Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017 - 110

100 BEST WINES OF THE YEAR
H U N G A RY
BEST TOKAJI
220189

95 | Tokaji Classic

$90/500ml

1999 Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos ^ Phyllis and
Andras Bruhacs started buying vineyard parcels in 1993, eventually assembling almost 20
acres as well as an old winery in Mád. They
focus on Aszú wines, blended from furmint,
hárslevelu and muscat. This wine, from one
of the most highly regarded vintages of the
last three decades, was fermented twice: once
for two and a half months, and again, after
the addition of pressed aszú berries, for three
years, before bottling in October 2004. Today,
the deep caramel hue and smoky campfire
scents attest to its age, but the wine still feels
vivacious: Its notes of blood orange and candied citrus cut the sweetness and keep the
wine lively and fresh. Floral and herbal notes
add to the impression of finesse and delicacy,
and suggest this wine has a long life ahead.
(W&S 6/17) § David Bowler Wines, NY

the grape skins in contact with the juice for
ten days, which gives the wine a delicate
rose-gold hue and a peach-skin texture that
lends firmness without bitterness. A thread
of salinity and cool acidity adds tension to
the wine's refreshing character. (W&S 10/17) §
T. Edward Wines, NY
223913

94 | Skerlj

$48

I TA LY

2014 Venezia Giulia Vitovska ^ The cool and
rainy 2014 vintage endowed Matej Skerlj's
vitovska grapes with high acidity and thin
skins, prompting him to macerate the juice
on the skins for five months, rather than the
usual three weeks, in order to build the wine's
structure. His patience paid off in this floral, textured wine. It seems to combine the
Carso's mountain and maritime influences
in its scents of green herbs, alpine tree bark
and salty sea breezes; the flavors follow suit,
the juicy peach, white fig and golden appleskin notes brimming with fresh acidity and
cool salinity. It's a natural match for scallops, or most any shellfish. (W&S 10/17) § T.
Edward Wines, NY; North Berkeley Imports,
Berkeley, CA

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

BEST PIEDMONT RED

94 | Vadiaperti

96 | Produttori
del Barbaresco

220522

$38

2015 Fiano di Avellino Aipierti ^ Raffaele
Troisi's single-vineyard fiano offers a complex
array of flavors in a dense, chewy texture. It
feels reticent at first, requiring air before flavors of ripe peach and yellow plum emerge,
but this wine is more about smoke and salt
than fruit. A current of salinity complements the wine's brisk acidity as the flavors
turn toward notes of green olive, blanched
almond and smoked pork rind. The contrasting flavors begin to harmonize over several
days, suggesting a long life ahead. It would
be fascinating to cellar a case of this wine and
experience its evolution over the next decade.
Even so, it's delicious now if decanted and
served with pork shoulder. (W&S 6/17) § North
Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA

BEST FRIULI WHITE
223432

95 | Skerk

$33

2014 Venezia Giulia Ograde (Best Buy) ^
Sandi Skerk made the most of a cool and
rainy vintage, delivering a gorgeous Ograde
in 2014. It smells like an early-morning
flower market in its scents of orange blossoms, roses and white hydrangeas. A blend
of vitovska, malvasia, sauvignon blanc and
pinot grigio, the wine unfolds with a range of
fresh flavors, from white peach and Rainier
cherries to litchi and tangerine. Skerk keeps
110

WINE & SPIRITS

215675

$59

2011 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà ^ Produttori's 53 growers own vineyards in nine of
the best crus in the village of Barbaresco,
and bottle single-cru Riservas in the best
vintages, as they did in 2011. The single-cru
wines undergo the same treatment in the cellar (fermenting on the skins for one month,
followed by three years of aging in large oak
casks), putting the spotlight squarely on terroir differences. Our panels recommended
seven of Produttori's single crus from 2011,
with Rabajà the star of the lineup for its
thrilling combination of elegance and verve.
Suave tannins and cool minerality guide the
wine's fruit and spice flavors seamlessly in an
upward trajectory, revealing layers of anise
and savory smoke as the wine builds toward
a long and vibrant finish. Its silky texture and
expressive flavors are hard to resist now, but
a few years of cellaring promises even more
complexity. (W&S 12/16) § Vias Imports, NY
216977

96 | Comm. G.B. Burlotto

$67

2012 Barolo Monvigliero ^ Burlotto's Monvigliero is a monumental wine, balancing
intensity and delicacy as it unfolds with
scents of fresh red berries, spices, herbs
and wildflowers. One of our tasters called
it "insanely delicious." The family's parcel
of 60-year-old vines sits near the vineyard's

BUYING GUIDE 2018

peak at close to 1,000 feet above sea level,
absorbing heat and sunlight on the southfacing slope and enjoying the Tanaro River's
cooling night breezes that preserve aromas
and impart acidity, giving the wine a glacial
coolness. Intensely floral and spicy, it brims
with scents of bay leaf, tamarind and anise
that buzz through the wine's flavors of fresh
red berry and umeboshi plum. That spiciness, a signature trait of wines from this
cru, is amplified by winemaker Fabio Alessandria's whole-cluster fermentation, an
unusual practice in Barolo but one that the
Burlotto family has used in its Monvigliero
wines for decades. "You need a very high
quality of tannins-silky, not green-but it
exalts the elegance and delicacy of Monvigliero," he says. It also seems to act as a preservative, keeping the wine fresh for more
than eight days after it's been opened, and
indicating the potential to live for decades.
(W&S 12/16) § Bacchanal Imports, NY
216577

96 | Paolo Scavino

$190

2010 Barolo Riserva Rocche dell'Annun-
ziata Riserva ^ Enrico Scavino ages his Barolos in mostly used French barriques for ten
months and one year in large casks. Rocche
dell'Annunziata spends almost a year longer
in barrel, allowing the wine's flavors to merge
together in harmony. Scents of crushed rose
petals and fresh cherries announce a wine
that balances intensity and delicacy. Flavors
of plum, licorice, tobacco and spice merge
in the texture, woven seamlessly together by
the wine's silky tannins and smooth acidity.
The flavors remain integrated all the way
through the long, fragrant finish. (W&S
12/16) § Michael Skurnik Wines, NY

B E S T S I C I LY R E D
217128

94 | Tenuta delle
Terre Nere

$40

2014 Etna Rosso Guardiola ^ Marco de Grazia culls nerello mascalese from some of
Etna's highest-elevation vines (2,600 to 3,280
feet above sea level) for this expressive and
vibrant single-cru wine. Its lush fruit flavors,
sweet spices and polished black mineral
notes mingle together seamlessly, buoyed
by fresh acidity. The wine yields scents of
tea leaves, sage and lavender as it opens in
the glass, leading to a long and poised finish. Delicious now, it will be even better in
a few years. (W&S 6/17) § deGrazia Imports,
Evanston, IL

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017