Wine Spectator’s Top 100…

Well it’s that time of year again.  Just in time for the holidays, The Wine Spectator’s Top 100 issue came out in print form this week and the phone calls at my store have started pouring in. If you are not familiar with this phenomenon, let me just give you a little background. Each year, one of the major wine magazines, The Wine Spectator, comes out with a list of their Top 100 wines, and that is when the mayhem begins.

According to the publication, this list is meant to showcase the “outstanding producers and successful regions” of the year. The average price this year is around $40 per bottle, which is a reasonable amount to spend on what are considered some of the best wines currently made in the world. This year, 13 countries are represented, with more than 3,800 earning a 90-point-plus rating on a 100 point scale. 

Although this list is by no means the defining opinion on wines, it does take some of the guesswork out of the massive amounts of possibilities out there (this year they tried 17,000 new releases) and offers some suggestions for new things to try, if you can find them. This brings me to the unfortunate thing about this list—a ton of these wines are no longer available either due to vintage (year) changes or relative obscurity in the first place.

If this is something that interests you though, I have done the groundwork for you. Since the online version of this list came out about a month ago I did my own research, wanting to find out just how many of these wines a Fargo liquor store could potentially acquire. Now mind you it is not a huge list, five wines to be exact. The nice thing about the wines we do have available is that they really represent a healthy variety of different price points, regions and varietals.

The 2008 D’Arenberg Stump Jump Shiraz out of the McClaren Valley in Australia is the least expensive wine of the available choices at around $10 per bottle. This wine received a 90 point rating and is #82 on the list, which may seem low if the entire list didn’t consist of the best wines out there. I have often found some of the less expensive Australian Shirazes to be big fruit bombs with little character or depth. This smooth, earthy wine is vibrant and delicious and anything but simple, and for just a few dollars more than a big crappy mass-produced Aussie selection. For the time being there seems to be quite a lot of this stuff around. This is partially due to the fact that this is actually the current vintage of the wine, unlike some of the others on the list. Don’t wait too long though, because once this incredible value becomes widely known, it may not be so easy to come by.  My guess is that the next vintage will go up in price, which usually happens after a prestigious award.

The next wine on my list is also an Australian Shiraz from a different region, which could make a fun and delicious comparison wine tasting. The 2006 Peter Lehmann Shiraz is a classical Barossa Shiraz from the greatest winemaking region in Australia. An interesting side note, both of these first two wines are screw caps which only goes to show that some pretty quality wines are being made these days using this type of enclosure. With tons of dark fruits and smoky undertones and at around $15 per bottle, this is another incredible value. This wine was rated 91 points and is #54 on this year’s list.
For the next wine we travel to Argentina where the Malbecs seem to just get better and better. The 2007 Bodega Colomé Malbec, out of the Calchaqui Valley, has been one of my favorite Malbecs for awhile, which makes this honor a little concerning to me personally. In the past I have been able to purchase it with ease, and at a decent price point at around $22 a bottle, but who knows what this award will do to price and availability? This is one I suggest you get while you can!  The 2007 Bodega Colome Malbec made it to #32 on the list and was rated 92 points.
The last two wines both come out of Washington State. The 2006 Chateau Ste. Michelle Canoe Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the Horse Heaven Hills appellation in Washington State where some truly incredible wines are being made. This wine was #38 on the list with a 92 point rating from the magazine. With 97% Cabernet Sauvignon, this big boy is really complex yet smooth at the same time. One drink of this with a big ole steak and the $29 price tag will become a ghost of Christmas past. This dense and smoky wine highlights the best coming out of this area of the country.

There is only one more Wine Spectator Top 100 wine available in Fargo from this year’s list. This one is not only the most expensive but will probably be the quickest to sell out since not a whole lot is made in the first place. It’s the 2006 Spring Valley Uriah, a Bordeaux Red blend out of the Walla Walla Valley in Washington. This is the fourth time in eight vintages that this wine has made it to the Top 100, hence the $47 price tag. It’s 100% Spring Valley Vineyard Estate bottled, with a percentage of 54% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot, and 6% Malbec. Let’s just say I was not at all sad when my “research” for this article made it imperative for me and my staff to sample this incredible wine. 
Although five wines out of a hundred may not seem like much, it is actually a pretty impressive number for a city of our size, considering the likelihood that many are not available anywhere else either. Whether you buy into this sort of wine hype or not, it really is worth your time to go out and grab a bottle or two to try. I guarantee that these people know what they are talking about, and why not take a little of the guesswork out of buying a nice holiday bottle for someone special? Throw in a ditty or two about “the Wine Spectator Top 100 list” and you got yourself a classy and well researched gift!  But get these while you can because I guarantee you won’t be seeing this particular vintage of each of these wines around for long! Happy holiday drinking!

Questions and comments: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)