Wine Enthusiast SELECTS Top 100 Wines of the Year

December 7, 2006— Elmsford, New York – Wine Enthusiast Magazine, one of the world’s most respected and quoted publications in the field of wine and spirits, has named De Loach’s 2004 30^th Anniversary Pinot Noir from California’s Russian River region “Wine of the Year” in its December 31^st “Best of Year” issue, available this week. The Best of Year issue celebrates the Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100 Wines of 2006 and also recognizes the year’s Top 100 Best Buys, with a Washington State Shiraz as the number one best-buy choice.

Carefully selected by the editors of Wine Enthusiast Magazine, the annual “Best of Year” selections are drawn from the nearly 10,000 wines tasted over the course of 2006 and represents the highest standards in quality, price, availability, newsworthiness, excitement and buzz! The list covers all five major categories of wine: sparkling wines, red and white table wines, fortified wines and dessert wines. Winners this year include wines from 13 different countries of origin. “More and more countries are making top-flight wines, and the 2006 list reflects the great improvements in winemaking that we’re seeing around the world,” said Wine Enthusiast Magazine Tasting Director and Senior Editor, Joe Czerwinski.

The Top 100 Wines of 2006

The Top 100 Wines of 2006 include 56 New World wines and 44 from Europe. The New World was well represented in the Top Ten with South Africa’s Warwick Trilogy at number five, and Argentina’s Punto Final Malbec Reserva from Perdriel at number nine. The US boasted 38% of the Top 100 Wines, with three of the top ten produced in California. Price and value are important criteria for even the best wines – Wine Enthusiast’s number three pick is the Charles Heidsieck Rserve Brut Champagne, at $36 a bottle. While the average price of a Top 100 wine was $53 a bottle, the median price was $36.

Since multiple factors were considered when selecting wines for this prestigious list, not all wines on the Top 100 list are necessarily the highest-scoring wines. Of those featured, the wines that received the three highest scores from the Wine Enthusiast 100-point rating scale were all Cabernet blends from the 2002 vintage in California, including: Sloan Cabernet Blend, Rutherford, unique recipient of 100 points; Rubicon Estate Cabernet Blend and Harlan Estate, Cabernet Blend, Napa Valley, both 99 points. The average score of Top 100 Wines is 94, while the average price of Top 100 Wines is $53, with the median price at $36.

The Top 100 Best Buys of 2006

Less than 1% of all wines tasted over the course of the year make it onto the Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s Best Buy list. Wines designated as the Top 100 Best Buys of 2006 have wine-rating scores of 85 points or higher of the 100-point scale and generally have a suggested retail price of $15 or below. The grand winner this year was Columbia Crest’s Grand Estate Shiraz from Columbia Valley, Washington, with a 90 point rating score for $11. Second place went to Portugal's Dao Sul’s Quinta do Gradil, also with a 90 point score, available for $6. Rounding out the top ten, the USA had five wines (2 from Washington State and 3 from California), while Portugal, Argentina, Australia, France and Spain each had one.

Of the top 100 Best Buys, 52 wines are from the New World while 48 are Old World, while the average price is $11.60. As contrasted with the Top 100, which had no ross, there are four ross on the Best Buy list. In addition, 40+ wines scored 90 or above: 14 from US, 6 from France, 5 from Argentina, 4 from Spain, 5 from Australia, 3 from Portugal, 2 from Chile, 2 from Germany.

Top 100 Wines of 2005

Warwick 2004 ‘TRILOGY’ Estate Reserve

South Africa, Stellenbosch / $32 Red
This was the first Bordeaux blend from the Cape, and remains one of the very best. This 2004 is stylish, very Bordeaux in its structure, yet shows a richness of fruit that Bordeaux can only envy. Black currants, dry tannins and a sense of great ageability - they are all there.