Featured Wines - May 2002

Testimony to the longevity of fine estate bottled wine from Alsace, the 1998 Bott-Geyl Pinot d'Alsace is first approaching its peak of maturity. A blend of 40% Pinot Blanc, 40% Pinot Auxerrois and 20% Tokay Pinot Gris, this still youthful looking wine provides plenty of suave, sophisticated drinking. Delicate scents of melon, peach, orange peel and spring flowers permeate its nose, while satiny soft flavors ripe with white fruits form the wine's ...

Flamboyant and utterly hedonistic, the 1999 Chante Perdrix Chateauneuf-du-Pape is nothing short of decadence in a glass. Tantalizing scents of kirsch, fresh Herbes de Provence and exotic spices spring from the glass. In the mouth, rich complex flavors permeate the savor of this exemplary Chateauneuf-du-Pape, providing a veritable feast for the palate. All the while, ripe, lush tannins provide ample structure and depth to the wine, and lead to an ...

Ripe, round, and buttery, the 2000 Bishop's Peak Central Coast Chardonnay was made with good old-fashioned drinking in mind. No smoke, no mirrors, this is a Chardonnay made for those who appreciate the luscious, more hedonistic side of California Chardonnay; the Bishop's Peak is not for the "oak crowd" or those who worship toasted oak barrels as the supreme expression of a wine. Rather, this Central Coast Chardonnay displays a lovely, natural, fr...

Scents of lush ripe blackberry, cassis, cedar and aged tobacco emanate from the rich, ruby-robed 2000 McManis Cabernet Sauvignon. Gobs of physiologically ripe fruit, with touches of spice, earth and toasty oak, wrap themselves delightfully around the palate as if to shout "Cabernet Sauvignon does not have to be a hard, tannic unapproachable wine in its youth; it is one of the world's great red varietals, plush and fulfilling, especially when it s...