the Best and the Worst of Wines 2013

Piemonte vineyards

Piemonte vineyards

Hopppy Noooo Yeeeer! We made it through another holiday season. Reading through Zealot probably helped, placing Jesus in perspective and such. Man… is that guy getting press or what?!? zealotWEB[ed. he means the author, no we are not going to mention his name, that already happens often enuff; wait… maybe that would help click count? Reza Aslan!!] tBoW will follow the herd and host our “best of” column. Of course, we must begin with the “worst of”.

The WORST Holiday Catalog in 2013 came from the venerable Westside wine shop, Wally’s. Founder Steve Wallace sold his “local” shop with the A-list customer directory to the Guess?? brothers in 2013. The new owners let everyone know where they are taking the “insiders” store with their first holiday catalog. wallys-cat-2013WEBThe cover featured the name-artist-created handbag [ed. you sure that’s what it is?] for the name-champagne 2003 Dom Perignon Rosé. Gift baskets for everyone and anyone who knows zip about wine [ed. you’re a snob tBoW]. Spectacularly awful.

The BEST New e-Commerce Site: Steve Goldun finally got his online wine site online before the year closed. It has been worth the wait. Eno Fine Wine has a shopping cart that functions easily, a catalog that features Steve’s succinct prose, and, most of all, wines that reflect Mr. Goldun’s particular palate. If your palate matches up well with Steve’s – i.e., you are really fond of Baroli, Burgs and higly inverted price (low) to quality (high) ratios – then you will be very happy buying your wine here. enofinewineWEBHere are some examples of wines that sometimes can be found elsewhere but not very often for less cost and NEVER with any doubt about what you are buying. Added plus – he understands v-a-l-u-e.

2012 Charles Briords Cuvee Vielles Vignes Muscadet Sevre & Maine Sur Lie $18: We served this wine at a holiday party after six other white wines had already assaulted our collective palates. The fresh rounded citric flavors immediately revived all. This should probably be included in every earthquake kit [ed. thanks for the keynahore]. U20! 12%

2010 Cour-Cheverny Vendanges Manuelles Let Petit Chambord $17: Another stupidly excellent wine and buy. We tasted this after it had been open 10 days. Still lively and fresh. Why Mr. G? “So much acid.” 13%

liquidWEBThe BEST Bricks and Mortar Store: Liquid Party Works. Granted this recognition could go in any year to local fave Woodland Hills Wine Company. However, in 2013 Pete and his Liquid shop blew us away. We picked so many great values out of this store we had trouble sleeping. Pete’s palate is another ting-a-beauty. His inventory mixes the most unusual bottles – the Sudtirol red with a label in Italian and German – with some of the most hard to find – 2007 Ghiseline Berthod Chambolle-Musigny, or a 1998 Cabernet. If you find yourself at the eastern end of Topanga Canyon Road past Devonshire you might stop in. Look for the wine shop that looks like an aquarium store.

The Best Importer: It seems like half the wines in tBoW’s cellar have the Louis Dressner label on the back; a mark of unquestioned quality. backbutte2010WEBMakes it really easy to pick a bottle if you only have to remember “look for the Louis Dressner label on the back.”

The Best Los Angeles Area Restaurant with animal heads and a remarkable wine list: Saddle Peak Lodge in Cold Canyon Road. Jen Carter works with chef Chris K and an outstanding wait staff to produce a memorable evening every time we are there. What Ms. Carter has done with the domestic-only wine list is a tribute to her curiosity and enthusiasm for the grape. Worth the ride. Hard to match the total experience anywhere.

The Best Wine: Running out of “best of” gas. This is so subjective. We tasted plenty of exceptional value wines in 2013. We tasted plenty of exotic wines in 2013. We tasted plenty of unusual wines in 2013 [ed. plenty enuff already!]. So if you put it that way, the best exceptional exotic unusual value wine we tasted in 2013 has to be the La Butte Roche. We already covered this and recently. Available from Eno.

We hope everyone drinks more wines from Burgundy, Barolo, Mosel, Alta Rioja, Southern Spain and the Loire in 2014. Or try more white Rhone styles from Paso Robles and David Corey’s incredible Old World style reds from Cuyama Valley. Next time you see wine with the ‘Uvaggio label on a list buy it. If you ever see a Mackenzie-Mueller red wine from the 1990s buy it. Mostly, live a good life best you can. When is it summer again?

Saddle Peak Showcase: Martian Ranch & Vineyard

mars_planetWEBSeated under the moosehead with the French doors open to the early evening air we sat in wicker chairs that are never this comfy anywhere else. Our love affair with Saddle Peak Lodge in Calabasas got even steamier this week. Somm Jen Carter presented her first small winery Winemaker Dinner featuring Martian Ranch & Winery of Los Alamos. The invite said the “owner, operator, winemaker and sommelier would be available to educate and entertain.” Two out of four is good enough for us especially when that duo includes Ms. Carter and winemaker Mike Roth. Somm Jen, GM Bobby Caravella and chef Chris Kurek have turned the onetime staid and spotty Saddlepeak Lodge into our favorite dining venue in the city. Saddlepeak has always had the space-based charm with the Water Buffalo and other icons of taxidermy everywhere which fortunately do not count towards the fire department occupancy limit. Now it has tons of personal charm that shows on the scorecard. (more…)