Sauvignon
Blanc
2003 Rudd Vineyards ($28) In 2002, Dean &
DeLuca chairman and prominent Napa Valley
vintner Leslie Rudd hired Charles Thomas (Mondavi's
former head winemaker) to create outstanding
bottlings such as this. A rich and well-balanced
Sauvignon Blanc, it's a largely barrel-fermented
wine inflected with notes of tropical fruit and
herbs.
Chardonnay
2002 Ramey Wine Cellars Hyde Vineyard-Carneros
($56) David Ramey has worked at many top
wineries (Dominus and Rudd, to name just two),
but since 1996 he has run his own outfit in
Sonoma. Ramey made this dense, flowery
Chardonnay with grapes from the famed Hyde
Vineyard and aged it a full 21 months in French
oak. It emerged sensationally complex.
Viognier
2003 Alban Vineyards Estate ($32) This
winery, founded by John Alban in 1986, was the
first in California entirely dedicated to Rhône
varieties, red (Syrah, Grenache) and white (Viognier).
He is the state's acknowledged master of the
fickle Viognier grape. This Estate Viognier is
an unctuous, exotically perfumed, full-throttle
white.
Merlot
2002 Shafer Vineyard ($41)Shafer
winemaker Elias Fernandez scored the first-ever
double victory in this year's Awards for both
his Hillside Cabernet and this powerful, inky
Merlot. The latter manages to showcase both the
fruit intensity of Napa's 2002 vintage and the
subtle, aromatic elegance that makes the Merlot
grape so highly prized.
Cabernet Sauvignon
2001 Shafer Hillside Vineyard ($175) This
monumental, deeply extracted wine comes from the
original vineyards John Shafer purchased in the
Stags Leap District back in the 1970s. A superb
vintage like 2001 resulted in this plush,
power-packed Cab framed by the Stags Leap
DistrictÕs trademark lush, velvety tannins.
Zinfandel
2003 Biale Black Chicken ($35)The Black
Chicken Vineyard, located in a quiet residential
neighborhood in the city of Napa, is the source
of this juicy, supple, raspberry-inflected
Zinfandel. Winemaker Al Perry ferments it in
traditional open-top vats but ages it in very
modern French barriques for a spectacular mix of
old and new techniques.
Syrah
2002 Lewis Cellars ($60)Former Indy 500
driver Randy Lewis founded his acclaimed
boutique winery back in 1992, and it is still a
family-run enterprise, overseen by Lewis, his
wife, Debbie, and stepson Dennis. They produce
this spicy, substantial and sought-after Syrah
from a vineyard 1,500 feet up on Napa's famed
Pritchard Hill.
Pinot Noir
2002 Soter Vineyards Beacon HillOregon
winemaker Tony Soter turns out cellar-worthy
Pinots like the firm-bodied Beacon Hill, which
is just now beginning to unwind. Soter's
rigorous pruning practices makes the superb
Beacon Hill Vineyard a particularly low-yielding
site, producing only two tons of intensely
flavored grapes per acre.
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