbois-Pupillin (rouge)
2009 Tempier, Bandol Rosé
2000 Raveneau, Chablis, Montee de Tonnerre
2007 Edmund Vatan, Sancerre, Clos la Neore
1999 Juge, Cornas, Cuvée SC
2008 Navarro, Muscat, Dry
1999 Hamacher, Pinot Noir
1999 Texier, Côte-Rôtie VV
2007 Chronicle, Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast
2002 Radikon, Oslavje

A lovely year.
Best, Jim

sounds like a great list Only one I've had is the Texier, great wine. I really liked the Juge "C" in '99, and Raveneau's '00 Blanchots may be the best Chablis I've ever had.

2000 Raveneau, Chablis, Montee de Tonnerre

Jim,

I also had this wine this year and I thought it was stunning. Unlike your experience though, it took quite some time for my bottle to open up. On opening it was a bit closed in fact but after a few hours it was just dancing. My notes:

When it was first opened, it was tight, austere to the point of tasting like water in the mid palate with a metal tinge. But after about 4 hours in the bottle, man what a transformation, deep, complex, with truffle, minerals, some funkiness, and on the palate much the same but great texture and great balance.

When it was first opened, it was tight, austere to the point of tasting like water in the mid palate with a metal tinge. But after about 4 hours in the bottle, man what a transformation, deep, complex, with truffle, minerals, some funkiness, and on the palate much the same but great texture and great balance.

I've only had one vintage of Raveneau MdT (at least that I can remember). It was the 2004. And exactly like you describe it was so austere on opening that I thought it was corked because there was no evidence of fruit. But I got a second bottle and it was the same thing. This was in 2007 so it got a bit more expressive with air but not to the point of what you folks enjoyed with the 10 year old 2000.

My highest rated wine for 2010 was Ch. Coutet's most fabulous 1986 Cuvee Madame. I had no hesitancy pulling the cork on this exceptional Barsac dessert wine for this year's Tom Low Memorial Dinner. And what a wine. It rates alongside the 1975 D'Yquem as the finest sticky I've had the pleasure of drinking over the last four decades.


The runner-up was a freakish bottle from Henschke - the 1984 Cyril Cabernet Sauvignon - a wine of such beauty retaining glorious rich, sweet fruit and unparallelled silkiness, it almost brought me to tears to my eyes. I shared this with members of my jazz band at a dinner party I put on after a enjoyable week of doing a restaurant residency and performing at the Merimbula Jazz Festival in June last year. My bass player, who loves fine red wine, reckoned, at the time, this was as fine a red he'd drunk in his lifetime. Languishing in my cellar for quite some time, an inventory check revealed this treasure hidden in a box with other Henschke wines. Such are the joys of building a cellar and not keeping it up to date!


My list is as follows -

97 points - Ch. Coutet Cuvee Madame 1986


96 points - Henschke Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon 1984


95 points -
Penfolds Grange 1986
Bonneau du Martray Corton Charlemagne 1989
Lindemans Coonawarra Nursery Riesling 1985 (Classic Release)
Pol Roger Blanc de Blanc 1996
Seppelt Drumborg Riesling 2003
Ch. Coutet 1975
Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Riesling Vendange Tardive 1989
Campbell's The Merchant Prince Muscat
Morris Old Premium Rare Muscat


Worthy of most honourable mentions at 94 points -
Tyrrell's Vat 1 Semillon 1992
Hollock Coonawarra Cabernet 1984
Trimbach Clos St.Hune Riesling 1992
Seppelt Dorrien Cabernet Sauvignon 1996
Pewsey Vale The Contours Museum Release Riesling 2005
Ch. Climens 1980
Hugel Riesling Vendange Tardive 1989
Louis Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Perrieres 2000

Below are the eleven most impressive wines I tasted in 2010 based on how they tasted on the day I opened them. If further information is desirable, please ask.

The best of the year and one for my life list:
N/V Cedric Bouchard, Champagne Brut, La Parcelle
-simply stunning

The next ten in no particular order:
2006 Overnoy, Arbois-Pupillin (rouge)
2009 Tempier, Bandol Rosé
2000 Raveneau, Chablis, Montee de Tonnerre
2007 Edmund Vatan, Sancerre, Clos la Neore
1999 Juge, Cornas, Cuvée SC
2008 Navarro, Muscat, Dry
1999 Hamacher, Pinot Noir
1999 Texier, Côte-Rôtie VV
2007 Chronicle, Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast
2002 Radikon, Oslavje

A lovely year.
Best, Jim

Nice list, the Bouchard is the one that Dressner sold last year. What vintage was that? It's better than the one in release now I believe. I know it's not vintage champagne but the grapes are from one specific vintage I believe. Loved the Vatan, Navarro, Tempier, Texier. The new Bouchard is good also but not the same.

I've only had one vintage of Raveneau MdT (at least that I can remember). It was the 2004. And exactly like you describe it was so austere on opening that I thought it was corked because there was no evidence of fruit. But I got a second bottle and it was the same thing. This was in 2007 so it got a bit more expressive with air but not to the point of what you folks enjoyed with the 10 year old 2000.

Rahsaan, I also had a 2004 Raveneau Butteaux this year that I thought was also amazing. "Deep yellow in color. Nose is intoxicating, super Chablis, pineapple, wet stone, and vanilla. Texture is smooth, dense, almost fat, and full, but did not seem to be out of balance, good ability to handle its weight. Nice complexity with a super long finish. Very nice Chablis"

Lou,
All 2002, if I have been told correctly.
And I had no idea it was Dressner's - no indication of that on my bottles.
Best, Jim

Best of 2010: 1996 Mayacamas, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon; 2008 Anthony Road, Finger Lakes, Semi-Dry Riesling.

Most interesting: 2005 Tobin James, James Gang Reserve, Refosco; 2007 Dr Konstantin Frank, Finger Lakes, Rkatsiteli.

Best of 2010: 1996 Mayacamas, Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon;

Carl,
FWIW, I recently tasted the 2004 at Family Winemaker's Tasting and thought it marvelous.
Best, Jm

[David M. Bueker]

Dressner does not import Cedric Bouchard.

At some point early last year, or maybe prior, the La Parcelle that was being sold was a 2002 vintage cuvee. That was not a wine made by Cedric, but one that he liked so much he put his label on it (I think his Dad may have made it). He has since bought the land (or leased it - I'm not sure) & we're now dealing with 2005 vintage juice or something like that - anyway a whole different quality of vintage.

I believe the latest release of the La Parcelle is actually from the 03 vintage which considering the fine quality of the wine a minor miracle.

Dressner does not import Cedric Bouchard.

At some point early last year, or maybe prior, the La Parcelle that was being sold was a 2002 vintage cuvee. That was not a wine made by Cedric, but one that he liked so much he put his label on it (I think his Dad may have made it). He has since bought the land (or leased it - I'm not sure) & we're now dealing with 2005 vintage juice or something like that - anyway a whole different quality of vintage.

David,
Yes, I think there is a vintage designated wine from 2002.
But the one I mentioned above is a N/V on the label even though, I am told everything in the bottle is from 2002.
It is also a wine Cedric did not make. It spent 80 months on the lees - not exactly a great marketing idea but the wine is beyond anything I have ever tasted before.
I have had the N/V three times since first discovering it and, each time, I am carried away by it.
Absolutely stunning (and this from who guy who has little use for bubbles)!
Best, Jim

[David M. Bueker]

Jim,

I am actually speaking of the NV - all 2002 for the cuvee. Sorry for the lack of clarity.

David

Jim,

I am actually speaking of the NV - all 2002 for the cuvee. Sorry for the lack of clarity.

David

Have you had a chance to taste the N/V?
You seem to know about it but tasting it is pretty wonderful.
Best, Jim

[David M. Bueker]

Jim,

I am actually speaking of the NV - all 2002 for the cuvee. Sorry for the lack of clarity.

David

Have you had a chance to taste the N/V?
You seem to know about it but tasting it is pretty wonderful.
Best, Jim

Yes. Wonderful wine, though while I liked it very much I was not quite as enthralled as you were. I will wade through my computer & try to get the specifics.

Dressner does not import Cedric Bouchard.

At some point early last year, or maybe prior, the La Parcelle that was being sold was a 2002 vintage cuvee. That was not a wine made by Cedric, but one that he liked so much he put his label on it (I think his Dad may have made it). He has since bought the land (or leased it - I'm not sure) & we're now dealing with 2005 vintage juice or something like that - anyway a whole different quality of vintage.

Joe, is the main partner in Farm Wine Imports which is the distributor for Dressner's wines in the western USA. They carry Bouchard's Champagnes out here and I was given the impression practically everything they sell here, they sell also in the east. So it could be that Dressner sells Bouchard here but someone else sells it in the east. Their book here is mainly Dressner.

[David M. Bueker]

My bottles of Bouchard do not have Joe's import sticker, so perhaps there is a difference.

Dressner does not import Cedric Bouchard.

At some point early last year, or maybe prior, the La Parcelle that was being sold was a 2002 vintage cuvee. That was not a wine made by Cedric, but one that he liked so much he put his label on it (I think his Dad may have made it). He has since bought the land (or leased it - I'm not sure) & we're now dealing with 2005 vintage juice or something like that - anyway a whole different quality of vintage.

Joe, is the main partner in Farm Wine Imports which is the distributor for Dressner's wines in the western USA. They carry Bouchard's Champagnes out here and I was given the impression practically everything they sell here, they sell also in the east. So it could be that Dressner sells Bouchard here but someone else sells it in the east. Their book here is mainly Dressner.

Lou,
The Louis/Dressner website doesn't list Bouchard as one of their imports (only Ulysse Collin from Champagne). Instead, he is listed on the website of Polaner Selections.

Mark Lipton

I said Farm Wine might sell the wine out here but not on east coast. I have some of the Bouchard Champagne in my own cellar and I got it through Farm Wine Imports sold and delivered to Manhattan Fine Wines, Manhattan Beach CA. Joe D. is a friend but that doesn't mean I know all the ramifications of his every business interest.

[David M. Bueker]

Don't take it personally Lou. We're geeks. We have to obsessively follow up on everything.

Don't take it personally Lou. We're geeks. We have to obsessively follow up on everything.

Wine geeks don't bother me, I've been around them for too many years to take things on a personal level. The Bouchard I tasted last Dec. 2010 and bought was not quite up to the one I tasted Dec. 2009.

Love this idea!

Some of my most memorable wines of 2010 (in no particular order):

2007 JJ Pruhn Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese
2006 Frühwirth Scheurebe
2009 Villa des Anges Vin de Pays de L'Aude
2009 Gaia Estate Agiorgitiko 14-18h
2009 Couly-Dutheil Chinon Domaine René Couly
1998 Bodegas Muga Rioja Gran Reserva Prado Enea
2005 Charles Joguet Chinon Les Petites Roches
2001 Santi Amarone della Valpolicella Proemio
2006 Jean-Paul Thevenet Morgon Vieilles Vignes
NV Sektkellerei Szigeti Grüner Veltliner Brut
2004 Chateau des Tours Vacqueyras

Can't wait to see what 2011's list will look like!

Joy,
Can you tell me a little more about these two?
"2009 Villa des Anges Vin de Pays de L'Aude
2009 Gaia Estate Agiorgitiko 14-18h"
Thanks, Jim