Editors' Choice
Wines that offer excellent quality at a price above our Best Buy range, or a wine at any price with unique qualities that merit special attention. Each year, we also publish the Enthusiast 100, our highly anticipated list of the year's most desirable wines, representing extraordinary quality at prices that offer affordable luxury.
Showing items 1 through 10
of 4,642
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- 99
- $125
Quilceda Creek 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon (Columbia Valley (WA))
The flagship wine from Quilceda Creek offers exotic scents of plum, cassis, loam, coffee and pine sap, a rich and evocative blend. The wine delivers all that is promised and more; it is deep and dense with flavor, polished, focused and persistent. Vanilla, espresso, fine tannins, luscious acids and cascading fruits. — P.G. (2/1/2012) — 99 -
- 98
- $75
Vine Cliff 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon (Oakville)
Pretty much as good as Napa Cabernet gets. Shows the blackberries, black currants, blueberries and spicy plums of Oakville and scads of spices, and the tannin-acid structure is, in a word, superb. The oak elaboration is just about perfect, adding a tasteful layer of smoky, buttered toast. The finish goes on and on. — S.H. (12/15/2010) — 98 -
- 98
- $85
Leonetti Cellar 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon (Walla Walla Valley (WA))
Dense, aromatic, layered and rich, this wine explodes from the glass with scents and flavors of concentrated berries, cassis, black cherry, and more. The vines have reached a mature stage that amplifies the fruit and keeps the generous barrel flavors in perfect balance. The barrel notes roll on in a chorus of toasty accents, and the finish is as good in the last minute as the first whiff from the glass. — P.G. (9/1/2011) — 98 -
- 98
- $75
Coup de Foudre 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley)
This wine is from John Schwartz, who partners with Heidi Peterson Barrett to make Amuse Bouche. For Coup de Foudre, he has paired with Danielle Price, MS, and wine director at Wynn Las Vegas, to produce this stunning Cabernet, which contains 12% Syrah. Grown in a 5-acre Stags Leap District vineyard, it shows stunning levels of blackberry and chocolate fruit enhanced with waves of smoky oak. Yet somehow, for all the opulence and power, there’s an almost weightless elegance to the wine. Sometimes cult Cabs can lack restraint, be too obvious. This one teases with richness, then pulls back under a velvety cover of tannin. A major debut. — S.H. (5/1/2007) — 98 -
- 98
- $52
W.H. Smith 2005 Maritime Vineyard Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast)
The first thoughts on this wine are how young it is, and how much potential it shows. The immaturity lies in the primary fruit, acidic character, like a big gulp of fruity cola. But the wine’s awesome future is in its vast complexity and balance, and the way it dominates the palate and lasts and lasts. A blend of several vineyards, it’s high in acidity, with massive cherry, pomegranate, rhubarb preserve, licorice, earthy mushroom and cedar flavors. So balanced and dry, so elegant and powerful, so silky and complex, it is quite simply a very great Pinot Noir, and an early indication that the vintage on the far Sonoma Coast may be the greatest ever. Tasted twice. — S.H. (5/1/2007) — 98 -
- 98
- $95
The Maiden 2001 Cabernet Blend (Napa Valley)
This companion wine to the famous Harlan Estate comes from the same Oakville vineyard. Decadent and vastly complex, it opens with cassis, grilled meat, cedar, spicebox, cigar box and cheddar aromas, and then turns medium- to full-bodied in the mouth. Terrific black cherry, blackberry and cassis fruit, pure and refined. Perfect elaboration of oak, char, tannins, acids and fruit, like a symphony orchestra working together. Drink now through 2015. — S.H. (6/1/2005) — 98 -
- 98
- $97
Campbells NV Isabella Rare Tokay (Rutherglen)
Dark amber in color and going greenish at the rim, the basis of this wine is clearly old stocks going back well over 60 years. It’s full-bodied, unctuous and superrich, oozing with molasses and rancio character, but balanced by citrusy notes. The finish is incredibly sweet and long, coating the mouth with coffee-like essences that linger for minutes. — J.C. (2/1/2011) — 98 -
- 98
- $120
R.L. Buller & Son NV Calliope Rare Tokay (Rutherglen)
Just a tiny serving of this dark nectar will last a long time. The malty, porter-ish aromas intrigue, followed by incredibly rich and syrupy flavors accompanied by mouthwatering acids and enormous peristence. Layers of complexity gradually unfold in the glass, revealing hints of honey, caramel and beguiling rancio notes. — J.C. (12/15/2007) — 98 -
- 97
- $42
Failla 2008 Estate Chardonnay (Sonoma Coast)
From the wildest, most remote and exotic stretch of the Sonoma Coast: you can taste the salt of the sea in this wine, as you can in a Manzanilla Sherry. It gives a tang to the lemondrop, pear and honeysuckle flavors, with their lick of cold granite. So pure and vibrant, so savory, so compelling. Grows more fascinating with every minute in the glass. — S.H. (6/1/2010) — 97 -
- 97
- $85
Semper 2007 Gold Ridge Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley)
An extraordinary wine. It’s the essence of Russian River Pinot, squared, a big, concentrated, dramatic wine that never loses sight of elegance. Offers a tapestry of cherry pie with the crust, red currant, cherry liqueur and smoky sandalwood flavors that finish with intricate Indian spices. Drink now–2013. — S.H. (4/1/2010) — 97
Showing items 1 through 10
of 4,642
Tenuta Argentiera Argentiera
Red Blend, Bolgheri Superiore
Here’s a beautifully chocolaty and rich blend of Cabernet Sauvignon…Read More