Published in October 2006

Wines, Spirits and Beers published in the October 2006 issue of Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

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Quilceda Creek 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon

Cellar Selection

Price $95

Lovely color and aromatics, this supremely powerful yet graceful wine sends up a mix of plum, berry, dust, mint and menthol. It’s spicy and young, and surprisingly light on its feet. The concentration here is different from a top-tier Napa Cabernet; the fruit has a pleasing elegance. The acids are firm but unobtrusive, the tannins are ripe, smooth but substantial… — P.G. (10/1/2006)

96-100

points

Talisker Distiller’s Edition 1992 Double Matured/Amoroso Sherry Cask Finished Isle of Skye Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Best Buy

Price $65

The wonderful bouquet includes scents of seaweed, smoke, peat, iodine, kippers and pipe tobacco. The palate entry is briny and intense; the midpalate is oily with traces of anise, butterscotch and linseed oil. Finishes vibrantly with tastes of salted butter, oil and brine. Highly idiosyncratic: for lovers of robust, seaside malts. Best Buy. — P.P. (9/22/2006)

points

Leonetti Cellar 2003 Reserve Red (Walla Walla Valley (WA))

Price $100

100% estate grown. More tannic and dense than the Cabernet, this is roughly three-quarters Cabernet, one-sixth Merlot, but replaces that wine’s Cab Franc and Carmenère with Petit Verdot. The nose shows hints of mushroom, jasmine, blueberries, raspberries and dark chocolate. All in all a big but surprisingly subtle, scented, sensuous wine. — P.G. (10/1/2006)

points

Prager 2005 Achleiten Smaragd Grüner Veltliner (Wachau)

Editors' Choice

Price $45

Citric flavors dominate this floral, very focused wine, from the steep Achleiten vineyard. It has some sweetness, or more precisely, richness, but this is only a small part of the vibrant, lively structure of a delicious wine. — R.V. (10/1/2006)

points

Prager 2005 Achleiten Smaragd Riesling (Wachau)

Cellar Selection

Price $48

This wine is going to age, and age magnificently. That’s obvious from the taut, structured tannins and the curve of flavors that rise from the perfumes through peach and white fruits and finishing with fresh, juicy acidity. — R.V. (10/1/2006)

points

Weinrieder 2003 Schneiderberg Eiswein Riesling (Niederösterreich)

Cellar Selection

Price $70

What a beautiful wine, with honey, perfumes, acidity and delicate fruit. It is certainly ripe, with tropical fruits and a pure citric streak. But more than the parts is the sum: The acidity promises long bottle aging, but the pleasure is also there now. Treasure this wine—none was produced in 2004 or in 2005. — R.V. (10/1/2006)

points

Bründlmayer 2005 Zöbinger Heiligenstein Alte Reben Riesling (Kamptal)

Editors' Choice

The purest Riesling flavors are to be found in this great wine. At this stage, it is still very tight and closed up, but there is so much leashed power there, along with complex hints of fruits, minerals and exotic perfumes. Give it at least five years, and it will begin to slowly evolve. — R.V. (10/1/2006)

points

Capichera 2001 Mantènghja Carignano (Isola dei Nuraghi)

Editors' Choice

Price $91

Dark as night, with licorice, lavender and blackberry aromas that are truly impressive. The palate is beyond deep, with over-the-top flavors of wild berry marmalade and chocolate. No surprise that it manages to finish in massive fashion. A total stud of a Carignan from Sardegna. Good 2010 and beyond. — M.S. (10/1/2006)

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