Thank you all for following me through another bountiful year of wine experiences. I hope 2011 has treated you well, regardless of how “into” wine you are. Remember, it’s just wine. You don’t just jump into knowing everything or having a trained palate, but wanting to develop it is essential to appreciating the artestry of the winemakers involved.
When push comes to shove, every educated wine lover started out as an uneducated beer drinker, they just decided they wanted to class it up a bit. Let your knowledge develop over time, attend wine tastings, read the occasional book about wine or a book that covers a unique period in wine’s history (for me, it all started with “Wine & War”), or put on a dinner with a couple wines that you’ve enjoyed and want to share with your friends. Regardless, enjoy the ride, because in the end, life is about the experiences. And if there’s one thing that wine is good at, it’s providing experiences (and a good buzz)!
Now for your pleasure, here are the wines that I’ve selected for this years list. I hope you have the opportunity to enjoy a couple of them, if so, let me know what you thought of them.
Top 10 of 2011
- 2007 Montes, Purple Angel
- 2008 Schild Estate
- 2009 Chateau de Saint-Cosme, Côte-Rôtie
- 2008 Januik
- 2006 Frescobaldi, Lamaione
- 2009 Tenuta San Guido, Le Difese
- 2009 Emmerich Knoll, Rosé
- 2006 Penfolds, St.Henri
- 2009 Donelan, Venus
- 2009 Maison Nicolas Perrin, Crozes-Hermitage
Cheers!
Terrific list and professionally selected. Kudos!
No Pinots? Terrific and eclectic Top 10 anyhow.
Erol,
I am really impressed by the thought and objectivity of your list. To quantify the list in such a way offers a level of unbiased accuracy that other lists can learn from!
I have personally tasted every wine except two from your list (Emmerich Knoll Rose and Donelan Venus) and they are all deserving. Donelan will be on my radar moving forward.
Keep up your passion, the Wine World is a great one.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Jim M
What do you think of the Wine Spectator Top 10 this year?
James,
To be honest, I’m as unimpressed as ever! Wine Spectator comes off as shameless panderers to their best friends in the wine world. There’s nothing quantifiable about their selection process. Yes, there are great wines present; however their process for selection is bafflingly subjective.
As for their actual selection. Yes, 2009 was an astounding year for Cali Pinot Noir; however Kosta Browne is abhorently overrated and makes bulked up wines based on my experience with them. To be fair, I haven’t had the wine that’s been selected, but I’ve had enough of their Pinots from very good years to steer my readers to different options.
Just my thoughts. I hope you enjoyed the list!
Erol
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