Bryan's 2006 Top 10 Wines 2006/12/31

Year	Wine	Price	Rating
2003	Bellevue Mondotte, St. Emilion Absolutely memorable. I found it more appropriate to list memorrable wines than just wines with great concentration or great finish, although this wine has both. Tasted on 2006/12/23 at The Wine Club. Just one sip is enough to remember this for life. Original notes: tea, mild cheese, boysenberry, vanilla, super complex, super long finish, super concentrated. Lovely. 100 points to me. - so - ws	199.99	*****
2002	Spring Mountain Cabernet, Napa Valley Tasted many, many times, the memorable occasion is 6th Man-Man-Has-Wine-Drink tournament on 2006/09/23 at Darling Lane. Since then it has become my standard take-to-Chinese-restaurant wine. Objectively, not 5-star, but memorable nonetheless. Original mmhwd nots: "chocolate, vanilla, coffee, plum, extremely long finish". I knew this was my wine. The 2002 Spring Mountain Napa Cabernet. This will become the champion wine. At $39.99, it tastes like a wine with a much more expensive price tag. Didn't even need "Handsome Man Strategem" to get a discount to fit under $40! It was a wine I have tried in a Chinese banquet! In KK and Crystal's Full-Moon Banquet for Isabelle, one bottle was opened for the wine enthusiast guests. It received a raved review. I was 90% sure if KK/Crystal were able to join us, there would have been a duplicate wine. I have confirmed this suspicion today when I talked to KK to thank him for ! giving m e inspiration. Ranked #1 - so - ws	40	****½
2002	Spring Mountain Elivette, Napa Valley Tasted at winery on 2006/09/16 in the first ever Elivette Release Party with kk/xtal/stanley/mom-in-law. Must be the environment and the companions, very memorable. Original notes: licorice, cherry, blackberry, chocolate, jammy. Great balance of power and elegance. Has long lasting evolving expression. - so - ws	90	******
2003	Paul Hobbs Cabernet, Napa Valley I opened this on my bday celebration on 2006/09/03. No notes was taken, but there were two excellent memorable wines: 2001 Constant and this. I like this the best although many experts seemed to like the Constant the best and this second. - so - ws	79.99	*****
2003	Domaine Beaurenard, Chateauneaf-du-Pape Tasted on 2006/04/23, the excuse was "Bryan Makes Omaha Hamburgers, Hotdogs & Steaks for Many People! kk, x, dern, pau, vicky, megan, bigland, celia, maddy, jr, hand, yun, one one, stanley, wendy, kko, tony, wynne, karina, ben, rosalia, me, fe, be". No notes was taken but the next day I wrote: "Most wonderful Chateauneauf-du-Pape I've tasted. Spicy, peppery, orange and mandarine orange peels, berries, well integrated, not super strong but just having the right balance like a gourmet dish". I told Pau who brought this wine along that I enjoyed it immensely. The next week, he opened another one for me at Guy's Day event (4/30). I did take down the notes that time: "metal, orange peel, cherry, vanilla, mildly astringent, complex, very pleasant, consistent with previous tasting. A bit of pepper." Another Pau wine I liked and found unusual enough to worth mentioning briefly was 2004 Sea Smoke Southing Pinot Noir, S! anta Rit a Hills. - so - ws	37.00	*****
1995	Silver Oak, Napa Served at Bryan Family Xmas Dinner. KK and Crystal's precious collection. While I am not very thrilled by older California Cab, the silkiness of the wine and the occasion has been very memorable. Original notes: "Good cedar, pine wood, blackberry, vanilla, velvety tannin." - so - ws	100	****½
2004	Lewis Alec's Blend, Napa Valley Thanksgiving dinner on 2006/11/23 at KK's home. Pau brought my favorite wine again (see Chateauneauf-du-Pape below). Original notes: "Extremely powerful. Coarse but sweet tannin. Blackberry liqeur, orange peel, vanilla, licorice, anise, heavily oaked, ultra long finish. 70% syrah, 30% cabernet." Also at the same occasion was the 2002 Insignia I brought along. Since this has been featured in previous year, I'll simply mention this. - so - ws	52	*****
2003	Domaine Joseph Roty "Champ Chenys", Gevrey Chambertin Memorable dinner at Joy Luck Place with Mike, Vincent, Clare, mom-in-law. I am starting to like Gevrey Chambertin a lot. Always changing, always good match with most food. Original notes: "perfumely floral, red cherry, cassis, a hint of smoke, precisely focus yet different every sip. Chalky in the beginning, evolved into velvety smoothness in the end." Incidentally, another not-as-good-but-still-really-good Gevrey Chambertin is worth mentioning: 2004 Frederic Esmonin "Clos Prieur", Gevrey-Chambertin. The good thing about it is the price: $24.99 at K&L. There is absolutely no new world Pinot Noir at that price that can approach the complexity. - so - ws	49.99	*****
2002	Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet, Napa Valley Tasted on a Napa Tour with Stanley, Denise, Parents-in-law on 2006/07/08. This wine is on this list as a representative to honor Beringer in general. The winemaker, Ed Sbragia, is a big fan of mine. He juggles probably 50 wines between Beringer and his own Sbragia brand (perhaps more that I don't know of) and makes superior wines for both! The Chardonnays are also wonderful. Great respect from me. The less expensive Napa Valley Cab also got great rating although I haven't tried. On my next to drink list. I also enjoy half his $6.99 Pinot Noir and use half for oxtail braising. Original notes for the 2002 Private Reserve Cabernet: "cumin, curry, sage, cassis, very well balanced, tight to judge right now" - so - ws	115	*****
2003	Caymus Cabernet, Napa Valley This wine makes the most dramatic improvement. Tasted three times. One note dated 2006/02/11 for celebrating Isabelle's birth was "raspberry, fresh herbs, grapy, ginger, astringent, zesty. Needs time! 4.5 stars". A recent tasting on New Year's Eve shows much improvement: grapiness is completely gone, replaced with dark cherry, port-like aroma, mocha that I associate with Rutherford (must be the so-called Rutherford dust), multi-dimensional, 5 stars. - so - ws	65	*****