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Chateau Bernadotte 2003
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$26.87
Retail price: $34.99
Rated 90 pts. by Wine Spectator
Aromas of blackberries, licorice and toasted oak follow through to a full-bodied palate, with fine tannins and a long finish. Very subtle. Best after 2008. 12,915 cases made. –JS |
Chateau Gloria 2004
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$34.87
Retail price: $42.99
Rated 89 pts. by Wine Spectator
Aromas of violet and blackberry, with a hint of licorice. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins and a long, caressing finish. A solid wine for the vintage. A little more fruit on the finish would make this outstanding. Best after 2011. 20,000 cases made. –JS
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Chateau Leoville las Cases 2004
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$139.87
Retail price: $169.99
Rated 95 pts. by Wine Spectator
Intense aromas of currant, blackberry and light vanilla. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins and a long, caressing finish. Layered, with everything in the right proportion for the vintage. Excellent. Reminds me of the 1996. Best after 2012. 20,000 cases made. –JS |
Chateau Pontet Canet 2004
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$59.87
Retail price: $74.99
Rated 93 pts. by Wine Spectator
Shows beautiful aromas of crushed berries and currant, with hints of mineral. Full-bodied, with lovely currant, licorice and mint. Long and caressing. Very refined and balanced. Another winner from Pontet-Canet. Best after 2011. 25,000 cases made. –JS
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Italian
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Feudi di San Gregorio "Serpico" IGT 2001
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$79.87
Retail price: $99.99
Rated 98 pts. by Wine Advocate
The 2001 Serpico, impenetrable and inky, staggeringly rich in both aroma and flavor, offers ultra-ripe but perfectly fresh berry fruit, cloves, cinnamon, and chocolate, and mouth-coating, deep-pile tactile sensations which combine iron power and a enveloping, voluptuous texture, infinitely deep and long. I would be amazed if this wine did not last thirty years. |
Brancaia il Blu 2004
Top 100 wine 2006 Ranked #9
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$79.87
Retail price: $99.99
Rated 96 pts. by Wine Spectator
The aromas leave me speechless, with freshly cut roses and lilacs that follow through to crushed blackberry and cherry undertones. Full-bodied but extremely balanced, with velvety yet caressing tannins and a finish that goes on for minutes. Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best after 2008. 4,100 cases made. –JS
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Castello del Terriccio Terriccio 2001
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$109.87
Retail price: $139.99
Rated 95 pts. by Wine Advocate
The 2001 Castello di Terriccio is quite an unusual wine, a blend of grapes planted initially on an experimental basis such as Syrah, Mourvedre, and Petit Verdot. Packed, intense, and superbly long, the wine offers a nose and palate of plums, raisins, underbrush, and truffles, powerfully concentrated but velvet-textured flavors, and a richness and breadth which virtually line and upholster the taste buds. Judging the aging potential of wine like this, entirely original in blend and produced for the first time, is something of a hazard, but two decades would seem to be the minimum. |
Castello di Ama Chianti Classico "Bellavista" 2001
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$139.87
Retail price: $169.99
Rated 95 pts. by Wine Spectator
Wonderful aromas of lilacs, berries and cherries follow through to a full-bodied palate, with silky tannins and a long, seductive finish. This has fabulous beauty and finesse. Yet it?s powerful. Best after 2007. 750 cases made. –JS
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Le Macchiole "Messorio" 2001
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$269.87
Retail price: $329.99
Rated 97 pts. by Wine Advocate
The 2001 Messorio, 100% Merlot, is not quite at the level of the 1997, one of the most perfect wines ever made in Tuscany, but it is pure sumptuousness and volume from start to finish. Perfectly ripe and sweet, dense and voluminous but, oh, so velvety, an unending cascade of ravishing, spicy fruit, this is Tuscan Merlot at its best and another wine with two decades of life ahead.
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Petrolo Galatrona 2003
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$89.87
Retail price: $109.99
Rated 96 pts. by Wine Spectator
Fantastic aromas of black olives, meat and berries with hints of violets. Complex. Full-bodied, velvety and long. Gorgeous and powerful Merlot. Blockbuster. This could be the wine of the vintage. Best after 2008. 650 cases made. –JS
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Argentina
Chile
Spain
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Aalto 2004
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$49.87
Retail price: $64.99
Rated 94 pts. by Wine Advocate
The 2004 Aalto has a far different personality than the 2003. More deeply colored, it is also significantly more expressive aromatically. It reveals pain grille, pencil lead, wild blueberry, black raspberry, and blackberry liqueur notes. Opulent on the palate, it has layer upon layer of ripe fruit, and superb length but is still an infant developmentally. Give this top-flight effort 6-8 years to further evolve and drink it through 2032. |
Bienvenida Sito del Palo 2001
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$26.87
Retail price: $39.99
Rated 92 pts. by Wine Advocate
The debut vintage for this boutique winery from Toro, this 2001 (made from old vine Tempranillo) was aged in French oak prior to bottling. It exhibits an inky/purple color as well as a tremendous nose of blackberries, chocolate, and espresso roast. Full-bodied, rich, and dense, it offers a hedonistic mouthful of layered, opulent, heady juice. Impressively endowed with purity and palate presence, it should be enjoyed over the next 5-6 years. |
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Clos Mogador 2004
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$69.87
Retail price: $89.99
Rated 96 pts. by Wine Advocate
Clos Mogador is produced by the esteemed Rene Barbier who has hit homeruns in both 2003 and 2004. The 2004 Clos Mogador has a more saturated purple color than the 2003 as well as a more expressive perfume of mocha, coffee, and flowers (violets) in addition to toasty oak, earth, and blue and black fruits. More extracted and backward than the 2003, it demands a decade of cellaring and should drink well for an additional 20 years. The 2004 is a tour de force. |
Torremilanos Cyclo 2004
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$43.87
Retail price: $59.99
Rated 95 pts. by Wine Advocate
This meticulously produced wine is sourced from 85- to 100+-year-old Tempranillo vines with a tiny amount of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the blend. Torremilanos makes its own barrels, purchasing, aging, and coopering the wood. The 2004 Cyclo is even better than the 2003, more expressive aromatically, firmer and more structured on the palate. Purchasers of the 2004 should be prepared to cellar it for 5-7 years. It will drink well through 2025. If I were a budding wine collector with limited discretionary income, this is the type of wine that I would be laying down. |
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Emilio Moro Malleolus de Valderramiro 2004
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$169.87
Retail price: $199.99
Rated 97 pts. by Wine Advocate
The 2004 Malleolus de Valderramiro is sourced from a single 80+-year-old vineyard. It was barrel fermented and aged in new French oak for 18 months. Purple-colored, it is remarkably fragrant with elements of violets, roasted blackberries, spice box, smoke, and black currant jam. Full-bodied and structured, it is opulent and richly fruity with a long, pure finish that goes on for nearly one minute. This promising effort will have much more to say after 6-8 years of additional cellaring. It should have at least a 25 year lifespan. |
Hacienda Monasterio 2004
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$44.87
Retail price: $59.99
Rated 95 pts. by Wine Advocate
Regarding Hacienda Monasterio, all you really need to know is that the wine is made by Peter Sisseck, the man behind Pingus. The vineyards are located half way between Pesquera del Duero (Pesquera) and Valbuena (Vega Sicilia). The 2004 Crianza is 80% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo), 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot. Purple-colored, the wine has an open and expressive nose of violets, lilies, spice box, black currant, and blackberry liqueur which leaps from the glass. It has an intense entry with layers of concentrated sweet fruit, excellent balance, and a sense of elegance. It is lacking only in complexity which is sure to follow with more time in the bottle. Drink this hedonistic effort now and over the next 20 years. |
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Neo Sentido 2005
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$23.87
Retail price: $32.99
Rated 91 pts. by Wine Advocate
The 2005 Neo Sentido is similarly styled but more layered and richer than the 2004. It should have a slighter longer lifeline than its older sibling. |
Pago de Capellanes Crianza 2003
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$28.87
Retail price: $39.99
Rated 93 pts. by Wine Spectator
A deceptively modest red. Harmonious, focused and deep, with plum, currant, mineral, chocolate and floral notes that pick up intensity as they roll across the palate. Not a blockbuster, but all the pieces are seamlessly in place. Drink now through 2015. 12,500 cases made. –TM |
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Australia
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Aramis The Governor 2002
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$34.87
Retail price: $42.99
Rated 93 pts. by Wine Spectator
Rich and ripe, a glowing mouthful of blackberry, plum, cherry and sweet spice flavors. Silky, with a finish that sails on and on. Not a huge wine, but it has intensity and feels seamless. Drink now through 2015. 100 cases imported |
Elderton Command 2002
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$63.87
Retail price: $79.99
Rated 95 pts. by Wine Advocate
A stunning effort, the 2002 Shiraz Command exhibits an inky/blue/purple color as well as a sweet perfume of camphor, blueberries, blackberries, acacia flowers, and smoky, toasty oak. Full-bodied, opulent, and viscous, with huge, but sweet tannin, decent acidity, and a muscular, long, 40+ second finish, this is a classic, potentially long-lived, Barossa blockbuster. It’s accessible now, but ideally needs another 2-4 years of bottle age, and should keep for two decades. |
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Glaetzer Godolphin 2005
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$42.87
Retail price: $59.99
Rated 93 pts. by Wine Advocate
The 2005 Godolphin, a blend of 80% Shiraz (from 85-year-old vines) and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon (from 60-year-old vines), was aged in 100% new oak, primarily 300-liter French hogsheads. It represents a beautiful marriage of power and elegance, displaying an inky/blue/purple color as well as notions of black raspberries, blueberries, graphite, and sweet pain grille. Ripe, pure, and medium to full-bodied with sweet but noticeable tannin, it can be drunk now or cellared for 12-15 years. |
Kaesler The Bogan 2005
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$52.87
Retail price: $69.99
Rated 96 pts. by Wine Advocate
Aged in new and one-year-old American oak, and made in a completely different style, the 2005 Shiraz The Bogan (from 25- to 105-year-old vines) is a dense purple-colored effort displaying an exuberant nose of toast, blackberries, cassis, cherries, and damp earth. It is full-bodied and powerful with fabulous purity and texture as well as a blockbuster finish. This is a classic example of Barossa Shiraz at its finest. Enjoy it over the next 12-15 years. |
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Massena Epsilon 2005
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$19.87
Retail price: $27.99
Rated 90 pts. by Wine Advocate
A terrific value, the 2005 Shiraz Epsilon is fashioned from 32-year-old vines planted in the Greenock sector. Aged 12 months in old French oak hogsheads (300 liters), it exhibits an opaque purple color, abundant aromas of raspberries, blueberries, graphite, and spice box, and a full-bodied, rich, fleshy style. A hedonistic tour de force in winemaking, it can be enjoyed over the next 4-5 years. |
Penfolds Magill Estate 2003
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$43.87
Retail price: $59.99
Rated 94 pts. by Wine Advocate
From the famed Magill Estate in Adelaide, the 2003 Shiraz Magill Estate was aged 14 months in a combination of 64% new French and 36% new American 300 liter hogsheads. The 20th vintage of this cuvee, it represents this estate’s commitment to single vineyard Shiraz since it is made from the original 12+ acre vineyard that was established in 1844. A deep ruby/purple color is accompanied by a glorious perfume of graphite, acacia flowers, and toasty oak. The wine hits the palate with a plethora of flavors, including chocolate, spice box, fruit cake, black raspberries, blueberries, and cassis. Powerful yet elegant and streamlined, this beauty is one of my favorite examples of this wine to date. It should drink well for 15 or more years. |
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South Africa
Washington
Oregon
Champagne
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Dom Perignon 1990 Oenotheque
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$279.87
Retail price: $349.99
Rated 96 pts. by Wine Spectator
Absolutely delicious now. Brilliant aromas of candied fruits, coffee and vanilla pastry are intense and focused, thanks to the bracing structure. This is powerful, yet a picture of finesse and harmony. Great intensity and persistence of flavor throughout. This is tasting even better than a sample reviewed last year. Drink now through 2012. 'BS |
Krug 1995
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$189.87
Retail price: $219.99
Rated 98 pts. by Wine Spectator
A very youthful '95. Delicate. Intense aromas of ginger, citrus, candied berry and multigrain bread turn to honey, roasted almonds and graphite on the palate. It's all underscored by a precise structure and creamy texture. Its structure keeps it persistent through the long finish. A picture of precision and intensity. Drink now through 2025. 1,700 cases imported. 'BS |
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Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 1996
Top Hat Wines Special Price:
$109.87
Retail price: $149.99
Rated 96 pts. by Wine Spectator
Subtle aspects of biscuit and walnut accent the whole-grain bread, lemon, honey and coffee flavors in this regal Champagne. Wonderful finesse and harmony underscore the innate power and vinosity. A match for Dover sole or roast chicken. Drink now through 2015. 'BS |
Sparkling Wines
California Cabernet
California Pinot Noir
California Syrah
California Merlot
California Chardonnay |