A quick search through my notes this year revealed the following list of “exceptional” wines. There’s a slight chance an additional wine or two may make the list before the year is out.

98 points -

1975 D’Yquem

97 Points -

1967 D’Yquem
1980 Krug Clos de Mesnil
1982 Ch. Leoville Las Cases (St. Julien)
1961 Ch. Malescot-St.-Expurey (Margaux)

96 Points -

1996 Dom Perignon
1967 Lindemans Classic Release Vintage Port
2001 Zind-Humbrect Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl SGN
1982 Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon

95 points -

1984 Hollicks Cabernet Sauvignon
Morris Old Premium Muscat
1982 Paul Jaboulet Hermitage “La Chapelle”
1996 Jean-Jacques Confuron Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru
2005 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier
1988 Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill
1989 Krug
1982 Cheval Blanc
1991 St. Huberts Cabernet Sauvignon Barrel Select
1996 Pol Roger Vintage
1966 Château Haut-Brion (Pessac)
1990 Leo Buring Leonay DWT17 Eden Valley Rhine Riesling
1995 Pol Roger Blanc de Blanc
Seppelt Rutherglen Rare Tokay DP59
1997 Louis Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru “Les Champs-Canet”
1985 Cheval Blanc
1985 Ch. Leoville Las Cases
1985 Ch. Canon
1994 Dr. Thanisch Berncastler Doctor Riesling
Trockenbeerenauslese
1990 Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Vendange Tardive
1990 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Clos Jesbal Vendange Tardive
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The 1975 Yquem deservedly got the nod as my wine of the year. For a thirty-one-year old this stunning beauty displayed an incredible youthful luminescence, a classical bouquet of nuance bordering on perfection for a Sauternes and a palate to die for. The trouble is, I think it will be better in ten, twenty or, perhaps, thirty years! The 1967 version of the same label is fully mature, much deeper in colour, reveals a greater degree of massively complex tertiary character on both nose and palate. If the bottle generously brought to by a fellow wine lover to dinner recently is representative of the vintage this wine should be drunk over the next five years. While the ‘75 revealed a taught structure with acidity to burn, the ‘67 was thick and unctious with a much broader, but no less impressive, profile. Still both are sensational examples of the marque albeit it in totally different stages of their development.

The “bolter” of the year must go the 1961 Chateau Malescot. For a maker I knew almost nought about, this bottle literally blew away everyone seated at the table. Not only did the wine reveal an incredible colour, a perfect fresh and vigorous bouquet of violets, cassis, cedar, sweet earth and saddle leather, the palate was incredibly expansive, brimming with vitality and freshness with layer upon layer of flavour, amazing purity and sublime structure. Even more surprising - all this from, admittedly, a very well cellared bottle, but with a level in the mid shoulder with a decidedly dodgy looking cork, although it was (carefully) extracted intact.

Honorable mentions must go the 1980 Krug Clos de Mesnil, perhaps the most mesmerising Champagne I’ve tried since I received a batch of recently disgorged 1973 Bollinger some years ago. The slightest hint of negative oxidation on the nose probably the only reason I didn’t award a perfect score. The palate defies description. Also the 1982 Leoville-Las-Cases was simply awesome - blessed with a plushness rarely encountered. Simply exceptional from start to finish, this wine was almost impossible to fault and stays at the top of the heap as one of the best Bordeaux’s I’ve had the pleasure of sharing.