It’s a new year with a whole new set of wines from which to choose!  Decisions, decisions.  This month’s Premier Series features represent outstanding quality and value across the board, but preferences being what they are my first Top Pick goes to Errazuriz’s excellent 2011 Estate Reserva Carmenère.  The wine is top notch, and I simply love good Carmenère, so one down and one, well . . . maybe two, Top Picks to go.  The 2010 Anayon Corona de Aragon Chardonnay is an extraordinary find, so it deserves top billing as well.  It hails from an unlikely locale, but who cares.  Anayon has put it all in the bottle, and in a very beautiful bottle, too.  This wine blew away dozens of more expensive Chardonnays from renowned vineyards and could easily have been considered for our Collector Series.  It also received a rousing ovation and unanimous support from our tasting panel, and that’s really tough for any Chardonnay to do.  Consequently, Anayon’s 2010 Corona de Aragon earns my nod.  With that said, the 2011 El Pajaro Royo shouldn’t be shunned.  It is a gorgeous Bierzo Mencia that drinks beautifully now.  A votre santé.

Collector Series Top Picks are always the most challenging.  How do I exclude a wine our tasting panels have deemed highly desirable and chosen as a monthly feature and then say “sorry, guy, you’re good but your two buddies are better . . . you’re out of here.”  Harsh, don’t you think, and not exactly in the spirit of the season?  Consequently, I’m going to make a case for all three of this month’s selections. 

For starters, it’s hard to imagine a Châteauneuf-du-Pape better than Domaine du Grand Tinel’s Cuvée Alexis Establet.  It’s from a great producer in an awesome vintage, and it has garnered top ratings from the most discerning critics.  Moreover, it gets my nod.  The only caveat is this: the 2010 Cuvée Alexis Establet is an infant.  To drink it now wouldn’t be a catastrophe, but putting it down for a few years will handsomely reward your patience. 

Fournier’s Cuvée Silex Sancerre is another exciting wine from one of France’s most esteemed producers.  This limited bottling of Sancerre rarely makes it to the US and is a true collectable among Sancerre aficionados.  It, too, is a baby, but what a beauty she is. 

Last but not least, Albert Pasanau’s Ceps Nous Priorat may very well be the finest quality and value one can find today from Spain’s fabled Priorat.  The 2010 Ceps Nous is simply delicious now and promises even more in the years to come.  A votre santé

My first top pick this month has to be the 2004 Château Laronde Desormes. This exceptional effort came straight from the château’s cellar.  It highlights just how good a Petit Château Bordeaux can be from a serious producer such as Laronde Desormes.  In addition, mature Bordeauxis hard to find and typically fabulously expensive.  To offer an authentic château bottled Bordeauxat its prime to our Premier Series members warms my heart.  Be sure to decant this exceptional offering and enjoy it with a fine meal.  Equally impressive is Massone’s 2011 Vignetto Masera Gavi – a perennial favorite.  Bright and fresh like the living waters of a high mountain stream Massone’s Gavi earns special feature status this month, too.  It always makes me wonder if the water from the mythical “Fountain of youth” could taste any fresher or be any more vibrant than Massone’s Masera Gavi.  However, these Top Picks shouldn’t take anything away from this month’s other selections: Nino Franco’s seductive Prosecco and Château de St. Lager’s delicious Brouilly.  A votre santé.

I’m hooked on the big, beautiful red wines of Spain’s Priorat.  And a recent trip to Spainis just prolonging the affair.  Consequently, my first Top Pick for the month is Scala Dei’s 2004 Cartoixa Priorat – this venerable estate’s top rated wine. The 2004 Cartoixa Priorat is a powerful, polished wine that positively sings from the glass.  It offers an eye catching purple robe and a stunning bouquet that flirts with the senses before seducing the nose.  A heady mélange of black currant, rose petal, black cherry, hot fudge and sweet vanilla savory scents and flavors work their magic.  If you have never had one of Priorat’s iconic wines, it’s about time you treated yourself.  Try Scala Dei’s Cartoixa, but remember it only takes one time to get hooked.  My Second Top Pick belongs to an old friend and one of the most consistently made wines I have encountered over the years – Gilles Noblet’s Domaine de la Collonge Pouilly-Fuissé.  Noblet’s 2011 Pouilly-Fuissé is another unequivocal success.  It received unanimous support from our tasting panels and is positively delightful.  And it will get even better with a few additional months of bottle age.  A votre santé!

Château Eulalie is the pride and joy of Laurent and Isabelle Coustal who resurrected and completely restored the ancient Minervois vineyards surrounding Château Eulalie.  In 2010 Isabelle fashioned an incredibly balanced, complex Plaisir d’Eulalie Minervois from old vine Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan that is a joy to drink now but will also continue to improve in bottle.  This is a richer, more structured wine than most Côtes-du-Rhône offerings, but more importantly it demonstrates how good Minervois wines can be and not cause the debt collector to come calling.  Consequently, the 2010 Plaisir d’Eulalie earned my first Top Pick.  Our second Top Pick is a tougher choice.  We really liked Schellman Ossi’s fresh, easy to drink Gruner Veltliner and Joel Gott’s excellent Oregon Pinot Gris, but my second Top Pick belongs to Joel Gott’s 2010 Alakai – a hedonistic California Rhône Ranger that again puts most red Côtes-du-Rhône wines to shame.  An artful blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Petit Sirah, Alakai’s pure luscious fruit flavors are perfectly layered into a beautifully balanced frame.  Enjoy this top notch offering early and often.  A votre santé!

Decisions, decisions . . . which wines will get this month’s top spots?  Well, for starters, the number one Top Pick goes to Poggio ai Mandorli’s elegant, sophisticated, downright tasty 2007 Chianti Classico Riserva.  The handiwork of a fine estate and a great vintage (growing conditions were nearly ideal in Tuscanyin 2007), we haven’t come across an estate bottled Chianti Classico Riserva that offers more quality and value than the 2007 Poggio ai Mandorli Riserva.   Enjoy this tasty affordable gem now and for at least several more years.  Our second Top Pick gives me palpitations.  Why?  Each of the other three offerings is truly special.  Loca’s 2010 Cariñena Tempranillo is simply downright tasty, and a fabulous value.  Emile Beyer’s 2010 Pinot Blanc demonstrates genuine crowd pleasing appeal, and the 2011 Château Trignon Roussanne provides ample evidence of just how fine the white wine from the rare Roussanne vine can be.  Considering the difficulty involved in cultivating Roussanne and the grape’s rarity, I must award my second Top Pick to Château Trignon’s 2011 Roussanne, but as you like it.  A votre santé!