welcome to the fifty best wines of 2005

                 Presents

Page 5

41   Talbott 2002
Cuvée Cynthia
Chardonnay  (Monterey County);  $55. 
Anyone can get ripe flavors from Chardonnay grapes these days, and this barrel selection, from the famous Sleepy Hollow Vineyard, is bold in kiwi, pear and nectarine fruit, with toasty oak and lees seasoning. What makes it spectacular is the acidity, which gashes the palate like a bolt of lightning. Endlessly complex, this is a Chardonnay to linger over. Let it warm up in the glass and watch it change.

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42   Domaine Zind-Humbrecht 2002
Heimbourg Gewürztraminer Vendange Tardive
(Alsace);  $86. 
It may be vendange tardive, but the sweetness is the least of this wine’s qualities. It is more to do with how it relates to the terroir of the Heimbourg vineyard, with its mineral character, and its fine structure and texture. The fruit is still young, and would benefit from 5–10 years aging. Imported by Kermit Lynch.

43   Ridge 2001
Monte Bello  (Santa Cruz Mountains);  $120. 
Without doubt this is a wine to cellar. It’s massive in flavor, with the purest black currant and cassis fruit you can imagine, and the huge plaster of sweet oak is perfectly balanced. Then there are the tannins. They’re fine and complex, but gritty. There’s an astringency throughout that a great steak will cut through, but it would be infanticide to open this before, say, 2010. Should improve through 2020 and beyond.

44   Mariah 2001
Zinfandel  (Mendocino Ridge);  $30. 
A marvelously ripe, cheerful Zin. It totally turns you on. The flavors range from sweet cherries to a baked blackberry tart dusted with cinnamon and cocoa, and finish with a bite of fig. Soft, unctuous tannins, rich acids, total balance. Released simultaneously with the ’00, but so much better at the same price.

45   Matthews 2002
Red Wine  (Columbia Valley);  $50. 
This young, dense, saturated, complex and extremely tight wine is sappy and packed with myriad berries and red/blue fruits. It is wrapped in stiff, hard, thick, dark tannins that add tight layers of moist earth, black tea, roots and bitter chocolate. This baby needs time.

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46   Valdicava 1999
Madonna del Piano Riserva
(Brunello di Montalcino);  $130. 
Fresh asphalt, burning timber, bitter chocolate, and anything else that connotes “darkness” is what this heavyweight is about. And as rough as that may sound aromatically, on the palate it’s polished like a gemstone, with just enough grit and guts to push it forward. The fruit, meanwhile, is sensational, a panoply of black plums and cherries infused with cocoa and vanilla. This offers a clear look into 21st-century Brunello, and the picture is breathtaking. Imported by Vinifera Imports.

47   Paloma 2002
Merlot  (Spring Mountain);  $51. 
This is a pretty tannic wine. It pours inky black, and reveals nothing in the aroma, save for grapes and oak. Yet there are powerful signs of a magnificent future, especially the long, sweet finish of blackberry syrup. Great now with robust fare, but should hold through the decade.

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48   Brundlmayer 2003
Langenloiser Steinmassel
Riesling  (Kamptal);  $34. 
A crisp, green wine, with flavors of grapefruit peel, and a lively character. Rieslings from the thin soil of the Steinmassel vineyard live indefinitely, and this wine, with its tannins and high minerality, is a baby. It could be enjoyed now for its freshness, but really 10 years of age would be a better starting point. Imported by Michael Skurnik Wines.

49   Château La Louvière 2002
Pessac-Léognan;  $34. 
One of the great estates of the Graves, this vintage of La Louvière certainly fits into the classic whites of Bordeaux, packing impressive complexity into a wine dominated by Sauvignon Blanc. Intensity has been increased by the use of lees stirring following the Burgundy methods introduced by Denis Dubordieu.
Imported by W. J. Deutsch & Sons.

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50   Staglin 2002
20th Anniversary Selection
Cabernet Sauvignon  (Rutherford);  $125. 
Starts with an extraordinarily complex, refined aroma, detailed and inviting in cassis, tobacco, anise, cocoa and smoky oak. In the mouth, there’s fantastic depth and complexity. The wine is rich, profound, a star even in its Rutherford stable of thoroughbreds. It has enormous power and authority, with finely ground, sweet tannins. Absolutely gorgeous now, with the stuffing and balance for improvement. Drink now through 2017.

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