2019 – The Year in Review

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | DECEMBER 31, 2019

Two thousand nineteen was up and down, with a ton of highlights and some challenges, too. In the end, though, tasting wine for a living and running Vinous are two enormous privileges. While I could give readers a long list of super-rare wines I had in 2019, this list is all about Moments. Specific events that were about much more than just wine….

The Best Wines of 2019

I was fortunate to taste many extraordinary wines in 2019. These are a few current releases that stand out because they really enter the realm of the sublime and truly profound.

Red – San Giusto a Rentennano 2016 Merlot La Ricolma. The Martini di Cigala family has done an extraordinary job with their 100% Merlot La Ricolma over the last handful of years, culminating with the stunning 2016 that is every bit as monumental as the 2015. The story behind La Ricolma and how it came to be, really by accident, is covered in this recent retrospective. 

White – Vincent Dauvissat 2017 Chablis Les Preuses Grand Cru. Dauvissat’s 2017 Preuses is the archetype of contemporary Chablis – rich, sumptuous and dazzling in its stature, and yet it so Chablis, so Dauvissat and so Preuses.

Champagne – 2008 Salon. All the purity and crystalline beauty of Chardonnay from Mesnil reaches dizzying heights in the 2008 Salon. Sadly, the entire production is just 8,000 magnums. The decision to bundle the 2008 with other vintages in a special wood box priced in the stratosphere displeased a great many Champagne collectors. As for the wine, though, there is no denying its greatness.

Under the Radar Find – Château de Millery. This small Saint-Émilion property owned by the Manoncourt family of Figeac has dazzled since 2016, the first vintage the Manoncourts began commercially distributing in earnest. Exquisitely refined, Millery represents the height of sophistication in Saint-Émilion.

Best Value Under $25 – 2017 Bedrock Wine Co. Syrah Coast To Foothills. In 2017, Bedrock bottled only one vineyard-designate Syrah (a superb Bien Nacido); all the rest of the juice went into the 2017 Syrah Coast To Foothills, which is the former North Coast Syrah bottling with a new name, as it now includes a bit of fruit from Shake Ridge, which is in Amador County.

Best Value Under $50 – 2017 Turnbull Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley). Peter Heitz has done a superb job at Turnbull in elevating the wines into the stratosphere in recent years. The estate’s Napa Valley Cabernet is a stunning wine for the money.

Winery of the Year – Au Bon Climat. Jim Clendenen showed me a range of breathtaking wines this past summer. Over the years, Clendenen has inspired or directly mentored many of the new generation of winemakers in Santa Barbara. Ironically, Clendenen’s wines come across as quite flamboyant next to those of his disciples. To me they represent the very essence of Santa Barbara.