Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019 - 92

33RD A N N UA L B U YI NG G UI D E

Wine & Spirits

button-mushroom umami and mossy savor
that runs underneath. It makes no sense
on paper-how can anything hold such a
cacophony of flavors and not be heavy? Well,
taste it and see. (W&S 4/19) § Fruit of the Vine,
Long Island City, NY -T.Q.T.

BEST ROTGIPFLER
236948

95 | Stadlmann

$36

2016 Thermenregion Tagelsteiner Rotgipfler ^ When it comes to obscure Thermenregion grapes, zierfandler tends to get the bulk
of the attention, but this rotgipfler is a headturner. A cross between traminer and roter
veltliner, the variety accounts for less than
300 acres in all of Austria; this one comes
from a plot planted a half-century ago on
the southeast side of the Anning hill, where
the sandy clay is studded with pieces of shell
limestone. The vines seem to have thrived in
the cool, damp vintage, turning out a lush
white that smolders with notes of bacon and
red-currant jam. It feels meaty and dense
but not heavy, rotgipfler's curious musky
notes bolstered by an acidity that draws the
flavors out long. Gorgeous, sensuous wine,
to drink now, or cellar for another decade.
(W&S 4/19) § Monika Caha Selections/Frederick Wildman and Sons, NY -T.Q.T.

forest at the edge of the desert, sustained by
the humidity of cold Antarctic waters meeting the warm currents from the north. The
sea was also responsible for the ground
beneath this vineyard, a pocket of pure white
limestone, ancient seabed that rose to the
surface just close enough to the Limarí River
that there's water accessible to irrigate the
vines. Vinified and aged in stainless steel, this
wine is all about minerals. Then there's the
rich, tropical complexity of the fruit, opening to guava, then tightening to orchard-fruit
flavors of pear and Granny Smith apple. The
wine's clarity and oceanic refreshment have a
particularly Chilean savoir faire. This would
be fascinating to follow as it ages, and mouthwatering to drink now with any fresh catch.
(W&S 8/19) § Biagio Cru and Estate Wines,
New Hyde Park, NY -J.G.

98 | Gérard Duplessis

123734

$120

BEST SAUVIGNON BL ANC

2016 Puente Alto Don Melchor Puente
Alto Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ^ Now
in its thirtieth vintage, Don Melchor grew
out of research by Pablo Morande, the chief
winemaker at Concha y Toro when Chile
was just beginning to open up to the world.
He began separating blocks at the Tocornal
Vineyard, on a terrace above the north side of
the Maipo River, work that continued under
Enrique Tirado, who took on Don Melchor
in 1997 and continues to focus on it today.
The wine has come from the same 324-acre
vineyard since the beginning. This 2016 is
among the best vintages I have tasted from
those 30 years, a great Maipo cabernet with
the lean structure of a marathon runner,
dynamic and graceful in its structural intensity and black-currant freshness. The tannins
have the clarity of cabernet rooted in river
stones-but rather than the coastal gravel
washes at Latour, Pichon and Las Cases in
the Gironde, it's a collection of rocks carried
down the mountains by the Maipo. That
terrace, tucked into the shadow of the cold
Andes, yields a delicate cabernet, even as its
underlying richness of tannins builds dimension into a chord of lasting flavor. (W&S
6/19) § Fetzer Vineyards, Hopland, CA -J.G.

95 | Tabalí

FR A NC E

BEST DESSERT WINE
273296

96 | Kracher

$40/375ml

2017 Burgenland Cuvée Beerenauslese ^
The 2017 vintage was so short that Gerard
Kracher included wines in this BA that are
usually destined for his higher-level "Collection" range. The botrytis was also especially
good, he says, and he moved quickly to pick
the grapes while the acidity was still high. The
result is honey-smooth and concentrated, a
blend of chardonnay's green-apple flavors
and welschriesling's bright herbal notes preserved with clarity and precision. The sweetness acts like amber, capturing a moment of
perfect ripeness in perpetuity. (W&S 10/19) §
Terlato Wines Int'l, Lake Bluff, IL -T.Q.T.

CHI L E
123966

$22

2018 Limarí Valley Talinay Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc ^ When Felipe Müller, the winemaker at Tabalí in Limarí, heard that the Talinay Vineyard might be for sale, he worked
to convince Guillermo Luksic, who owned
Tabalí, to buy it in 2009. The site is separated
from the Pacific by a high coastal peak, a rain
92

WINE & SPIRITS

BEST ALSACE RIESLING
272717

94 | Domaine Weinbach

$65

2017 Vin d'Alsace Cuvée Ste-Catherine
Grand Cru Schlossberg Riesling ^ The Faller
family's winery is based in the Schlossberg

BUYING GUIDE 2020

BEST CHABLIS
236709

BEST CABERNET
SAUVIGNON

95 | Concha y Toro

grand cru, and their domaine includes a parcel of old-vine riesling in the middle of the
slope, which they have farmed under biodynamics since 2005, their wines now Demeter certified. That parcel provides the Cuvée
Ste-Catherine, a wine that Tasting Coordinator Corey Warren praised for "the deep
complexity and nuance in its fruit," describing the wine's intensity of lemon flavor, from
the juicy pulp to the pith and peel. It's as
powerfully fragrant as it is searingly acidic,
bright and juicy enough to fully incorporate that acidity into a beeline of flavor. You
could drink it now with salty cured ham, or
20 years from now as a wine for contemplation. (W&S 10/19) § Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL -J.G.

$54

2016 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains ^ Lilian
Duplessis took over his family's domaine
in 1999, and farms 24 acres of vines under
organics (Ecocert certified). He has two parcels in Montmains, about 60 years old; he
vinifies them separately with ambient yeasts
in stainless steel, where the wine rests for a
year before spending six months in barrels.
Aside from his holding in Les Clos, he finds
that these parcels in Montmains produce
his longest-lived Chablis. His 2016 is among
the greatest wines I've tasted from chardonnay vines, partly for its pure fruit essence,
more for its heart-stopping delicacy. It fills
the head with scents of white flower petals
and white truffles, crisp apple, green pear
and shellfish broth. Obtuse in its delicious
angles and perspectives on a vineyard in Chablis, this is full of life, that sensation lasting
outside of time as those seductive scents and
flavors continue to unfold. (W&S 4/19) § Hand
Picked Selections, Warrenton, VA -J.G.

BEST WHITE RH ONE

235476

96 | Delas Frères

$105

2017 Hermitage Domaine des Tourettes
Blanc ^ Delas Frères owns 24 acres on the Hermitage hill, including some small parcels of
marsanne planted in 1912 and 1918. Since
2013, Jacques Grange has been converting

http://www.delas.com/en/vin/9/domaine-des-tourettes

Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019

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