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Shubie's 2011
Wines of the Year!
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After a long year of tasting some great wines, we've taken a look back and picked out some of our very favorites from 2011 |
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Christian Moreau
Chablis
1er Cru
Vaillon
Chablis, France
$49.00 / bottle |
George Shube:
"I'm a huge Chablis fan, and this is one of the best I've tasted in a while. For those of you not familiar with Chablis (or - heaven forbid - only know it as a wine-in-a-box!) here's a little background: Chablis is a village in France known for making crisp, bone-dry Chardonnay. It's especially famous for its Kimmerigian soil - soil composed of fossilized sea shells that give the wines of the region a unique mineral quality. This wine comes from the Vaillon vineyard, one of the best in the village.
What I love about this wine, which comes from the ripe but excellent 2009 vintage, is the way it blends the classic bracing, minerally Chablis character with a little extra "fat" fruit, coming both from the ripeness of the vintage and the character of the Vaillon vineyard, which tends to yield riper fruit. With apple and melon aromas, along with hints of anise and that classic "seashell" minerality, it's simply stunning Chablis - approachable now, it can also be cellared for 3 to 5 years."
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Marques de Murrieta
Rioja Reserva
Rioja, Spain
$24.99 / bottle |
Kevin Mahoney:
"For those who know me, it should come as no surprise that I went with a Spanish wine for my wine of the year. I'm a big fan of the wines of Spain - I think they offer incredible value, and this one is an elegant example of how good they can be. It comes from Rioja, one of Spains most famous and traditional wine regions. The trouble with Rioja, though, is that sometimes they can be a little too traditional - the winemaking techniques that some producers use are a bit antiquated, and can lead to overly dry, leathery wines.
Not here, though! The winery has perfectly married some modern techniques with the traditional ones, leading to an exceptional wine with great Rioja character - bright red cherries, with notes of spices, dried herbs, and yes, a hint of leather - with richer fruit and a fuller, rounder body than you'd typically find in a more traditional Rioja. You don't have to be a Spanish wine lover like me to be impressed by this one."
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Banshee
Pinot Noir
Sonoma
Coast, CA
$24.99 / bottle
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Carol Shube:
"I guess spending so much time working with food has influenced my taste in wine, because my wine of the year is this California gem - a delicious wine and an incredibly versatile one to pair with all kinds of different dishes. With its delicious red cherry and spice flavors all perfectly balanced by a strong streak of acidity (as any good Pinot should be), you can serve this with just about anything on the menu. You'll be hard pressed to find a better Pinot under $30 - or above $30, for that matter!
The secret to making such great Pinot at this price is the way the guys at Banshee source their fruit. In this tough economy, high-end winemakers are having a hard time selling all there wine - so they have leftovers after bottling. The guys at Banshee are incredibly well-connected in the California wine world, and roam around buying up the best barrels of wine from these luxury producers (for every barrel they buy, they pass on 15 others), and buying at a steep discount. Then they create their own blend from these barrels, delivering to you luxury Pinots at discount prices. The result is some incredible Pinot that you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for!"
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Domaine Schlumberger
Pinot Gris
Alsace, France
$22.99 / bottle |
Dougy Shube:
"When my dad asked me to pick my wine of the year, I really had to take a moment to think about it. I've been learning a lot about wines, but I admit I'm still new to the game. (If he had asked me for my tequila of the year, I could have told him immediately: Corralejo Reposado! Wine was tougher, though.) But I had this Pinot Gris recently (on the recommendation of my dad, of course) and it struck me as something deliciously new - and perfect for this time of year, too!
Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio are two names for the same grape, but the similarity ends there, as the French style is completely different from its more well-known Italian counterpart. This one is full of spicy ginger and apple aromas, with plenty of fruit on the palate, but enough acidity to keep it feeling fresh and lively - making it ideal for the richer dishes you usually find in winter. Much fuller and more flavorful than Pinot Grigio, its spicy character also makes it a match for Asian style foods - I had it with a bowl of Chef Lynne's Asian Dumpling Soup. Yum!"
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La Pialade Cotes du Rhone
Rhone Valley, France
$21.99 / bottle |
Bill Shube:
"The vividness of this wine's aromas is what first drew me to it. Impeccably structured, it is simply loaded with different scents of blackberries and spices, with a long finish full of herbs, spices and the 'dusty tannins' that southern French wines are known for. In short, this is no ordinary Cotes du Rhone.
The secret is in its distinguished pedigree. It comes from Chateau Rayas, one of the top estates in Chateauneuf-du-Pape (a village in the south of France famous for its world-class, full-bodied reds). When Rayas is done bottling its other three wines, all the leftovers go to La Pialade - of course, when you're talking about an estate like Rayas, even the leftovers are exceptional. Think of it more like a baby Chateauneuf than your run-of-the-mill Cotes du Rhone. This wine is totally packed with flavor!"
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