Acquired Tastes

Our 101 Favourite Wines of 2009

43)	93 Château Palmer 2006 Margaux, Haut-Médoc, Médoc, Bordeaux, France $350-$390
	The '78 Palmer is hardly a patch on the 2006 at this point but they share a similarity in a year where the cabernet was much better than the merlot. I love the density that has come to Palmer in the last decade, or ever since production was cut in half. Look for a sleek elegant wine that mixes earth, liquorice dried herbs, plums and cranberries in equal amounts. Lively balanced and medium to full-bodied in style this 66/34 mix of cabernet and merlot is a suitable follow up to the exquisite 2005. It is still very youthful but will be ready to drink by 2014. Excellent if not great. (AG)
44)	93 Carmen 2003 Gold Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Valle del Maipo, Region del Valle Central, Chile $55-$85
	Lots of cassis jam, coffee, vanilla, cedar, black cherry, barnyard, tobacco aromas with a leather, bay and meaty note. Ripe, rich round and concentrated with supple tannins. Intense cassis jam, black berry, peppery, bay, menthol, tobacco, five spice, vanilla, coffee and leather flavours. Long cassis, coffee, chocolate, tobacco finish. Fine tannins and oak use but quite warm. Best effort yet, needs 5 to 7 years in bottle. (ST)
45)	92 Roquette e Cazes 2003 Xisto Douro Superior, Douro Valley, Northern Portugal, Portugal $50-$75
	Our first look at Xisto, (two families - one wine) made by Jorge Roquette and Jean Michel Cazes. The venture between Crasto and Jean-Michel Cazes of Château Lynch-Bages was made to showcase "the natural and unique characteristics of the Douro to the Cazes family's experience of one century of Bordeaux wine making." Power and elegance is what you get in this big red made in a super warm year when parts of the Douro baked at 45°C most days but the cool nights kept the vines working. A 27-day maceration has left the wine with slick, glossy textures, rich red fruit flavours and a warm spicy finish flecked with coffee and mocha bits. The blend is 60/25/15 touriga nacional, tinta roriz and tinta Franca from 25-year-old vineyards sitting on schist. It's assembled by Daniel Llose and Susana Esteban. (AG)
46)	92 Vérité 2004 La Joie Sonoma County, California, United States $230-$290
	Spicy, peppery, cassis, black berry, sappy, leather, tobacco, smoky, plum, barnyard, coffee aromas. Dry, full, round, warm palate with grainy tannins but good finesse. Chocolate, tobacco, cassis, peppery, vanilla, leather, plum, resin, green bean, black olive flavours. Long, tight, warm palate with some tannins to shed. Needs 5+ years to come around. (AG)
47)	92 Terralsole 2005 Solista Syrah Montalcino, Siena, Tuscany, Italy $50-$70
	Lots of smoky, liquorice, meaty, peppery, floral, black cherry, tobacco leaf, savoury, spicy, cooked carrot aromas. Dry, somewhat tannic palate with good acidity and concentration if a bit austere right now. Black cherry, spicy, mineral, plum, liquorice root, savoury, clove, floral, smoked meat, roasted pepper flavours. Good finesse and elegance for syrah, needs 2 to 5 years or try with roast lamb. Grown in a chalky soil at low elevation in Montalcino. (ST)
48)	92 Taittinger N/V Prélude Grands Crus Champagne, France $75-$95
	Very fine continuous mousse. Made entirely from grand cru vineyards. Very toasty, garlic, nutty lees, floral, baked pear, baked apple, biscuit, lemon and earth aromas. Rich, elegant, creamy palate with good concentration. Lemon, nutty, leesy, garlic, toasty, baked pear, apple, green apple, mineral flavours. Long, flavourful, delicate and balanced. A true food Champagne. (AG)
49)	92 Shaw and Smith 2007 M3 Vineyard Chardonnay Adelaide Hills, Australia $30-$60
	The Shaw and Smith "M3" Chardonnay is named after the partners: brothers Michael and Matthew Hill Smith along with cousin and winemaker Martin Shaw. The M3 2007 is the 7th version of this Adelaide Hills wine and it's as far in style from the first version as it gets. From overblown to Burgundy the smoke and oak has been a trade in for more mineral, citrus and oatmeal flavours and aromas with flecks of guava, nectarine skin honey with a creamy texture in the back end. It has a beautiful long delicate, but flavourful, finish. Very impressive. (AG)
50)	92 Sequel 2006 Syrah Columbia Valley, Washington, United States $80-$90
	Peppery, leather, tobacco, mocha, vanilla, blackberry jam, meaty, smoky nose. Ripe, ripe, round, dry, full bodied palate with some grainy tannins and warmth. Spicy, black cherry jam, vanilla, mocha, peppery, meaty, smoky, liquorice, savoury flavours with some black tea on the finish. Very slick, rich style with a warm finish. (AG)
51)	92 Schloss Reinhartshausen 2007 Erbacher Schlossberg Riesling Spätlese Rheingau, Germany $30-$50
	Spicy, grapefruit, lime, green apple, floral nose with a touch of guava. Fresh, crisp, delicate, juicy palate with orange, lime, peach, slate, green apple skin flavours. Fine length with incredible delicacy for the area. Excellent effort. (AG)
52)	92 Sandhill 2007 Phantom Creek Vineyard Small Lots Program Syrah Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada $25-$45
	This is an amazing, full blown, lush and massive wine that you want to critique for being a whopper (15 percent alcohol), but it is so well proportioned, so complex and engaging within its hulking frame that you are charmed anyway. Amazing flavours of ripe black cherry, prune, ink, smoke, pepper and chocolate. (DL)
53)	92 Rolf Binder 2006 Heinrich Shiraz Mataro Grenache Barossa Valley, Australia $20-$40
	Heinrich is a 55/25/20 blend of shiraz / mataro / grenache. The nose is overt showing black cherry jam, plum, floral, orange rind and plenty of minerality. Flecked with bits of tobacco, vanilla, coffee, pepper and earth. Fine complexity. The entry is supple, the styling elegant with a warm, fresh edge. Orange, pepper, coffee, mocha, liquorice, black cherry, black raspberry, tobacco flavours swarm the palate. A bit hot on the finish but fine fruit and some light tannin to allow a few years of aging. Good value. (ST)
54)	92 Qunita da Vegia 2005 Dão Reserva Dão, Portugal $45-$65
	Made with touriga nacional and tinta roriz. Deep, expressive dark fruit and violet scented, with a wonderful floral component and abundant wood spice. The palate is full, rich, concentrated, briskly acidic, finely tannic and very long. This is a very fine, densely packed but not exaggerated style that is starting to show well now, though will certainly improve over the next 5 to 7 years. (JS)
55)	92 Pascual Toso 2005 Pedregal Single Vineyard Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon Finca Maipú, Mendoza, Argentina $50-$70
	Attractive floral, spicy, savoury, peppery, black cherry, roasted mushroom, tobacco, vanilla aromas. Dry, rich, round, supple palate with juicy acidity. Lots of tobacco, cedar, cassis, black cherry, coffee, vanilla, mushroom, liquorice and all spice flavours. Warm, fresh, tannic finish but well balanced. Great intensity but needs 3 to 5 years to soften out. (AG)
56)	92 Montes 2005 Folly Syrah Apalta Valley, Santa Cruz, Valle del Colchagua, Valle del Rapel, Chile $80-$100
	Spicy, vanilla, tobacco leaf, cassis, black cherry, mocha, meaty, floral nose with a hint of bay leaf and black olive. Rich, ripe, round, warm palate with good acidity and young, grainy smooth tannins. Big black cherry, cassis jam, peppery, vanilla, cardamom, smoky coffee, bay leaf, liquorice root and grilled meat flavours. Very warm finish at 15 percent alcohol but has good concentration and intensity. Needs 1 to 3 years to round out or try with BBQ lamb or chops. (AG)
57)	92 Le Serre 2006 Nuove Dell'Ornellaia Bolgheri, Tuscany, Italy $50-$60
	Ornellaia ‘bambino' better known as Le Serre Nuove is a 50/35/9/6 merlot/cabernet sauvignon/cabernet franc/petit verdot that is every bit up to its big brother Ornellaia. Heaps of spice, tobacco, dried herbs, black olives and a savoury meaty thread suggest it will age for quite a long time and with grace. Rich, dense, full and powerful, it is the year to stock up on the second label. This blend will only get better over the next decade. (AG)