The Wine Report - TOP 50 WINES OF THE YEAR!

When we taste wines here at The Wine Report, we don’t set out to discover the greatest wines of the year. At best, we endeavor to get a sense of what wines are on the market and to introduce readers to regions or varietals they may not be aware of. Yet here we are touting the Top 50 Wines of the year.

Actually, this year it so happens that there are 52 Top 50 wines. Why? First, we painstakingly pared down the
nearly 700 wines we tasted in 2005 to 75 top performers. Then we were barely able to painfully squeeze out 23 more, and we were left staring, and staring, at the remaining 52. Instead of kicking two more great wines out on their bottle necks, we simply left them in.

Then we got a great idea that makes our indecisiveness seem pretty clever. You now have a guide that will take you on a glorious tour of the wine world. Here’s how it works: You’ve got 52 wines and 52 weeks in a year. Every week, visit your local wine merchant and try to take one of the wines we’ve listed off his or her hands. If you follow the list from number 1 to number 52, you’ll have a Höpler Grüner Veltliner to look forward to in week 10. Nine weeks later you’ll be trying the super-value Bordeaux from Frank Phélan. After that you’ll be uncorking a few unbelievable Syrahs from Monterey, a German Riesling, another Austrian Grüner Veltliner and so many more wines that you would never try without a little nudge from us. Pretty clever, huh?

Let me warn you, though, that more than half the time you’re probably not going to get exactly what you want. And that’s one of the problems with any end-of-the-year Top Wines of the Year list. By the time you read about them, they’re gone. But don’t you worry about a thing. You have a friendly wine store associate to help you find a suitable substitute.

You do have a friendly wine store associate, don’t you? If you don’t, and that’s understandable, use this list as motivation to find one. There are plenty of great wine shops that are less than a 15-minute drive away. Find them. If you think you already have a wine shop with a friendly, helpful, resourceful staff, then this list will be a great gauge to measure their performance. If, by week 52, the staff at your shop have managed to find or make good substitutions for most of the wines on our Top 50 Wines list, the shop’s a keeper.

After a year’s worth of this kind of exercise, you’ll find that you won’t need lists like this one to help you find
wine anymore. All you’ll need is your wine merchant and a vague idea of what you’re looking for. Meanwhile,
we’ll be hard at work developing another gimmick to get you to read our Top 50 Wines of 2006.

Gil Kulers is editor of The Wine Report and is grateful to Gina Cook for her assistance in compiling this list.

Top 52 Wines of 2005:

1 >> 2002 MINER FAMILY VINEYARDS >> Cabernet Sauvignon >> Oakville, Calif >> $50
2 >> 2001 TRIMBACH, RESERVE >> Pinot Gris >> Alsace, France >> $20
3 >> 2002 MAISON CHANSON >> Meursault >> France >> $40
4 >> 1999 FONTODI, VIGNA DEL SORBO, RISERVA >> Chianti Classico >> Italy >> $58
5 >> 2000 RISCAL TEMPRANILLO >> Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León >> Spain >> $11
6 >> 2003 DRY CREEK VINEYARD, HERITAGE >> Zinfandel >> Sonoma County >> $15
7 >> 2002 KING ESTATE WINERY >> Pinot Noir >>Oregon >> $24
8 >> 2002 DOMAINE DROUHIN, LAURÈNE >> Pinot Noir >> Oregon >> $60
9 >> 2002 WENTE VINEYARDS, THE NTH DEGREE >> Cabernet Sauvignon>> Livermore Valley, Calif. >> $50
10 > 2004 HÖPLER GRÜNER VELTLINER >> Burgenland >> Austria >> $25
11 > 2003 OLIVIER LEFLAIVE >> Meursault >> France >> $43
12 > 2000 CHÂTEAU MOULINET, POMEROL, BORDEAUX >> France >> $33
13 > 2003 SELAKS, PREMIUM SELECTION >> Sauvignon Blanc>> Marlborough, NZ >> $16
14 > 2002 SCHEID VINEYARDS >> Syrah >> Monterey, Calif. >> $18
15 > 2002 TRENTADUE WINERY >> Petite Sirah >> Alexander Valley, Calif. >> $25
16 > 2002 BARONE RICASOLI >> Camp Ceni, IGT >> Italy >> $20
17 > 1998 CONDE DE VALDEMAR, RESERVA >> Rioja >> Spain >> $16
18 > 2000 MONTECILLO, CRIANZA >> Rioja >> Spain >> $10
19 > 2000 FRANK PHÉLAN, ST. ESTÈPHE >> Bordeaux >> France >> $28
20 > 1999 MICHEL-SCHLUMBERGER, RESERVE >> Cabernet Sauvignon>> Dry Creek Valley, Calif. >> $75
21 > N.V. CRISTALINO, EXTRA DRY >> Cava >> Spain >> $9
22 > 2000 FAUSTINO VII >> Rioja >> Spain >> $11
23 > 2001 ALDER BROOK VINEYARDS & WINERY, RESERVE>> Zinfandel >> Dry Creek Valley, Calif. >> $33
24 > 2001 GUENOC >> Petite Sirah >> North Coast >> $18
25 > 2004 WHITEHAVEN WINE CO. >> Sauvignon Blanc >> Marlborough, NZ >> $17
26 > 2004 MACROSTIE WINERY >> Chardonnay >> Carneros, Calif. >> $20
27 > 2003 DOMAINE CHRISTIAN MOREAU PÈRE & FILS >> Chablis >> France >> $17
28 > 2001 ROCCA DELLE MACÌE, RISERVA >> Chianti Classico >> Italy >> $18
29 > 2004 HOUSE OF NOBILO, ICON >> Sauvignon Blanc>> Marlborough, NZ >> $17
30 > 2001 TRINCHERO ESTS, MAIN STREET VINEYARD>> Cabernet Sauvignon >> St. Helena, Calif >> $40
31 > 2002 BARTON & GUESTIER, TRADITION>> Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine >> France >> $9
32 > 2003 SIGHARDT DONABAUM, GRÜNER VELTLINER>> Smaragd >> Austria >> $14
33 > 2003 GEYSER PEAK WINERY, BLOCK, RICCI VINEYARD >> Chardonnay >> Carneros, Calif. >> $23
34 > 2002 DE TIERRA VINEYARDS >> Syrah >> Monterey, Calif. >> $20
35 > 2003 VAN DUZER VINEYARDS >> Pinot Noir >> Willamette Valley >> $29
36 > 2003 ALEXANDER VALLEY VINEYARDS, SIN ZIN >> Zinfandel>> Alexander Valley, Calif. >> $20
37 > 2002 SANTA RITA, RESERVA >> Cabernet Sauvignon >> Maipo Valley, Chile >> $12
38 > 1999 VIGNETI, LA SELVANELLA, RISERVA >> Chianti Classico >> Italy >> $23
39 > 2003 MORANDÉ, TERRARUM RESERVE >> Cabernet Sauvignon>> Maipo Valley, Chile >> $12
40 > 2002 KATHRYN HALL VYDS, SACRASHE VYD>> Cabernet Sauvignon >> Napa Valley, Calif. >> $65
41 > 2001 PREMIUS D'YVON MAU >> Bordeaux >> France >> $11
42 > 2002 PEACHY CANYON WINERY, WESTSIDE >> Zinfandel>> Paso Robles, Calif. >> $19
43 > 2002 LEEUWIN ESTATE, PRELUDE VINEYARDS >> Chardonnay>> Margaret River, Australia >> $28
44 > 2002 SEQUOIA GROVE VYDS, RUTHERFORD RSV>> Cabernet Sauvignon >> Rutherford, Calif. >> $45
45 > 2003 RABBIT RIDGE VINEYARDS, O.V.Z., RESERVE >> Zinfandel>> Paso Robles, Calif. >> $30
46 > 2003 ST. CLEMENT VINEYARDS >> Chardonnay >> Carneros, Calif. >> $16
47 > N.V. MIONETTO, IL >> Prosecco del Veneto >> Italy >> $11
48 > 2002 WEINGUT RUDOLF EILENZ, AYLER KUPP >> Riesling>> Mosel, Germany >> $11/ 1 liter
49 > 2003 SMOKING LOON MERLOT >> California >> $9
50 > 2003 ARTE FORMA >> Pinot Grigio >> Recas, Romania >> $11
51 > 2004 TWIN FIN WINES >> Pinot Grigio >> California >> $10
52 > 2002 FROGTOWN CELLARS >> Tannat >> Lumpkin County, Ga. >> $34

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