Wine Spectator | 11 to 20

11 Kosta Browne
Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 2003 95 / $28 • California
For a couple of rookies, Dan Kosta and Michael Browne make Pinot Noir look easy. With only four vintages under its belt, the two-man team has made seven outstanding 2003 Pinot Noirs. The grapes come from three different vineyards, with most grown in a cool-climate zone near Petaluma. The wine was aged 17 months in French oak barrels, about a third of which were new. 790 cases made.
12 Crocker & Starr
Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley 2004 94 / $23 • California
California Sauvignon Blanc is on the rise and this wine led the pack in the ‘04 vintage. Proprietor and winemaker Pam Starr uses 100 percent Sauvignon Musqué and blends two different vineyards: the warm-climate, early-ripening Crocker in St. Helena and the cool-climate, late-ripening Hyde Las Trancas in southern Napa Valley. The grapes are fermented in stainless steel barrels. 1,199 cases made.
13 Campo Eliseo
Toro 2002 94 / $50 • Spain
This partnership between brothers Jacques and François Lurton and globe-trotting consultants Dany and Michel Rolland confirms the rising quality of the reds from Spain‘s Toro region. Five local growers provided the 100 percent Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo) grapes used in the wine. An average vine age of 30 years and small crops provide concentration, while malolactic fermentation in new French oak barriques followed by additional aging for 14 months lends international polish. 1,250 cases made.
14 Tenimenti Luigi d‘Alessandro
Syrah Cortona Il Bosco 2003 94 / $50 • Tuscany
The d‘Alessandro brothers-Francesco, Massimo and Giulio-began making their reputation for excellent Syrah in Tuscany more than a decade ago, but it is only recently that they have mastered this finicky grape on their 86-acre estate near the town of Cortona on the Umbrian border. With the help of consulting enologist Stefano Chioccioli, they have made purer, more complex Syrahs. 3,000 cases made.
15 W.H. Smith Wines
Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Maritime Vineyard 2003 97 / $45 • California
This stunning Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir was crafted by proprietors Bill and Joan Smith, onetime Napa Cabernet producers. The Smiths followed the lead of Marcassin‘s Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer when, in 1994, they purchased a360-acre ranch 5 miles from the Pacific Ocean that they call Maritime Ridge. This is only the second vintage from their 20-acre vineyard, which lies north of the mouth of the Russian River. 545 cases made.
16 Charles Heidsieck
Brut Champagne 1995 95 / $65 • Champagne
Cellarmaster Régis Camus has been with this 154-year-old Champagne house since 1994 and considers 1995 to have been a classic harvest. Warm temperatures and even precipitation in July and August meant that, despite Champagne‘s northern latitude, the grapes reached optimal maturity by the beginning of harvest in late September. This graceful bubbly relies on 65 percent Pinot Noir and 35 percent Chardonnay. 5,000 cases made.
17 Beaux Frères
Pinot Noir Willamette Valley The Beaux Frères Vineyard 2003 95 / $75 • Oregon
Michael Etzel has made some of Oregon‘s most profound Pinot at Beaux Frères since 1991. Despite a hot vintage in 2003, he managed to get plenty of finesse into this wine, made from the estate‘s 24-acre, south-facing hillside vineyard located on Ribbon Ridge in the Willamette Valley. Etzel prunes the vines severely, aiming to harvest just 2 tons per acre. 1,675 cases made.
18 Thorn-Clarke
Shiraz Barossa Valley Shotfire Ridge 2003 93 / $20 • Australia
Thorn-Clarke‘s midrange Shiraz is big and rich in the warm yet balanced ‘03 vintage. The winery is owned by David and Cheryl Clarke and managed by their son Sam. Cheryl‘s brother David Thorn manages the Kabininge vineyard just outside Tanunda, the source for Shotfire Ridge. The wine was aged in a combination of French and American oak barrels, roughly half new and the rest two or three years old. 12,000 cases made.
19 Félicien Diffonty & Fils
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée du Vatican Sixtine Réserve 2003 95 / $55 • Rhône
Jean-Marc Diffonty comes from a long line of winemakers and took the reins of this 55-acre estate from his father at a young age. The estate has vineyard blocks in La Crau as well as in northern Châteauneuf-du-Pape. His luxury cuvée, the Sixtine Réserve is aged in both small barrels (30 percent new) and old foudres. The ‘03 is a blend of 50 percent Grenache, 30 percent Syrah and 20 percent Mourvèdre. 1,800 cases made.
20 Château Latour
Pauillac 2002 96 / $190 • Bordeaux
Massive investment in the vineyards and winery by billionaire owner François Pinault has in recent years given Latour the edge over its first-growth peers. In the difficult 2002 growing season, Latour made the wine of the vintage. The grand vin is aged 18 months in new oak barrels before release and is a classic Pauillac blend of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, with some Merlot and a dash each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. 22,000 cases made.




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