Our Wines of the Year 2015?

Now that the year is actual over, time for the annual casual fun. Post your wines of the year, as many as you like, by whatever criteria you like.

Here are the highlights of the year for me. Three of these were tasted over the holidays and I haven't yet posted notes for, those to come soon.

WOTY: Chateau Latour, Pauillac 1961
Runner Up: Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Sauternes 1998
Best of the Rest:
Chateau Latour-Martillac, Pessac-Leognan 2010
Dow, Quinta do Bomfim, Vintage Port 1989
Opus One, Napa Valley 2011

[David M. Bueker]

WOTY: 1990 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape Hommage a Jacques Perrin
Runner up: 2002 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese Trocken

Discovery of the year (for me...it had already been discovered by others): Dirty & Rowdy Winery

QPR of the year: 3 blended cuvées from Idlewild Wines: The Bee (White), The Flower (Rosé) and The Bird (Red)

Without searching through every note, a few contenders
1995 Rousseau Chambertin, 2004 Truchot Charnes
61 d’Issan, 70 Magdelaine, 85 LMHB, 90 Conseillante & Clinet
2004 Dom Ruinart (mag)
2004 and 2006 Pepiere Briords
2010 Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Auslese
1988 Ch. Climens

Maybe not a contender for WOTY but excellent wine I’d thought I’d never try 1995 Roumier Musigny

1986 Ch. Sociando Mallet

1986 Ch. Gruaud Larose

2009 Hensley "Hillside" Cabernet

2010 Terra Valentine Napa Cabernet

2000 Pichon Baron

2005 Whitehall Lane Res. Cab.

NV Cuvee "Ernestine" Champagne (can't remember the producer)

I forgot the MoCool wines:

1995 Foreau Moelleux Reserve (mine, too bad a singleton, wonderful)

1990 Latour (not quite ready)

1970 Latour ( ready to go)

2000 Smith Haut Lafite (mine and needs 5+ more years)

2009 Chapoutier vin de Paille (fantastic, very young, brought by Barbara's friend Linda IIRC)

1989 Schloss Shornborn Rudesheimer Schlossberg Riesling Auslese (outstanding/complex)

1990 Dom. Weinbach SGN Riesling (wine-of-the-weekend) very long finish

2000 E. Muller Riesling Auslese (med-sweet & young)

2005 Nick Poetel Charmes Chambertin (huge potential, very sweet w/lots of acidity)

I also forgot the 2000 Pegau Res. we had for Christmas dinner

Jim...good for you. Muller and Schönbrunn.

Now that I have become a slave to CT, I look no further than my scores there (which I don't reproduce in this fastidious community ).

My top scorers are-

Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny Poyeux 1996
Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle 1994
Raveneau Chablis La Forêt 1995

I don't claim to be a consistent scorer and there are many others I could have mentioned.

My personal discovery was the Jura's Ganevat. Brilliant young Chard and Savagnin which in a couple+ years would probably qualify as wines of the year.

Note no Bordeaux or red Burgundies .

Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny Poyeux 1996

Nice one. I remember drinking it 10-15 years ago in Paris and Tours and loving it. No idea that I should have been stockpiling it!

I am never very good at these lists because I don't usually organize things in terms of calendar years, but one wine that comes to mind is the 2001 Prager Klaus Riesling Smaragd, so comfortably aged into perfection, that kind of texture cannot be rushed! It was also especially memorable because my expectations had been lowered by a ho-hum previous bottle.

As always the 95 and 93 Three Rivers, but among the Aussies the 1995 and 1996 Roennfeldt Road have to be mentioned, too. Biggest disappointment was the big Barolo 1996 tasting in Zürich: not a single bottle deserves to be included here. Among the seven Giacosas only the Falletto Riserva showed worthy of its pedigree. The 03 TBA from Müller was very good indeed, but that - considering the price tag - is not nearly good enough.

Greetings from Sweden / Fredrik L

My faves of 2015 (in no particular order):

1982 Château Pavie
2009 DRC Richebourg (my first time tasting DRC)
1985 Château Suduiraut Sauternes
2013 Nikolaihof Vom Stein Smaragd Riesling
2003 Nicolas Joly Clos de la Coulée de Serrant Savennières
2011 Mauro Molino Bricco Luciani Barolo
2008 Gimonnet Oenophile Extra Brut Champagne
2007 & 2009 Pierre Peters Les Chétillons Champagne
1999 Château Rayas Pignan Réserve Châteauneuf-du-Pape
2012 Rhys Horseshoe Vineyard Pinot Noir
1997 Künstler Hölle Riesling Spätlese Charta
1986 Château Meyney
2013 Nikolaihof Zweigelt Rosé Sekt

How amazing this year has been! I'm very lucky in my job to get the opportunity to taste (and enjoy) so many great wines.

[David M. Bueker]

That 2007 Chetillons is amazing stuff. We had a bottle over the holidays, and it almost made my list.

With the caveat that these wines were the most interesting to me...some highlights probably included but were not limited to:

2009 Corison Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
1996 Clos Du Val Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
2011 Laurel Glen Cabernet Sauvignon
2013 Laurel Glen "Counterpoint" Sauvignon Blanc (Weird, I know, but I really enjoyed this!)\
2012 Preston Family "Madame Preston" White "Rhone" Blend
2012 Preston Family "Organic" Syrah

I'm going to ignore tastings at Nantucket Wine Festival, West of West Wine Festival in Sebastopol, CA and Mo'Cool wines except my own bottles. Also will ignore tastings at Williams Selyem, Ridge at Lytton Springs site, Scherrer Open House, etc. The ones listed are all from my own collection.

2005 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Evenstad Reserve, Willamette Valley, OR
2009 Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett, M-S-R, Germany
2006 Ridge Geyserville (Zinfandel blend)
bottled 2012 Cockburn Porto 20 Year Old Tawny
2003 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch
2005 Nicolas Potel Charmes-Chambertin, Grand Cru, Burgundy France (also made Jim Grow's list)
2010 Jean Noel Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot, Burgundy, France
2007 Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe La Crau, Chateauneuf du Pape, France
(two whites this time; last year I think I only had one white)
a Lioco Chardonnay (Charles Heintz Vineyard) and a Lioco Pinot Noir (Michaud Vineyard) were close behind

P.S. I got excited when I saw that the website for a Total Wine store in Raleigh had the 2006 Geyserville and I ordered two bottles only to find that they don't have that vintage and had the 2013 vintage. I bought one bottle of the 2013 which "Wine Enthusiast" lists as a good vintage but really wanted more of the 2006.

Joy, I am envious of some of the wines you were able to taste.