Featured Wines - March 2005

What makes the 2003Domaine du Vieux Chêne Haie aux Grives Côtes-du-Rhône so attractive is its ability to win friends and influence people, without ever having to call undue attention to itself. Medium-bodied and pure to the marrow, this charming wine provides a lightly fragrant nose and plenty of flavor and mouth feel in the guise of uncomplicated black fruit, subtle spice, and a velvet finish. Due to the natural methods of viticulture and produc...

Soft, succulent, and eminently drinkable, the 2003 Domaine Bachelier Chablis embodies all the attributes that have made Chardonnay the most popular white grape in the world. A light springtime scent of apple blossoms and the first fruits of a bountiful land greet the nose. Soon afterwards, plush decadent Chardonnay fruit coats the palate and begs to be savored some more, even as it disappears down the thirsty gullet. French Chablis is typically a...

An excellent example of the Margaret River style of Shiraz, the deeply colored 2002 Vasse Felix Adams Road displays an intense, seductive aroma of blackberry, plum, eucalyptus, pepper, and aniseed – all of which follow through on the palate. In addition, this purple potion offers up lavish quantities of ripe, textured fruit that are suitably underpinned by good acidity and a tight, balanced structure. Reminiscent of the great Syrah wines of Franc...

The 2004 La Puerta Torrontes sports a gorgeous pale gold robe. Nonetheless, it is the first sniff of this beautiful wine that truly assures the imbiber of what is to follow. Assuredly, the 2004 La Puerta Torrontes is no ordinary, homogenized, run of the mill white wine; it is a noble Argentine Torrontes. Extremely aromatic in the nose, with the scents of mineral, rose petal, oriental spice, and exotic fruit, one would expect sweetness to follow, ...