WOTYs 2021 Edition--And Your Discovery of the Year--TABULATIONS COMPLETE

OK. Finally done. Because there was such a delay at my end, I bent my usual rule and allowed latecomers choices to be included. We ended up with 620 wines to consider.

It should come as no surprise that a Champagne rules the roost again. The 2008 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne is the winner with 4 mentions.

Four-way tie for 2nd with 3 votes each.

2008 Chateau Rayas
1982 Mouton-Rothschild
2010 Lopez De Heredia Vina Tondonia Rosado
1997 Ridge Monte Bello

In terms of house numbers, some of the usual suspects are in play. I will list all houses with 5 mentions or more

DRC – 15
Krug – 13
Taittinger – 12
Dom – 11
Lopez de Heredia – 9
D’Yquem – 8 (actually a little low for them historically)
Ridge – 8
JJ Prum – 7
Domaine Leflaive – 7 (nice comeback for them after a couple lean years here and there)
Rayas – 7
Coche-Dury – 7
Allemand – 6
Haut Brion – 6 (Ilkka had a lot more, lucky dog :slight_smile: , but I chose to pare his list of those down a little for tabulation purposes)
Guigal – 6
Latour – 5
Margaux – 5
Clos Rougeard – 5
Huet – 5
Keller – 5
Trimbach – 5
Selosse – 5

Off the list entirely? Well, Bond had no mentions, nor did Maybach. No Marcassin at all. Just one Grange Hermitage (no HOG, but we rarely see notes on that). No Giacosa. At all. That was a surprise to me. Roulot just one mention and Ramonet just 2. No Egon Muller at all. And for Cristal? 4 mentions, 2 each for the 2002 and 2008 version. The other big surprise was only 3 mentions for Salon. But otherwise, a really spread-out list with a lot of producers I haven’t heard of before, which is great fun.

Thanks for playing again this year everyone! To a more in-person 2022, I hope.

Mike




We’ll get started a little early and build this up as time moves along. It’s been (regrettably?) a quieter drinking year for me with very few opportunities to be with company and/or do OLs. That doesn’t mean I haven’t had anything worthwhile
 [grin.gif]. And I certainly hope to add to this list.

2007 Chateau Rieussec (94)
2017 Louis Michel Chablis Les Grenouilles (94+)
2012 Prager Hinten den Burg Federspiel Gruner (93)
1997 Huet Le Haut Lieu Moelleux 1er Trie
1980 Mas Amiel Maury
2017 Joseph Colin Chassagne Vide Bourse
2015 Henri de Villamont Chambolle Les Feusselottes
2017 Littorai Les Larmes PN
2016 Chateau Pichon-Comtesse Reserve de la Comtesse
2017 PYCM St. Aubin Le Chateniere
1968 Fontanafredda Barolo

I’ll list my discovery as 2018 Eggo Franco, a CF by Zorzal that has been wonderful and crazy QPR.

Let’s have at it!

Sante,

Mike

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WOTY so far:

2011 Ridge Pagani Ranch Zinfandel
2014 Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses
2015 Domaine de la Butte Bourgueil Perrieres
2010 Domaine Brusset Gigondas Les Hauts de Montmirail

2004 Rayas
Honorable mention: 2004 Ganevat Vignes de Mon Pere
Discovery: 2018 Bernaudeau Les Ongles, the first Chenin I’ve loved

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Allemand, Chaillot, 1999.
Gonon, Saint-Joseph, 2009.
Dom Perignon, 1985.
Ganevat, Les Chalasses Marnes Bleues, 2011.
Selosse, Substance, disgorged 2005.
J. J. PrĂŒm, Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese, 1995.
Fritz Haag, Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr, Kabinett 1995.

QPR:
Labet, Fleur Chardonnay, 2018.
Wasenhaus, Vulkan, 2017.

Discovery:
Bernard Baudry (i know, i know
) Bought 25 bottles Baudry after tasting the 2014 La Croix Boissée.

We have a 1996 Barolo tasting coming up. So hopefully this is only temporary.

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Trying to beat Wine Spectator this year! neener

Red: 1982 Latour
White: 2017 Nicholas Joly Coulee de Serrant
Sparkling: 1985 Bollinger VVF
Rose: 2010 LdH

Discovery: I think I’m still going with the 2018 Suzor “Sunflower” Chardonnay. I believe the spirit of a discovery is that it is in part a value play. The reality is I’ve had quite a lot of top wines this year that were new to me, but probably not discoveries to many others on the board - things like Biondi Santi (wow!), Vatan, Bartolo Mascarello barolo, and Cedric Bouchard, Macdonald, etc have all been fabulous as billed, but not exactly secrets.

Edit* my best champagne discovery this year was Emmanuel Brochet

WOTY so far: 1999 Truchot Clos de la Roche

Finalists so far:

1996 and 2008 Taittinger CdC
2018 Drouhin Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche
2019 Maximin Grunhauser Herrenberg Kabinett
2014 Domaine Bernard Moreau Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot (tasted blind vs. 2014 Morgeot from Ramonet and was the consensus favorite
2007 Lafarge Volnay Clos des Chenes
2019 Reinhold Haart Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Auslese Auction

Discovery of the year:

Probably 2000 Chateau Cantenac Brown - not the most complex wine I have ever had but high on delicious factor.
Taittinger Brut Champagne Prélude - with the price of CdC going up and up, this is a wine to be considered.

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Red: 1970 Mouton
White: 2002 Leroy Meursault, 2008 Trimbach CFE
Sparkling: 2006 Taittinger CdC
Sticky: 1962 Climens, 2001 Suduiraut

And a bucket of QPR Champs:
2019 Richter Graacher Himmelreich kabi trocken
2016 Bedrock Carlisle Vineyards
2018 Vincent Gamay Bjornson
2018 Desvignes Morgon Javenieres
2013 Billaud Simon MdT
Every Halcon wine
Every Sabelli-Frisch wine

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LOL :wink: my list is usually around 20 John. I will eventually bold my best wine (it’s the Grenouilles so far, I think). Thanks everyone for getting the ball rolling.

John V, that’s quite interesting and thanks for explaining your take on discoveries–I like it! For me personally, I’ve always canted personally towards something that is new to me and that wowed me without thinking of it being a discovery for the majority, but doing it this way is a lot of fun too.

2021 has been a bit of a step back for me. Things got a little fatalistic in 2020, and I opened a lot of “great” wines. Some impressed, and some didn’t. 2021 went part way back to normal, and I dove deeper into “regular” wines, which also set up the beginnings of my next phase of wine, where I will be pulling back expenditures as I edge closer to retirement.

As far as wine of the year & discovery of the year, it’s the same wine. I was late to the game with the Champagnes of Benoit Dehu, but the 2015 CuvĂ©e De L’Orme has caused me to dive in and catch up. My wife was also a big fan, and asked if I could get more. Needless to say I did!

“Top 10” honorable mentions:
2018 Bucklin Bambino Field Blend Old Hill Ranch - value+++
2015 Ultramarine Blanc de Blancs Heintz Vineyard Sonoma Coast
2006 Domaine Denis Bachelet CĂŽte de Nuits Villages
2001 Dönnhoff OberhÀuser Leistenberg Riesling Auslese
2010 R. López de Heredia Rioja Rosado Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia
1997 Joh. Jos. PrĂŒm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling SpĂ€tlese
2016 Kutch Chardonnay Sonoma Coast
2011 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot
NV Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Grand Cellier Brut (January 2017 disgorgement)
2019 Desire Lines Winds of Change - value+++

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It is a bit early for this thread.

Front runner for red though is Sunday’s 1953 Figeac.

Great posts. Just eyeballing the lists my impression is a heavy preponderance overall of Old World wines. That would be a function of Ho has contributed so far? New world drinkers don’t play this game?

Will share mine below:

WOTYs
2001 VCC
1997 Monte Bello
1989 Beychevelle
2009 William Fevre Bougros
2018 Aubert Powder House

Discoveries
Faury St. Joseph
Morgen Long(!!)

QPRs
Louis Michel mdt
Terre Nere Etna Rosso
Monte Real
Azelia Langhe

Way too many good wines this year. Thanks to slowly getting back to semi-normal with friends and dinners.

Just a few of the bests:
2005 Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Notorious
2002 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques
2010 Lucien Le Moine Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes
1970 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco
1998 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
NV Egly-Ouriet Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs Les CrayĂšres
1994 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia
1994 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Bosconia
2010 R. López de Heredia Rioja Rosado Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia
2003 Joh. Jos. PrĂŒm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel
2001 Joh. Jos. Prum Wehlener Sonnenhur Riesling Spatlese


Discovery and QPR

2007 Calafù Greco di Tufo Ariavecchia - thanks to Fass - this is a killer wine that’s still even better on day 2/3 (for $30)
And Christina Tiberio

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Normally I’ll wait til the end of the year to post my WOTY but about a month ago I drank a 1959 Haut Brion that was hands down the best bottle of wine I had in a couple years. Doubt I’ll have anything better this year.

For a new discovery, the 2017 Le Pupille Poggio Valente. It’s drinking incredibly well at a young age (vintage?) and was a steal at $29 from Costco. I’m half way through a dozen bottles.

I dont keep track but a 2002 Phelps Insignia drank like WOTY and the Ravenswood wines have almost all been exceptional

WOTY (tie): 1985 Chateau Rayas and 1985 Marcel Juge. Had them both the same evening, overall the Rayas was better on the palate but the Juge was better on the nose and more unique. Hard to pick one.
Runners Up: 2005 Dom Perignon Rose, 1996 Salon, 2000 and 2002 Dom Perignon P2, 2016 MacDonald
Discovery: The wines of PYCM, exceptional across the board from what I have tasted.

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WOTY So Far:
2009 Abreu Cappella

In the Running
2003 ChĂąteau Montrose
2010 Renieri Brunello di Montalcino Riserva

Honorable Mention
2005 Joh. Jos. PrĂŒm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel
2009 Chùteau de Beaucastel Chùteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Cuvée Roussanne Vieilles Vignes
2014 Domaine de la CĂŽte Chardonnay Juliet
2003 Sine Qua Non Syrah Papa

Lived up to billing having never tried before:
2012 Le Macchiole Paleo Rosso
2013 Terrazas de Los Andes Cheval des Andes

Discovery:
2012 Samsara Pinot Noir Kessler-Haak Vineyard

QPR:
2016 Castello di Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva

WOTY: '92 Jadot Batard-Montrachet

Honorable Mentions: '10 Gonon VV; '08 Rayas; '18 Lafarge Chenes; '17 Leflaive ‘Folatieres’; 2001 MĂŒller-Catoir Gimmeldinger Schlössel Rieslaner Auslese

Discoveries: Bernard-Bonin; Pierre Girardin; Falkenstein; Lassaigne Clos Sainte Sophie