Featured Wines - October 2005

Kingsley Tobin’s 2000 Cabernet Merlot possesses every bit as much breed, elegance, flavor and individuality as any classified Bordeaux. Upon first sip, Kingsley’s meritage blend recalls the Old World visage of St. Julien – Bordeaux’s quintessential claret. Immediately, the likes of Château Beychevelle and Leoville Las Cases spring to mind. Like its Bordeaux counterparts, the Kingsley Cabernet Merlot is deeply colored and heavenly scented, offerin...

A forceful, racy wine the 2003 Kracher Illmitz Pinot Gris bursts with energy. In the aroma one senses the marvelous purity of fruit that the Krachers extract from their grapes. There is also a hint of spice in the nose that speaks of the neighboring Levant: clove, nutmeg, and the entrancing perfumes of the Orient. In the mouth, the Kracher Pinot Gris is rich in fruit, textured, and long on the palate. And not alike a top Alsatian Pinot Gris, the ...

Graceful, light, lovely, and thankfully varietal in character, the 2003 Praxis Monterey Pinot Noir offers all the beauty and charm of the great Pinot Noir grape, without an edge. Beautifully scented, this cool climate Pinot Noir conjures an appealing array of aromatics: cherry, blueberry, cedar, oriental spice, and vanilla. Light to medium weight in the mouth, the Praxis Pinot Noir follows through on the palate with a wonderful silky textured fee...

The 2004 Praxis Viognier is classic Viognier: floral, highly aromatic, deceptive, and seductive … right down to the last drop! From its lovely flower scented, fruit driven nose that seems to combine forsythia, jasmine, apricot, and pear into a single waft, one suspects this Viognier to be sweet, but alas not so. How deceptive and seductive Viognier can be, and utterly satisfying, too! The 2004 Praxis possesses lots of concentrated fruit and great...

Dedicated to Alexandre Marnier, the proprietor’s great-father, the 2003 Casa Lapostolle Cuvée Alexandre Merlot is nothing short of a tour de force in winemaking and, unequivocally, the very finest Merlot we have ever tasted from south of the equator. The product of the legendary Apalta Vineyard whose ungrafted vines average more than 60 years of age, this super saturated Merlot is the match for almost any Bordeaux Grand Cru St Emilion. An excepti...

The 2004 Heinrich Zweigelt comes across as the quintessential Zweigelt. It is aromatic, deeply colored, and quite well endowed. The aroma of cherries that wafts from the glass and the cool tangy flavor that unfolds on the tongue with each successive sip recall the hedonistic delight of early summer. On the palate, fresh ripe fruit, a gentle spiciness, and a firm underpinning make the 2004 Heinrich Zweigelt an absolute delight to drink. Assuredly,...

A classic mature white Graves, the 2001 Château Le Sartre Pessac-Léognan is all about elegance, refinement, and subtlety of flavor. Like all truly exceptional white Bordeaux wines, Château Le Sartre is not a heavy or weighty white wine on the palate; instead, it is the ultimate in finesse and nuance of flavor. Delicate aromas of white peach, stone fruits, and quince haunt the wine’s beguiling bouquet. Refined and easy to drink, this classy white ...