Your most overachieving btl in 2014?

This was hands down mine.

• 1995 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Riserva - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG (12/30/2014)
  PNP This is in a great place! Drinking very fresh but so placid and resolved. This may be the best Chianti I’ve ever had. Such an overachiever and proof that you don’t need a ton of hype and intervention. Only challenge, do you have 20yrs to age Chianti? Great vineyards and a relatively hands off approach in the cellar (for this cuvee) = wonderful! Now, I’m hoping some of my Montevertines show like this 20yrs down the road. Fabulous nose! Forest floor, cherry, spice on the enveloping nose. The palate is incredibly complex with lovely dark cherry, spice and minerality. Not a whisper of oak anywhere. At $39, why the heck did I only buy one of these??? Think you don’t like Chianti, try one of these with 15 Plus years on it. (95 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

2011 Novy Santa Lucia Highlands Syrah. Screw cap bottle around $18 or so. Give it a 24 hour slow ox decant and it drinks at 3x the price. Great stuff.

Mine was a 1964 Carbonnieux. I didn’t have very high expectations but the bottle condition was very good and the wine was a beautiful mature Graves.

This was one of several 1964s I bought for an extended birthday celebration for my wife. It came from K&L. Three bottles of Piedmont wines from Chambers St. have also been in excellent shape. The success with these bottles really went beyond what I hoped for.

I’m going to throw out a couple of weekday budget wines I tasted.
2010 Banfi CCR($12) and a 2013 Bogle Clarksburg Chardonnay ($7)

Souverain 1974

It was a tough year for me and the Cote d’Or; a lot of frogs got kissed, many of them rather pricey. But then there was this: Domaine Fougeray de Beauclair “Bourgogne Rouge” 2011. Very simple cherry/spice aromas and flavors, but so beautifully put together. A great pleasure for $25.

Either a 2009 T-Vine Paras Vineyard Grenache (Mt. Veeder) or a 2011 Francesco Boschis Dogliani Sori San Martino. Both were excellent. I scored the T-Vine a touch higher but the dolcetto wins for QPR.

1996 Domaine des Perdrix Aux Perdrix NSG 1er. Drank this out with another couple so didnt jot down notes but it was beautiful and just singing. I wasnt sure what to expect, but everyone at the table loved it. Was really impressed, wish i had more.

2011 Quivet Las Madras Syrah, Hulda Block. Whoa.

Tom Hill rec.: 2011 RGMV ($4 Trader Joe’s wine). The '12 sucks, unfortunately.

2012 Becklyn Cabernet Sauvignon. Whoa.

•2008 Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards Chardonnay - USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros (1/1/2015)
Amazing wine at this point. One of the best Chards I have tasted in a while. Carmel, honey melon, subtle spices, stone and lemon. Medium plus finish and complex. Nice integration of oak. I think I paid $25 for this. Wow! (94 points)

One day late.

Ditto, but the 2012…that wine is a psychedelic experience.

Still, I’d have to say the most overachieving bottle I had last year was the 2011 Cardiac Cuveé.

2012 Passenger

2004 Cold Heaven Syrah Second Sin, amazing value and a very balanced and delicate expression of Syrah.

1999 JJ Confuron Nuits St George 1er Cru Les Boudots

An epiphany type wine, what you want every bottle of good burgundy to taste like, but only a few seem to actually deliver. Completely unexpected and wonderful.

2008 Roederer Brut Rose Champagne. Really good stuff.

Thanks,
Ed

Matthiasson Tendu Red and Ojai Table Red (recent release). Both good bangs for the buck.

Both perfect party wines for the wine geek to share with non wine geeks and all can enjoy!

06 fourrier MSD Clos Solon. Paid $55 i think for it this year. great wine. Will be tough to keep my hands off it.

Oh I know where that came from.

For me, not my bottle, but one of the biggest surprises would probably be the 03 Beaucastel Blanc (not the VV). Never thought I’d find a non-dessert white Rhone I’d like.