Featured Wines - December 2004

The 2003 Villa Giada Ajan Barbera d’Asti is one of those rare Piedmontese classics, a wine born in an excellent vintage on the slopes of some of the world’s finest terroir. When the sun, the moon, the stars, and the weather align as they did in 2003, no place on earth produces better wine than Italy’s Piedmont, and this outstanding offering from Andrea Faccio is ample testimony to that claim. Ajan is named for Agliano, a village in the heart of t...

The color of the noonday sun that gently ripens the golden clusters of Chardonnay grapes in the heart of the Macon appears in every glass of the exuberant 2003 Domaine de la Collonge Pouilly-Fuissé. Ripe, round, and seductive, this lovely Pouilly-Fuissé offers up scents of spring flowers, beeswax, soft ripened cheese and fresh baked bread, leading one taster to refer to it as “my meal in a glass.” Gentle but very flavorful, the 2003 Domaine de la...

The 2001 Puerta Palma could easily double as a Cahors, the famous black wine of Southwest France. Almost opaque, and as dark and deep as any wine from Cahors we ever have tasted, the Puerta Palma is one big, brooding, power packed potion – a wine that can surely hold its own with the best of the big boys. A heady, high alcohol concoction, this beauty emanates an intriguing aroma of plums, stewed black fruits, basil, tobacco, and oak, but the pala...

The 2001 De Solminihac Chardonnay goes a long way to redefining the consumer’s notion of Chilean Chardonnay. This Burgundian style Chardonnay was barrel fermented sur lie in French oak for a full six months before bottling. Don Emilio’s flagship Chardonnay boasts a pale yellow robe and an exuberant bouquet, reminiscent of good Meursault. Floral, butter, hazelnut, and vanilla scents all waft from the glass. On the palate the 2001 De Solminihac Cha...