Wines of the Year 2009

by Tom Cannavan, 12/09

Once again I present my Wines of the Year - the best wines I have tasted in seven different categories, plus two extra categories: 'Dud' of the Year, and 'Thing' of the Year. There is a link to my tasting notes on all of the wine featured.

As always, I am looking for your entries to be added to this feature too. Your 'dud' should be the worst, or most disappointing wine you have tasted - it might be a cheap wine that was truly horrible, or an expensive wine that really didn't deliver. 'Thing' is a catch-all category: many people suggest I add extra categories - 'Restaurant of the Year', 'Wine Merchant of the Year' and so on - but rather than have an ever-expanding range of categories, please use 'Thing' as imaginatively as you like.

Link to Visitors' Wines of The Year at bottom of page

Tom's wines of 2009

Red	Vega-Sicilia, Unico 1969, Spain
White	Weingut Prager, Riesling Klaus 2007, Austria
Budget red	De Bortoli, Gulf Station Pinot Noir 2008, Australia
Budget white	Fontana Candida, Frascati Superiore 'Vigneto Santa Teresa' 2008, Italy
Sweet	Mount Horrocks, Cordon Cut Riesling 2008, Australia
Sparkling	Champagne Roederer, Brut Premier NV, France
Fortified	Grant Burge, 10 Year Old Tawny NV, Australia
Dud	Charles Joguet, Chinon 'Les Varennes du Grand Clos' 2001, France
Thing	New York / Majorca

click to read my full tasting notes for my Wines of the Year 2009

A great year of tasting with plenty of new experiences including my first wine tasting tours of Cyprus, Puglia, Western Australia and Chile's remote northen valleys. Of course there were some amazing tastings, dinners and great bottles much closer to home too. Amongst the special occasions, highlights included an extraordinary dinner including La Tache, Cheval Blanc and more, a vertical of Vega Sicilia and a dinner at London's 'The Square' themed around 1972 red Burgundy. The Vega-Sicilia was part of a vertical where three or four of the vintages on show could have scooped the trophy, whilst the Roederer Champagne is their regular NV, even though I drank much more expensive and, admittedly higher scoring fizz during the year. But Roederer is just one of the few high street Champagnes that is properly mature and consistently delicious straight from the bottle. It never ceases to delight. The Joguet Chinon gets the 'dud' vote because somewhere in there is a brilliant wine, totally ruined by high levels of Brettanomyces (tasted several times). New York and Majorca? I've recently returned from my first visit to NYC in about 10 years and just loved it - especially the dining scene. My first ever visit to Majorca in late summer saw a week of torrential rain and could have been a wash out, but as those who have read my restaurant guide will know, the food scene saved the day.

See Visitors' Wines of The Year 2009