Featured Wines - December 2003

A light to medium-bodied wine, the 2002 Henry Pellé embodies all the charm and virtue for which Sancerre and the finest Menetou Salon are renowned. Scents of gooseberry, grapefruit, melon, fig, and fresh cut grass gather in the nose, alternating like the tide on an outgoing sea. In the mouth, there is plenty of palate appeal, too. Loads of ripe citrus fruits and minerals mingle with the undertone of gooseberry to enliven the mouth. Light, but wel...

There is nothing quite like the deep, foreboding color of a true South Australian Shiraz, and the 2002 Rockbare McLaren Vale Shiraz is perhaps the quintessential example. And better still, this wine's regal purple robe is followed by all the olfactory fireworks that make good Shiraz so popular. Eucalyptus, blackberry, herbes de Provence and a smooth but richly fruity hedonistic quality define both the scent and the savor of this luscious, easy to...

Produced in the actual bottle in the same painstaking way as French Champagne, the Avinyó Brut is Cava at its finest. A lovely pearl of a bubble beads to the top of the glass: soft scents of apple, pear, and fresh bread delight the nose. In the mouth, creamy fruit and the faintest hint of cinnamon caress the palate. Fun, flavorful and easy to drink, the Avinyó Brut is one of the tasting panels favorite sparkling wines. Kudos to the Esteve Nadal f...