Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016 - 102

100 BEST WINES OF THE YEAR
Schlossböckelheim estate was state-owned
until 2007 when Jens Reidel and Dr. Christine Dinse took over. They rechristened it
Gut Hermannsberg, after their most prized
vineyard, and hired Karsten Peter as winemaker. Peter has the advantage of working
solely with Erste Lage (grand cru) sites, such
as Bastei, a warm amphitheater-shaped bowl
under the Rotenfels, a stony bluff that gets
its red hue from rhyolite. In 2012, that red
stone seems to have worked its way into the
wine, casting a ruddy hue on the juicy, concentrated fruit, the way heat turns a pale
slice of quince deep pink. It's ripe yet firm
and earthy, all the flavors flowing seamlessly
from fruit to stone. Still tight and youthful, it
could use another ten years to unfurl its full
energy. (W&S 12/15) § Winemonger Imports,
San Anselmo, CA

B E ST R H E I N G A U R I E S L I N G
209317

96 | Peter Jakob Kühn

$55

2009 Rheingau Landgeflecht Riesling
QbA Trocken ^ Peter Jakob Kühn, an eleventh generation winemaker, farms nearly 50
acres in and around Oestrich; his son, Peter
Bernhard, has helped him convert the vineyards to biodynamics. This wine comes from
two vineyards in Oestrich Doosberg, both
marked by the quartzite veins in the loess and
clay-loam soils. It shines in the glass, seeming
to emanate more energy than normal for a
mere liquid; the scent is equally tempting,
a direct line to a field of warm stone, dried
grasses and wildflowers. The flavors feel pristine, perfectly ripe and preserved, even as
they offer a sense of warmth and generosity
in their caramel edge; the acidity feels alive,
unobtrusive yet vital. It ends with a saline
note that's so mouthwatering, it's hard to
put the glass down. For a mushroom risotto,
or anything umami. (W&S 12/15) § Domaine
Select Wine & Spirits, NY

GRE EC E

214036

93 | Karanika

$43

93 | Dalamara

$31

2011 Amyntaio Xinomavro ^ Laurens and
Annette Hartman pull this wine from a small
patch of pre-phylloxera vines they farm biodynamically in Amyndeon, a cool region in
the far northwest of Greece. It's remarkably
elegant for this tannic grape, the wine built
like a dancer in its lithe display of spice and
fruit. It has all the hallmarks of the grape-
the tomato leaf scents and the tangy berry
fruit, along with earthy, truffle and stone flavors-without any of the aggressiveness, its
power channeled instead through the wine's
impressive length. This is delicate enough
to drink now, though it will surely gain in
complexity over the next decade. (W&S 8/16) §
Oenos, Berwyn Heights, MD
213178
2012 Naoussa Paliokalias ^ Kostis Dalamara
pulls this wine from his oldest vineyard, a
patch of ungrafted vines that his family has
shepherded for nearly 100 years. The age of
the vines comes through in the concentration of the fruit, the dark berry flavors compact and laden with spice, yet the wine feels
lifted, refreshed by the herbal notes that
sweep through the wine. It lasts, held firm by
tannins that are suffused with flavor, almost
chewy in their density. (W&S 8/16) § V.O.S.
Selections, NY

HU N GARY
BEST FURMINT

94 | Béres

214270

94 | Domaine Sigalas

$30

2015 Santorini Fermented in Oak Barrel ^
Yields were down 35 percent on Santorini
after a windstorm swept through the island
in April of 2015. The vines that did produce
grapes enjoyed a long, moderate summer,
without heat spikes or drought stress. At Sigalas, the concentrated fruit handled its spell
in oak barrels with aplomb, growing richer in
texture and more detailed in flavor. While it
needs another five years in bottle to show its
best, it's already impressive in how quickly
WINE & SPIRITS

BEST XINOMAVRO

212503

BEST SANTORINI

102

the wood tones meld with the fruit, building
assyrtiko's lemony fruit into rounder, riper
notes of pear and orange peel and unearthing a wealth of chalk and spice. It's already
symphonic; just give it time in the cellar to
fine-tune. (W&S 8/16) § Diamond Importers,
Chicago, IL

$25

2011 Tokaj Locse Dry Furmint (Best Buy) ^
The Béres family bought 111 acres of vineyards in Erdobénye, north of Mád in 2002.
By 2006 they had a winery built, sheathed
in the local yellow limestone. Now they've
kicked off their entry into the US market
with this single-plot wine. It's oak driven at
first, but given time in the glass, the prodigious fruit takes over, plump, golden and
succulent. Tangerine and quince notes pick
up a fresh mushroom umami, while hints of
Indian spice add an exotic edge. The wine

BUYING GUIDE 2017

lasts, firm and massive, built for veal chops.
(W&S 6/16) § New Wines of Hungary, Sarasota, FL

BEST TOKAJI
212636

95 | Fanni Kertje

$42/500ml

1999 Tokaji Szamorodni ^ Zoltán and
Orsolya Máté founded this winery in Tarcal
in 1996 (now run by their daughter, Fanni
Kertje, and their son, Marcel). In 1999, the
Mátés lucked into one of the vintages of the
decade, the warm summer not too dry, and
chased by beautiful weather all fall. Picked
in mid-November, this is a combination of
botrytized and clean grapes, 20 percent hárslevelü and the rest furmint, spontaneously
fermented and aged in Hungarian barrels
for two years, then aged 10 years in bottle.
It smells of incense, mushrooms and warm
apricot jam, and tastes of all that, too, the
acidity teasing out fresher notes of peaches
and spice with air. Those flavors seem to
last for minutes, neither sweet nor savory,
just balanced, ready to take on anything
from roast game birds to a ripe washed-rind
cheese. (W&S 6/16) § Palinkerie/Fine Hungarian Imports, Brooklyn, NY

ITALY
BEST PROSECCO
213616

92 | Ca' dei Zago

$24

2014 Prosecco Col Fondo ^ Christian Zago
adds small amounts of verdiso, perera and
bianchetta to the glera he harvests from
50-year-old vines, but that's not the only
thing that separates this from most prosecco.
Zago bottles the wine before it's fully dry,
allowing fermentation to continue and leaving a cloud of sediment that swirls through
the golden color. Exotic scents of wildflowers and coriander give way to brine-laden flavors of citrus and herbs. Dense and creamy,
yet fully dry and cleansing on the finish, it's
a fascinating match for linguini with clams.
(W&S 8/16) § Jenny & François Selections, NY

B E S T C A M PA N I A W H I T E
212909

94 | Vadiaperti

$38

2014 Fiano di Avellino Aipierti ^ Raffaele
Troisi took over his family's farm in Montefredane in 1984, and now bottles six wines
from 24 acres of fiano, greco and coda di
volpe vines. He vinifies everything in stainless steel without extended skin or lees contact, resulting in wines that show tremendous
textural depth and crystalline purity of flavor
that's more about smoke and salinity than

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016