It’s PRIMA’s ’24 for 24’ Best Wines Of The Year , Installment I & II, 24-13
It’s PRIMA’s ’24 for 24’ Best Wines Of The Year
2024 was another banner year for our shelves here at PRIMA as the confluence of great wine vintages and inspired winemaking the world-over presented us with an embarrassment of riches from which to choose. With feedback from our bustling wine bar to account for, as well as your opinion based on anecdotal feedback and actual sales, we inevitably focused on the best wines that made us the happiest- wherever they came from and whatever they cost. The fact that there are so many wines from Italy here (and notably fewer from the New World) reflects our personal preferences. After all, we make no claims to impartiality like some wine journalists claim (but really know better). But to make it to this best wine list, a wine not only had to be good, it had to be VERY good and, not only VERY good, but fairly priced as well (we’re cheapskates here). We found an awful lot to discuss as we were making the list as everyone lobbied for their favorites. But we finally got there, just in time for your year-end wine enjoyment!
As usual, we’ll be releasing our lists in installments- 6 at a time, Monday through Wednesday, 5 on Thursday and the much-anticipated announcement of Wine of the Year will be on Friday.
Have fun.
24) 2022 Domaine Francine et Marie-Laure Serrigny Bourgogne Aligote
$31.99
Everyone who has tried this, simply loves it! As old school as their label, this ancient property near the town of Savigny-Les-Beaune has been run since 1995 by Marie-Laure Serrigny and her younger sister Francine who hew to tradition as closely as possible in order to properly do justice to a legacy of old vines that would be the envy of anyone in Burgundy. The oldest on the entire property are neither Pinot Noir nor Chardonnay, rather two positively ancient parcels of Aligote planted sometime just after the turn of the twentieth century, during Burgundy’s post-phylloxera restoration. At well over the century mark, these vines produce the most prized wine in the cellar, a white that shows just what is possible when inspired winemaking and old vines come together. Aligote is (in)famous for its pronounced acidity and intense minerality. In the olden days, that would be just about all you’d get! But, thanks to climate change, recent summers are yielding riper fruit and, therefore, better concentration, so Aligote is finally having its moment in the sun (if you will). But Aligote gets to another entirely different level here. Fermented on its native yeast and aged in older barrels, the approach is deceptively simple for a wine with this much depth and character: Great shimmery pear and Golden Delicious apple fruit, a beautifully subtle texture that expands as the wine warms and all of Aligote’s hallmark acidity. Only 200 cases were produced!
23) 2022 Cascina Fontana Langhe Nebbiolo
$42.99
Mario Fontana is a very cool guy. His tiny cellar is a one-man show at the highest part of the Perno road in Monforte d’Alba, right next to Reppublica di Perno, one of our favorite restaurants in the area. The laconic but genial Mario calls himself a ‘traditional iconoclast’ who has, over the years, passed on several lucrative opportunities to ply his winemaking trade with bigger, fancier cantinas in order to concentrate solely on making his own wines, his own way, at tiny Cascina Fontana. Mario is totally committed to making his three-total-cask production of Barolo wholly within the confines of the region’s most time-honored traditions. He is, after all, related by marriage to the Mascarello family, and just like his late in-law uncle Bartolo and his daughter Maria-Teresa, he would rather do things the way they’ve always been done in Barolo than follow any fad or fashion. And his wines definitely show that sense of rugged individualism. Mario farms three different vineyards- two in nearby Castiglione Falletto (Villero and Mariondino-Valetta) that have long been in the Fontana family, and a third, Giachini in La Morra, came into the family through Mario’s wife, Luisa. In addition, Mario farms smaller parcels dedicated solely to the production of a truly delicious, really distinctive Langhe Nebbiolo made in the ‘Baby Barolo’ style. One is in the historical Castello vineyard located that the Fontanas have farmed for nearly a hundred years, just up the hill from Castello di Sinio. Additionally there are three Fontanta-owned parcels in Castiglione Falletto: Lirano, Mombello and Il Pozzo. The grapes are vinified for a much shorter period (two weeks) than those destined to become his much-coveted Barolos. This results in a wine that is fresher than a young Barolo but no less harmonious and elegant, with a beautiful balance of tannin, fruit and acidity. There is a wonderful sweet core of dark, dusky Nebbiolo cherries, plums and mulberry and all the amazing wild nettle, cinnamon spice aromatics one expects from the grape swirling in a medium-bodied red that drinks beautifully already. I truly bonded with this wine over a traditional lunch with Mario in Perno where it married beautifully with our pasta and, when we compared it with a 1975 Nebbiolo Mario’s father made, you can see the path this wine has taken over the years. Under the radar, still well priced, and a wine I think will cellar wonderfully, I purchased all I could get in California- but that’s not much!
22) 2022 Rudi Pichler Gruner-Veltliner Federspiel Wachau
$33.99
Choosing our wines of the year is always a very collaborative effort and when we queried Fran about some of her choices and she advocated for this minty, minerally Gru-Vee and there was a groundswell of support from everyone else on the team. Jade waved her hand wildly while Brandon reminded us that this bone dry, crunchy Austrian white is practically the Mueller house wine! The name Pichler is synonymous with the top wines of the Wachau: F.X.’s, for their incredible single vineyard offerings and good ol’ Rudi for making a high-end, super focused, addictingly delicious Gruner the rest of us can afford! This ain’t your mama’s Gruner! It not only has the scintillating acidity and verve one expects from the grape, but it’s also sneaky rich, textural and deep. Great with all kinds of fried foods (this will really make your schnitzel stand up and take notice!), it’s also great with herby salads- maybe with some goat cheese rounds- and with all things porky and poultry. While it’s not the cheapest white in the store, it’s truly dynamite, and will even improve for the next five or six years in the back of your cellar. There were some among us who even wished this were higher than #22 but, like the college football playoffs this year, someone’s gotta be unhappy.
REPEAT WINNER
21) 2022 Louis Jadot Bourgogne Blanc
$19.99
Affordable but tasty white Burgundy is an essential- like the little black dress of your wine fridge. The successful candidate should be inexpensive enough to open any night of the week, go well with any sort of food, taste great by all itself and, just as importantly, taste authentically like fine Burgundy and not, say, a richer, oakier California Chardonnay. You know this wine because you buy hand-truck loads every time we offer it. But, in case you don’t, this is not the Louis Jadot Bourgogne Chardonnay so readily available throughout the United States. That’s a fine bottle indeed, but not at all in the same league as this. The Jadot Bourgogne Blanc is a different, more exclusive cuvee created by the Maison expressly for restaurants and quality retailers (like us!) from top notch vineyard sources that run the length of the Burgundy appellation, but with more fruit from Meursault and other vines from the Cote de Beaune in the blend. Also, unlike the Bourgogne Chardonnay, a good portion of the final wine spends eight months in barrel giving it a richer texture and a hint of woodsy vanilla that gives it more of a sense of gravitas, weight and helps accentuate the mineral finish. My wife, the Rittmaster family’s final arbiter in all things Burgundy and a big fan of all of Jadot’s wines, commented again, after we killed yet another bottle with dinner, that it ‘was weighty like a California Chardonnay, but tasted like a really nice white Burgundy,’ and ratified the purchase of yet another case for our own larder. Done! Maybe, we’re thinking, you should do the same. I think this is the third time this wine has made it to our list so that should tell you something.
20) 2021 Uccelliera Rosso di Montalcino
$29.99
Sure, there were a lot of Brunellos we tasted this year- mostly from the 2019 vintage- that truly amazed us, but we tend to spend your money like it was ours, and this wine seems like a very good use of our hard-earned wine dollars. Uccelliera’s popular Rosso di Montalcino is one of the top examples of Tuscan Sangiovese every vintage- it is even always notably successful in what are considered less-successful vintages- but in a near-perfect, historically exciting vintage like 2021, we have something extra special: a punchier, zingier, richer Rosso than even the benchmark 2016. We think it’s could be one of the best ever produced at this august locale! Located in the warmer southern section of Montalcino- right across the street from the equally famous Ciacci Piccolomini where Uccelliera owner/winemaker Andrea Cortonesi used to man the cellar, this artisanal cantina has earned an enviable reputation for its rich, dramatic Brunello di Montalcino (the 2019 of which we still have in stock) and a Rosso that wa-ay over delivers for the price. Always made for immediate gratification, the 2021 Rosso will, indeed, thanks to its very dark, rich black cherry and dried blueberry fruit and lovely cinnamon spice, certainly gratify immediately, but with its great natural acidity and concentrated fruit, we think it will be a great cellar candidate as well. Old bottles of Uccelliera Rosso never disappoint. Your Bistecca will thank you.
Vinous: Darkly alluring, the 2021 Rosso di Montalcino slowly comes to life with a beguiling blend of mentholated herbs, pine shavings and dried strawberries. This sweeps across the palate with textures of pure silk, soothing all that it touches with ripe red fruits and rosy inner florals guided by vibrant acidity. It finishes structured, potent and long, punching well above its weight class, as licorice mingles with savory spices through the youthfully tense finale. This is next-level Rosso di Montalcino. In a word, spellbinding. 93 points
Wine Spectator: Rich, vibrant and complex, this Rosso delivers cherry, raspberry, iron and Tuscan scrub flavors. This is harmonious and firms up nicely on the finish. Fine aftertaste. Drink now through 2030. 2,933 cases made, 1,000 cases imported. 92 points
19) 2022 DuMOL Pinot Noir, DuMOL Estate Vineyard, Russian River Valley
$119.99
I remember when DuMOL, hitherto well-known for their fabulous single-vineyard offerings from purchased grapes, first planted what would be their first Estate vineyard back in 2004. I was taken there by then-owner Michael Verlander who was proud as can be. What a gorgeous site! And, being DuMOL, you knew they were going to do a great job. In fact, while they planted nine acres, for the wine destined to be the flagship for this seminal Russian River Valley Pinot Noir specialist, they decided to dedicate only the three best for this bottling. All Calera clone and farmed without irrigation and completely organically, this 800-case production is truly the essence of what winemaker and DuMOL partner Andy Smith does best! It’s voluminous, with all kinds of lifted aromatics- raspberry, mulberry, black cherries, violet pastilles and hibiscus flowers- on a frame that is rich, lavish even, without being at all blowsy or heavy. There’s also great mineral drive to its complete finish. And so young! If you’re going to drink this now, decant it. But, still, why would you want to wait for something this hedonistic and fun to drink? A top-notch Pinot Noir from a top-notch operation, we’re pleased to have associates since the beginning and we’re really proud to be able to put in our list of top wines for the year. Limited.
18) 2021 Le Piane ‘Bianko’ Vino Bianco
$36.99
If there’s one epiphany we collectively had this year, it’s that the obscure Erbaluce grape from the northern climes of Piemonte, Italy is capable of making some magnificent wines! In fact, if you remember, Cieck’s wonderful Erbaluce was one of our ‘Wines of the Year’ last year and is making a repeat performance somewhere further up the list- we hear. But winemaker Christophe Kunzli, deep in the Boca hills of the Alto Piemonte, makes one that is as diametrically different to Cieck’s as possible yet is no less compelling. Maybe more, in fact. The rarest wine in the Le Piane’s cellar full of great reds, it’s fermented as whole grape clusters and fermented very cool in a combination of large casks and cement tanks. Part of the fermenting juice is left to macerate longer adding a distinct richness and a lovely dried honey-apricot aspect to what is usually a very bright, very lean white. Yes, this is where Erbaluce intersects with white Burgundy! But the aromatics are so unique- white pepper, acacia honey, quince, rising bread dough and, of course, the Alto Piemonte’s signature minerality. This is a very intriguing white with spice, nuance and depth. We’re also betting it will be a great ager too. Yeah, if we had a Grape Variety Of The Year award, Erbaluce might just sneak in! Try some! (Another Fran nomination)
17) 2022 Domaine Jean-Claude Thevenet Saint-Veran ‘Clos de l’Ermitage-Saint Claude’ Vielles Vignes
$24.99
Our search for great white Burgundy for everyday drinking has once again taken us deep in the Maconnais, Burgundy’s southernmost outpost. It is here, in these rolling granitic hills west of the city of Macon, where the last vestiges of true value in the region can be found- an area that we parsimonious wine merchants often mine for our own pleasure. And if it’s good enough for cheapskates like Frank and me, it must be good enough for you, right? And finding Macon-Villages that can drink like Pouilly-Fuisses, the class appellation of the region? You can sign us up every time! Wines like this are essential to our wellbeing. They are the fuel that powers the Rittmasters (and Rothsteins, and Muellers), the absence of which we are constantly trying to compensate for in the family wine fridge! I intend on taking care of a few of those holes right now and so should you! The Thevenets, now in their third generation, are the most famous producers in the tiny but prestigious Macon-Pierreclos appellation and are turning out some really classy, serious whites from their older holdings in nearby Saint Veran as well. The family’s top wine is produced from a five-hectare parcel of 70-year plus old vines organically farmed by the family as a monopole. These south-facing Chardonnay vines are located on a hillside near the town of Prissé, the most felicitous part of the Saint Veran appellation, bordering, in fact, on Fuisse itself. Aged in tank (no oak!), just about 1000 cases of this dense, flavorful cuvee are ever made. I simply can never get enough. I love wines like this…..it’s intense without being ponderous, aromatic without being light, and finishes extremely long despite its obvious crisp, mineral finish. It’s all Asian pears and white flowers on a fullish frame that ends beautifully. There is enough chutzpah here for the richest of fish and seafood preparations but it also drinks super well all by itself and won’t overwhelm lighter fare either. My wife calls this the white Burgundy to drink while deciding on white Burgundy to drink next…….
16) NV Alexandra Sainz Champagne Brut Heritage Bouzy- Grand Cru
$69.99
It’s really wonderful having our very own Champagne producer right here in Danville! Well, not exactly. It wouldn’t be exactly legal having anything from Danville labeled ‘Champagne’ (not to mention the fact that I doubt it would be the same quality), but Alexandra Sainz of the eponymous producer in Bouzy does, in fact, live right here in town and is usually quite amenable to driving a carload of her family’s bubbles down here to Dublin on a moment’s notice. And, because she whatever part of the year she’s not making wine in France, is here in town and often available to attend one or both of our annual Champagne events, even taking part in the seminars. Her family, the Sainz-Clouets, have been growing grapes in Bouzy since 1741, surviving generations of famine, war, phylloxera and more to eke out a living, primarily sending the hard-earned harvest each year to large producers where it disappeared into large-production blends. Of course, the family always kept some fruit behind to make some bubbles of their own, and it was that tradition that inspired young Alexandra to get herself off to enology school in Avize and, in 2021, having graduated, create her own label using keeping the family’s harvest for herself. This new chapter to the family legacy has created for us a fresh new spin on a centuries-old tradition and we love it! Alex’s wines have been huge hits here at PRIMA and we love her wines, none more than the Brut Heritage, the sort of business card for for the estate. Fashioned from 80% Pinot Noir (Bouzy is Ground Zero for the best Pinot in Champagne) and 20% Chardonnay, entirely from vineyard parcels rated Grand Cru, Alexandra aged the cuvee for six years before disgorgement, not typical for a wine meant to be the workhorse of the house. We love it for its completeness and integrity: it’s the perfect bottle of bubbles with everything in balance yet there’s still so much vibrancy and expressiveness. Really, there’s no more perfect bottles of Champers to have around the house for both celebrations (we sabered a bottle at home Thanksgiving morning) and pairing with food. Not only do we love it, you do! It’s been our best selling Champagne at both our winter and summer events. Try it again this Saturday!
15) 2022 Borgo Paglianetto ‘Verdicchio di Matelica ‘Petrara’
$19.99
My recent trip to Le Marches on the Adriatic Coast of Italy proved to be very instructive. Among a deep love for the area, I came away with a wonderful appreciation of the wine growers who labor deep in these pre-Apennine foothills growing the prized Verdicchio white. The largest growing region for this very local grape is, of course, the Castello di Jesi appellation, a rather broad and amorphous area spreading between the coastal zone and the hills. These are rich, fun-to-drink wines with a ton of character. Jump over the first set of hills, though, and, nestled between them and the Apennines proper you’ll find the north-west running valley of Matelica, a much smaller, much higher and much cooler appellation producing a different sort of Verdicchio. We conducted a great deal of research from our rented house on the coast, visiting wineries and wine stores, chatting with people, perusing wine lists of the region’s top restaurants and filling our fridge with their recommendations to conduct some serious tastings of our own. Our conclusion? We love Verdicchio! And while we loved a lot of the Jesi based wines we tasted, we developed a real thing for Verdicchio di Matelica! Overall they were leaner, fresher, more focused and very savory and delicious. Several of the top wines we tasted came from Borgo Paglianetto, a relatively young property created from the merger of two older ones. They bottle a series of Verdicchios from various terroirs around their estate, but it was clearly the Petrara that became our favorite. From a single organically-farmed vineyard facing dead south, it’s harvested marginally later and riper than a lot of the vineyards they farm and, hence, has a bit more color and a bit more weight to the palate without sacrificing that ephemeral mineral quality we came to expect from best versions of this grape. There’s an inescapable florality and green almond aspect to it we found irresistible and, together with its relative palate presence and finishing saline minerality (Matelica is really all about the minerality), it proved to be the perfect partner to whatever we had to eat, from platters of local salumi and stuffed, fried olives from Ascoli-Piceno to Pasta alle Vongole and raw Gamberi Rossi red shrimp. In other words, this wine could easily become an addiction. Come to find out Petrara is indeed available here in California as well as in the best restaurants and wine shops of Le Marches and for a really good price too. We’ve availed ourselves of some and so should you! Come get your Verdicchio on and discover your new favorite Italian white!
14) 2022 Turley Zinfandel, Old Vines California
$34.99
When it comes to good ol’ fashioned California Zinfandel, there’s one name that stands head and shoulders over all the others when it comes to sheer hedonistic pleasure. Turley Cellars! Turley, of course, raised what was a pretty low bar for Zinfandel when it first burst on the scene in the mid-1990s; a time when we had to ask customers whether or not they meant red Zin when they ordered. The Turley style emphasized ripe fruit, elevated levels of alcohol and, above all, a gorgeous, plush hedonistic sort of texture. Most importantly, Turley established a home for the grapes of some of America’s oldest and most endangered Zinfandel vineyards, over the decades creating a stable of old sites throughout California that would hold them in great stead. While best-known for their single-vineyard offerings, it was Larry Turley and then-winemaker Ehren Jordan who emphasized two cuvees that blended the characters of all of the vineyards with which they worked- the Juveniles that uses the younger vines and the California Old Vines that focused on the older. The former is a bright, lilting (lilting for Zin, that is) wine focused on fruit, while the Old Vines is noticeably more complex with duskier hints of bramble and floral notes as well as more depth. We’ve decided it’s just the perfect wine to have when the situation calls for burgers from the grill, drinking all on its own and pairing with Sunday football tailgating fare! Such an easy wine to love!
Robert Parker: As with the Juvenile bottling, the 2022 Zinfandel Old Vines punches above its weight in this vintage. The nose is considerably deeper, fuller and more polished, opening with aromas of crushed plums, wild berry preserves, tobacco leaves and similar autumnal accents to its younger sibling. The palate is light- to medium-bodied, carrying through the polished quality of the nose and melds it with a subtly dusty tannin structure and bright acidity. The finish is straightforward and easy to drink, offering generous layers of fruit, spice and floral notes. 93 points
13) 2023 axr Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley*
$27.99 REPEAT WINNER
Those of us of a certain age remember the wonderful Napa Valley Sauv Blancs of yore- Cakebread, Matanzas Creek, Whitehall Lane, Spottswoode, Honig, Duckhorn and others are just some that come immediately to mind. These are all beautiful, exciting wines that manage to balance the variety’s native pungency and personality with copious fruit flavors and, often, just a touch of oak to add texture and roundness to the palate. Recently a relatively new interloper has found its way onto our shelves- a Sauvignon that positively shimmers with bright enticing aromatics, lovely jasmine tea-infused fruit and the kind of finish that demands you go back for another sip. And it’s priced right too! Winemaker Jean Hoefliger, already a blossoming superstar with a reputation for making elegant, much-acclaimed reds, clearly has a way with SB too. Perfect for your late summer sipping, it’s delicious on its own, though we think a warm goat cheese and fresh herb salad would make for the perfect pairing. But how about a classic sole Meunier? Swoon-worthy, for sure! It was a great surprise to discover AXR, a Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc that hits all the high notes at a price we think that’s as refreshing as the fruit. The 2023 vintage is in the house. This is the best deal we have in delicious California SB. And thanks Customer Dave for almost personally insuring this wine made it onto this list……..