With an eye to restaurant wine lists, our cellar reconnoiterer Jeffery Lindenmuth picks ideal new releases recently reviewed by Wine Spectator.
Note: Wine Spectator rates on a 100-point scale. 95—100: Classic, a great wine. 90—94: Out standing, superior style and character. 80—89: Good to very good, a wine with special qualities. Prices listed are average wholesale case prices.Best Buys
The Wishing Tree Chardonnay Western Australia Unoaked 2006
This white thrusts the cool-climate fruit of Western Australia onto center stage in all its acidic verve. While many unoaked Chards lack aroma, this one offers plenty of apple, pear, and lime along with some tropical fruit flavors on the palate. 9,000 cases imported.
Score: 88 Cost: $92 per case
Smoking Loon Sauvignon Blanc California 2005
Don Sebastiani & Sons churns out copious amounts of value with this fruity and friendly white. The zesty grapefruit, green apple, and lime character follows through on the palate, where pleasant grassy and herbal undertones fill out a satisfyingly crisp, juicy, and mouthwatering wine. 27,000 cases made.
Score: 87 Cost: $96 per case
Viña Montes Malbec Colchagua Valley Classic Series 2005
Offering dark berry fruit and licorice on the nose, the fleshy, crushed berry sensation continues on the palate with secondary flavors of spice and vanilla. Generous in flavor and body, the ripe grippy tannins make this a winner with grilled red meat. 20,000 cases made.
Score: 87 Cost: $120 per case
Highly Recommended
Four Vines Zinfandel Amador Country Maverick 2004
This old vine Zin offers a basket of brambly fruit aromas—including blackberry and raspberry—augmented with cedary spice, vanilla, and black pepper. On the palate the fruit is chewy and lush, showing good structure and soft velvety tannins from a touch of Syrah. Vanilla and spice emerge on the long finish. 2,213 cases made.
Score: 92 Cost: $160 per case
George DuBoeuf Moulin-à-Vent Prestige 2005
Plenty of dark fruit—plum and cassis—mingled with spice cake and licorice aromas immediately declare that this is not your November Nouveau. Medium-bodied, offering juicy fruit on the palate tinged with graphite minerality, and boasting firm tannins and a long finish, this is a grand redemption of the Gamay grape. 500 cases made.
Score: 90 Cost: $220 per case
Hirsch Riesling Qualitätswein Trocken Kamptal Zöbing 2005
This Austrian white's crisp fruit aromas of apple, peach, and zesty citrus are accompanied by nuances of honey and green herb. On the palate the wine is richly textured and creamy, with green apple and berry flavors plus hints of licorice and spice. It stays racy and lively through the long finish. 250 cases made.
Score: 90 Cost: $180 per case
Specials
Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2004
The aroma of this dark purple wine offers a panoply of red and black fruit—wild berry, black cherry, and raspberry—with secondary aromas of smoke, licorice, spice, and dark chocolate only barely breaking through. For all its power, on the palate the wine is lean and nimble, showing great structure and generous tannins that will easily carry it for a decade. 14,165 cases made.
Score: 96 Cost: $760 per case
Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Special Selection 2004
This Cab shows great intensity, concentration, and complexity—from the layered fruit aromas of plum, blackberry, and currant through the long tannic finish. The elegant oak takes a backseat to the core fruit, subtly interjecting its own spice and cedar nuances. The tannins are ripe and firm, built to last. 11,800 cases made.
Score: 94 Cost: $1,200 per case
E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Château d'Ampuis 2003
Effusive aromas of black cherry, fig, coffee, and spice only hint at what's to come in this dense, tightly wrapped wine. Rich and powerful on the palate, with a good balance of ripe fruit and intense tar and licorice, the wine will reveal even more with time in the cellar. 1,500 cases made.
Score: 94 Cost: $1,500 per case
