The No-Brainer Collection
“After extolling the great value the wine world is now awash in all through the year, it comes time again to consider the world’s best-known luxury-priced wines, annually trotted out by Vintages for gifting season. The line-up for Saturday’s release reads like the roster for the New York Yankees. Call it the No-Brainer George Steinbrenner Collection, and it can be yours, as long as your bank account plumbs deep enough. One trip to the store with a blank cheque will give you an instant showpiece cellar (although it will be missing top Bordeaux and Burgundy, which remain lodged in the on-line obscurity of Vintages Classics and Exclusive programs). California weighs in big with icons like Opus One, Chateau Montelena Cabernet and Caymus Special Selection. Italy struts Solaia and the ultra-refined Luce. Australia brandishes D’Arenberg Dead Arm and the stunning Elderton Command Shiraz. From France, Beaucastel 2007 is one of the most impressive in years. And this year Ontario’s top guns stand confidently alongside the terrific Le Clos Jordanne Le Grand Clos 2007 Pinot Noir and Tawse 2007 Laundry Vineyard Cabernet Franc.
It was great fun to taste all these wines (not hard to get out of bed that day), and for the most part they live up to their hype, with a rash of mid-90s scores. The tasting also confirmed that the other, less expensive wines we encounter all year do not usually deserve ratings that are prone to creeping inflation. There is definitely a price-quality relationship threaded through the global wine world, and sometimes it is just as comforting to confirm that as it is exciting, and sometimes depressing, to find the exceptions – which remains Job One as consumer critic. Dave’s Faves (formerly David’s Half Dozen) sorts through this huge release to separate my top three icon picks and top three values from the rest of the pack, with full reviews of the other 122 at WineAlign. Take your financial pulse then head to Vintages Saturday.”
- David Lawrason, VP of Wine at WineAlign
Click here to see ranked lists and reviews of over 100 wines in this release.
KURT DARTING 2007 RIESLING KABINETT Dürkheimer Michelsberg, Pfalz, Germany, $16.95 91pts
ELDERTON 2005 COMMAND SINGLE VINEYARD SHIRAZ
Barossa, South Australia $89.95 97pts
LUCE DELLA VITE 2006 LUCE Tuscany, Italy $99.95 95pts
LE CLOS JORDANNE 2007 LE GRAND CLOS PINOT NOIR
Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula $70.00 93pts
DOÑA PAULA ESTATE 2007 SHIRAZ/MALBEC
Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina $17.95 91pts
KENWOOD 2007 PINOT NOIR
Russian River Valley, Sonoma County $21.95 90pts
Filed under: News, "Top Picks", "Top Values", David Lawrason, LCBO, Vintages
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