Happy New Year! Here are my favorite wines (and some favorite wine related things as well) from the past year. These are in some sort of order, though the top four and maybe even 5 red wines would all have to be considered contenders for the top spot.
Red wines
Domaine Richaud l’Ebrescade 2005
Domaine Gramenon Sierra du Sud 2007
Edmunds St. John Bassetti Syrah 2005
Domaine Gramenon La Sagesse Côtes du Rhône 2007
Domaine Richaud Côtes du Rhône Terres de Galets 2007
Daniel Bouland Morgon Vieilles Vignes 2008
Arianna Occhipinti Il Frappato Sicilia IGT 2006
Rhys Alesia Sonoma Coast Chileno Vally Pinot Noir 2006
Château de Fonsalette Côtes du Rhône Reserve 2005
Les Aphillanthes Côtes du Rhône 2007
Jean & Agnes Foillard — Morgon Cuvée Corcelette Vieille Vigne 2007
Cappellano Barbera d’Alba Gabutti 2004
Charles Joguet Chinon Les Varennes du Grand Clos Franc de Pied 2005
Catherine & Pierre Breton Bourgueil Les Perrières 2005
White wines
Clos Sainte Magdeleine Cassis Blanc 2007
André Perret Saint Jospeh 2007
Viñedos de Ithaca Odysseus Garnacha Blanca Priorat 2008
2008 Ameztoi Getariako Txakolina
Rosé
Lopez de Heredia Rioja Tondonia Rosé 1998
Blog
Captain Tumor Man — the best post I read all year was in September when Joe Dressner’s results of his last MRI were so good that he had to consider retirement for Captain Tumor Man — though some of his thoughts are so weird they would even make David Lynch uncomfortable…one of my biggest wishes for 2010 is to be invited to his Jan 30th event.
Book
Been Doon So Long: A Randall Grahm Vinthology — the book is a scream. As if we needed proof that there not a more original and talented American in the wine business than Randall Grahm….the most fun I have had reading a book this year. I have to say another thing about Randall as I think he has done something very few people have been capable of achieving. He has made wine more accessible — but not by just giving people what they want, making it cheaper and the usual short cuts. Instead, he has offered the more esoteric as well as speaking and writing in a language that requires a special wine geek decoder ring — and somehow achieved much more in the process.
Shops
Chambers Street Wines — still one of my favorite places to spend an hour in NYC.
Weygandt Wines — the new shop in DC featuring the portfolio of Peter Weygandt.
Importers
Louis/Dressner, Kermit Lynch and Weygandt-Metzler
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