Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2008

Tuesday, August 12th, 2008

Seems a little early for our soon-to-be annual contest to guess the Spectator Top 10 Wines of the Year, doesn’t it? Well, not to the many people we see already landing at domaine547 via searches on this very subject line.

We can’t believe it’s August and people are already obsessing over the year-end list. Rest assured, we will happily feed the frenzy, of course; but those of you who landed here because of such a search, please have some patience. Last year we jumped the gun, and our first post on this subject was around mid-October, a good month before the top 10 was announced. So check back with us in six or eight weeks for more on that subject, and between now and then for other wine-related content.

(Don’t worry, loyal readers…the contest is very much tongue-in-cheek and we have not gone over to the dark side. domaine547 remains a [mostly] points-free zone.)

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get your wine on

2005 Amavi Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla: #42 Wine Spectator in the Top 100 of 2008!

OK, don’t screw the WS top 100! This came in at #42 and it deserves at least that. It’s the only reasonably priced domestic cab on their list, and we love it. It’s deep and rich and generous with the oaky vanilla — but not cloyingly so. Yay for #42 - just $28.

2007 Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Cuvée Traditionelle Beaujolais Vieilles Vignes

Screw the Wine Spectator Top Ten! This is our top pick for November wine. It’s perfect for the Thanksgiving table, and we don’t care of Beaujolais for the holiday is somewhat of a cliché. This is so balanced, great acidity and a fantastic bright color and red fruit core to it. It screams cranberries! And did we mention it’s just $19? Buy some Beaujolais!

2005 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape

We stocked this long before it received the #8 spot on the Spectator Top Ten Wines of the Year rankings. Beaucastel is among our favorite Rhone producers, and its sister winery, Tablas Creek in Paso Robles, is a domestic favorite. Buy some Beaucastel

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freshly pressed

More Thanksgiving Wine Posts:

I have a running tally below from the first part of this week. Here are more wine-related Thanksgiving posts from around the web. I particularly like the Tofurky post, so thanks to John Witherspoon for that one! Oh, and the San Francisco Chronicle apparently thinks as highly of the Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Vieilles Vignes Beaujolais as I do. Yay!

Merlot as a match for Thanskgiving fare? Lynne Char Bennett of the San Francisco Chronicle thinks so…
The San Francisco Chronicle’s “Can’t Fail Guide to Thanksgiving Wines”
Drink Cru Beaujolais with your holiday meal, says Jon Bonné of the SF Chronicle.
Perfect pairings for Tofurky from John Witherspoon’s Anything Wine.
Catie’s “Obligatory Wine Pairing” post, a companion piece to our “Obligatory Thanksgiving Wine Post” of earlier this week!

What conclusions can we draw from these Thanksgiving posts? Well, Beaujolais tends to be somewhat of a theme, but as much for the rejection of it as the embracing of it. And the San Francisco Chronicle seems to like Thanksgiving…a lot!

Please comment with any posts we may have missed. I’m sure there are plenty more.

More Thanksgiving Wine Posts
November 21st, 2008

The Obligatory Thanksgiving Wine Post - UPDATES!
November 18th, 2008

Wine Spectator Wine of the Year Top Ten: It’s Time For Number One!
November 14th, 2008

wine jargon

Frizzante
From Wikipedia: Frizzante is an Italian wine term term for semi-sparkling wine (as opposed to Spumante, which is generally used for fully sparkling wines). Frizzante wines generally owe their bubbles to a partial secondary fermentation in tank. You might notice a light fizz or tingly sensation on the tongue with a Frizzante wine, compared to the more carbonated sensation that more fully sparkling wines yield.


Scorekage
Okay, so we made up this word yesterday after a great restaurant experience. We brought a bottle of wine with us, expecting to pay a corkage fee. But the restaurant either forgot to charge us the $15, or decided to be nice to us. We scored! Hence, “scorekage” has entered our lexicon. This can also refer to BYO friendly restaurants that don’t charge for corkage under any circumstances.


Frizzante
March 29th, 2008

Scorekage
March 23rd, 2008

Rioja
March 3rd, 2008

grapewise

Fabulous & Frugal!
Our friends launched a new site and domaine547 is a featured wine columnist in their premiere edition! Go check out Fabulous & Frugal for some fantastic lifestyle tips for living the good life during what, for most of us, is an economically challenging time. There’s much more than wine there, and we’re thrilled to be a small part of the start of what will surely be a successful venture. Congrats to Brandi & Steph for their achievement!

Read more…

domaine547 In the Blogosphere! Imbibe Magazine Unfiltered
Check out this blog post where they actually refer to somebody from d547 as a “wine expert.” Shocking! In any case, the Imbibe blog offers a nice recipe to go along with one of our wine recommendations. Enjoy!

Read more…

Fabulous & Frugal!
November 5th, 2008

domaine547 In the Blogosphere! Imbibe Magazine Unfiltered
September 10th, 2008

The 89 Project
August 5th, 2008