So, My Readers, today I present the annual “50 Great Wines” in the edition for 2012. Why 50? It’s a nice comfortable round number, but it also makes me work hard to determine those 50 great selections.

I reviewed 642 wines on this blog in 2012, so 50 choices represent only 7.78 percent of the wines I reviewed. Wines that I rated as “Exceptional” automatically make the cut. In 2012, I ranked 16 wines “Exceptional,” or only 2.5 percent of all the wines I reviewed. How did I ascertain the other 34 wines? That’s where the task got difficult. I read all the reviews of wines that I rated “Excellent” and wrote down the names of 68 that seemed promising, but of course that was already way too many wines; I had to eliminate half of that list. I went back through the reviews and looked for significant words or phrases like “an exciting wine” or “a beautiful expression of its grapes” or “epitomizes my favorite style” or “I flat-out loved this wine,” terms that would set a wine apart from others in similar genres or price ranges, even though they too were rated “Excellent.” By exercising such intricate weighing and measuring, by parsing and adjusting, by, frankly, making some sacrifices, I came to the list of wines included here, but I’ll admit that as I went over this post again and again, checking spelling and diacritical markings and illustrations, there were omissions that I regretted. You get to a point, however, where you can’t keep second-guessing yourself.

Notice that I don’t title this post “50 Greatest Wines” or “50 Best Wines.” That would be folly, just as I think it’s folly when the slick wine publications select one wine — out of 15,000 — as the best of the year. The wines honored in this post are, simply, 50 great wines, determined by my taste and palate, that I encountered and reviewed in 2012. Some of them are expensive; some are hard to find. You’ll be pleasantly surprised, though, at how many of them are under $40 or even in the $20 range; the price of a wine can be immaterial to its quality, and I mean that in both the positive and the negative aspects. Where I know the case limitation, I make note. With wines that are, for example, chardonnay or pinot noir, you can count on them being 100 percent varietal; in other cases, I mention the blend or make-up of the wine if I think it’s necessary.

Coming in a few days: “25 Great Bargains of 2012.”
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Amapola Creek Cuvée Alis 2009, Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County. 55 percent syrah, 45 percent grenache. 95 cases. Exceptional. About $48.
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Archery Summit Looney Vineyard Pinot Noir 2009, Ribbon Ridge, Willamette Valley, Oregon. Excellent. About $85.
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Black Dog Cellars Chardonnay 2010, Sonoma Coast. Excellent. About $25.
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Bonny Doon Bien Nacido Vineyard X Block Syrah 2007, Santa Maria Valley, Santa Barbara County. 573 cases. Excellent. About $42.
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Champagne Françoise Bedel Entre Ciel et Terre Brut. Excellent. About $75.
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Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino 2005, Tuscany, Italy. 100 percent sangiovese. Exceptional. About $149.
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Chalone Estate Chenin Blanc 2011, Chalone, Monterey County. Exceptional. About $25.
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Chamisal Estate Pinot Noir 2010, Edna Valley, San Luis Obispo County. Excellent. About $40.
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M. Chapoutier Chante-Alouette 2007, Hermitage blanc, Rhone Valley, France. 100 percent marsanne grapes. 350 six-packs imported. Exceptional. About $92.
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M. Chapoutier De L’Orée 2008, Hermitage blanc, Rhone Valley, France. 100 percent marsanne. 40 six-packs imported. Exceptional, About $190.
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Cima Collina Tondre Grapefield Vineyard Pinot Noir 2009, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey County. Exceptional. About $48.
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Etude Pinot Noir 2009, Carneros. Excellent. About $42.
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Ferrari-Carano Prevail West Face 2007, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County. 61 percent cabernet sauvignon, 39 percent syrah. Excellent. About $55.
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Foley Rancho Santa Rosa Pinot Noir 2009, Santa Rita Hills, Santa Barbara County. Excellent. About $40.
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Foursight Charles Vineyard Pinot Noir 2009, Anderson Valley, Mendocino County. Excellent. About $46.
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Gary Farrell Russian River Selection Pinot Noir 2009, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County. Excellent. About $42.
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Dr. Hermann Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett 2009, Mosel, Germany. Excellent. About $23.
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Hidden Ranch 55% Slope Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Sonoma County. Excellent. About $45.
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Kelly Fleming Sauvignon Blanc 2010, Oakville District, Napa Valley. 540 cases. Excellent. About $30.
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Domaine Michel Lafarge Meursault 2009, Burgundy. Excellent. About $44-$48.
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La Follette Van Der Kamp Vineyard Pinot Noir 2009, Sonoma Mountain. 429 cases. Excellent. About $40.
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Lasseter Enjoué 2011, Sonoma Valley. 73 percent syrah, 24 mourvèdre, 3 grenache. A superior rosé. 570 cases. Excellent. About $24.
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Champagne David Léclapart L’Amateur Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut, non-vintage. Exceptional. About $83.
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Lenné Estate Pinot Noir 2008, Yamhill-Carlton District, Willamette Valley, Oregon. 491 cases. Excellent. About $55.
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Chateau La Louvière 2009, Pessac-Lèognan, Bordeaux, France. 85 percent sauvignon blanc, 15 percent semillon. Excellent. About $42.
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Manzoni Vineyards Home Vineyard Syrah 2009, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey County. 494 cases. Excellent. About $26.
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Max Ferd. Richter Veldenzer Elisenberg Riesling Kabinett 2010, Mosel, Germany. Excellent. About $19.
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Mayacamas Chardonnay 2009, Mount Veeder, Napa Valley. Exceptional. About $30.
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McCay Cellars Jupiter Zinfandel 2009, Lodi. 449 cases. Excellent. About $28.
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Domaine Pierre Morey Pommard Grands Epenots Premier Cru 2009, Burgundy. Excellent. About $85.
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Newton “The Puzzle” 2008, Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley. 42 percent merlot, 36 cabernet sauvignon, 14 cabernet franc, 6 petit verdot, 2 malbec. Excellent. About $80.
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Nicolas Joly Clos de La Bergerie 2009, Savennières-Roches-aux-Moines, Loire Valley, France. 100 percent chenin blanc. 580 cases. Exceptional. About $45-$60.
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Pelerin Sierra Mar Vineyard Pinot Noir 2009, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey County. Exceptional. About $42.
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Pfendler Pinot Noir 2010, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County. 250 cases. Exceptional. About $45.
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Phifer Pavitt Date Night Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Napa Valley. 372 cases. Exceptional. About $75.
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Piocho 2009, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara. From Margerum Wine Co. 58 percent merlot, 22 cabernet sauvignon, 18 cabernet franc, 2 petit verdot. 570 cases. Excellent. About $25.
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Quivira Fig Tree Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2011, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County. 862 cases. Excellent. About $22.
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Sea-Fog Sauvignon Blanc 2010, Napa Valley. 380 cases. Excellent. About $25.
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Shafer Hillside Select 2007, Stags Leap District, Napa Valley. Exceptional. About $225.
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Shafer Merlot 2009, Napa Valley. With 7 percent cabernet sauvignon and 1 percent malbec. Exceptional. About $48.
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Signorello Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, Napa Valley. With 12 percent cabernet franc. 381 cases. Excellent. About $75. Date on label is one year behind.
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Robert Sinskey Vin Gris of Pinot Noir 2011, Los Carneros. Another superior rosé to drink all year. Excellent. About $28.
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Spotted Owl Chardonnay 2010, Mount Veeder, Napa Valley. Inaugural release of this winery’s chardonnay. 120 cases. Exceptional. About $45.
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Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Napa Valley. Exceptional. About $125.
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St. Clement Oroppas Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Napa Valley. With 10 percent merlot, 2 petit verdot and 1 cabernet franc. Excellent. About $55.
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Domaine André et Mireille Tissot La Graviers Chardonnay 2010, Arbois, France. 552 cases. Excellent. About $26-$30. Label is two years out of date.
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Tudal Family Winery Clift Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Oak Knoll District, Napa Valley. 295 cases. Excellent. About $50.
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Tenuta di Valgiano 2008, Colline Luccesi, Tuscany. 60 percent sangiovese, 20 merlot, 20 syrah. Excellent. About $55-$60.
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Vieux Télégraphe “La Crau” 2009, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Rhone Valley, France. 65 percent grenache, 15 mourvèdre, 15 syrah 5 cinsault, clairette “and others.” Excellent. About $85.
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Villa Huesgen Schiefen Riesling Trocken 2010, Mosel, Germany. Excellent. About $35.
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I don’t think anybody or at least very few people celebrate the festive event of Twelfth Night now, but in Shakespeare’s day, when he wrote the charming and thoughtful romantic comedy “Twelfth Night; or, What You Will,” this day marked the end of the fun-filled, if not riotous Yuletide season and its culmination in the solemnity of the Epiphany. It’s all a fitting way to segue into a new year, during the month of, as far as the Romans were concerned, looking forward and gazing back. Be that as it may, I always enjoy the “Twelve Days of Christmas with Champagne and Sparking Wine,” especially when I can inform My Readers about products that may be interesting or unusual or new to them. I hope that I achieved success in that criteria for this, the sixth segment of the series. Looking forward, as Janus was wont to do with one of his faces, we have coming up on BTYH the “50 Great Wines of 2012″ and “25 Great Bargains of 2012,” though in a way, that’s looking back too. If I didn’t already do so, here on Twelfth Night I’ll wish all of you a Happy New Year and a 2013 that works to the best of your advantages and dreams.

Image from agoldoffish.wordpress.com.
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I have enjoyed tasting and writing about wines from Domaine Mittnacht Fréres several times this year, and certainly up to the standard is the Domaine Mittnacht Fréres Crémant d’Alsace, a Champagne method sparkling wine that’s a blend of 50 percent pinot auxerrois (a white clone of pinot noir) and approximately equal portions of riesling, pinot blanc, pinot gris and pinot noir. This is a crisp, lively and slightly chiseled sparkling wine that offers a pale straw color, loads of tiny bubbles and a fairly exquisite sense of delicacy married to purpose. Hints of pear, apricot and crystallized ginger are tempered by steel and flint for an overall impression that’s lean, spare and elegant but expressing lots of appeal and personality. I could drink this every day. 12 percent alcohol. Very good+. Prices range from about $19 to $24.

A Daniel Johnnes Selection for Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, N.Y. A sample for review.
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The Domaine Chandon Etoile Brut Rosé, North Coast (Napa and Sonoma counties), is one of the prettiest sparkling wines you’ll find, though it has a serious, even a dramatic side too. A blend of 48 percent chardonnay, 44 percent pinot noir and 8 percent pinot meunier, it displays an entrancing fiery copper-peach color and a steady pulse of infinitesimal glinting bubbles. The bouquet is characterized by strawberries and red currants enlivened by orange zest and cloves and hints of fresh-baked bread, flint and steel. There’s very agreeable tension among slashing acidity, taut and crisp-edged limestone-like minerality and an almost luxurious sense of round citrus and stone-fruit nuances and irresistible seductive power. This would be a great special occasion — i.e., romantic — sparkling wine. 13 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $50.

A sample for review.
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It’s a little daunting to encounter an estate whose motto is “Ethics. Ecology. Ethos.” and that gives its products names like “Sagesse,” “Tolérance,” “Harmonie” and “Reliance.” You wonder if you’re up to it. Taste the Champagnes from the little estate — I mean, 10 acres — of Franck and Isabelle Pascal, though, and you’ll realize that you don’t have to be Ralph Waldo Emerson to enjoy them. Franck Pascal took over his family’s property in 1994, when he was only 23, and he quickly worked to convert the vineyards to biodynamic practices. Whatever the reasons and effects of ethics, ecology and ethos, these are Champagnes of intense purity, power and elegance. Let’s bring this 2012/2013 edition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas with Champagne and Sparkling Wine” to a close with the Champagne Franck Pascal Tolérance Brut Rosé, a blend (according to the importer’s website) of 58 percent pinot meunier, 39 percent pinot noir and 3 percent chardonnay; 94 percent of the wine came from the 2004 vintage, 6 percent from 2005. The color is very pale but radiant onion skin with a faint coppery hue; the bubbles are almost explosive in their initial upward surge. Tolérance is an incredibly dry, high-toned and refined brut rose, with depth upon depth of limestone and shale-like minerality and yet so lacy and transparent that it feels not just delicate but crystalline and frangible., though cemented ultimately by the elemental and adamantine litheness of its tremendous acidity. It allows nuances of red-tinged berry-like scents and flavors, with faint, beguiling touches of dried fruit, biscuits and toasted hazelnuts, but this is mainly about exquisiteness, fine-breeding and Alpine austerity. I love it. 12 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $55 to $65, and Worth a Search.

Imported by LDM Wines, New York.

The well-known Champagne house of Moët & Chandon started looking for vineyard land in the Napa Valley in 1968. In 1973, in a partnership with Hennessy, the cognac producer (both owned by LVMH), the company bought acreage in Mount Veeder and Yountville, producing the first Domaine Chandon sparkling wine in 1976. Winemaker Tom Tiburzi has been at Chandon since 1989, working his way up through the winemaking staff; he is assisted by Pauline Lhote, whose family are farmers in Champagne. Chandon, long an iconic presence to the west of Hwy 29 across from the town of Yountville, makes a complete range of nonvintage sparkling wines, but today I want to feature two of its vintage series. These were samples for review.
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Neither the print material I received nor the winery’s website reveal the percentages of the blend of grapes in the Domaine Chandon Yountville Vintage Brut 2007, Yountville, Napa Valley, so all I can tell you is that it’s made from pinot noir and chardonnay from the Yountville district, north of the city of Napa. The southern area of Yountville particularly, where it’s coolest, is a prime location for chardonnay and pinot noir. The color is radiant medium gold; there’s a constant lively stream of tiny bubbles. Notes of roasted lemons and spiced pears are bolstered by toast and biscuits with hints of toffee and candied ginger and an undercurrent of smoke. The emphasis segues to crystalline acidity and scintillating limestone and flint elements that balance deftly a texture that’s substantial enough to be almost lush, though the fineness and elegance of the finish make it spare and lithe and slightly austere. 13 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2016 or ’17. Excellent. About $45.
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The Domaine Chandon Mount Veeder Vintage Brut 2006, Mount Veeder, Napa Valley, focuses on chardonnay; it could, I suppose, be called blanc de blancs, but the powers at Chandon opted for a straightforward “brut” indication. The point would be: what are the differences between a sparkling wine made from Yountville grapes and one made from Mount Veeder grapes, especially if the latter is one year older? The color of the Mount Veeder sparkler is much paler, much blonder and Harlow-like than the hue of the Yountville version mentioned above. While there’s a similar component of fresh bread and biscuits, the Mount Veeder adds hints of roasted hazelnuts, cinnamon toast and caramel popcorn with a touch of baked apple and slightly honeyed peach. These qualities, let me emphasize, are expressed in a tone of utmost nuance and pure suggestion, because, above all, this is a sparkling wine that combines notable presence and persistence with finesse and refinement. 12.5 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2016 to ’18. Excellent. About $45.
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… and by special I mean that what I describe today is a fine Champagne from a great vintage (if farmers and producers were careful) that’s fully mature and will continue to drink well for another decade. The product in question is the Champagne Fleury Brut Millésimé 1996, a blend of 80 percent pinot noir and 20 percent chardonnay from a house that goes back to the beginning of the 20th Century and the planting of pinot noir vines by Emile Fleury. This estate was among the first to bottle its own Champagne, starting in 1927 with Robert Fleury, Emile’s son. In the 1970s, Emile’s grandson Jean-Pierre became concerned about the potential damage that the family’s vineyards could suffer under the regimen of the usual chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, and he began researching organic methods, eventually finding his way to biodynamic practices, which have prevailed at Fleury since 1989. The 15-hectare estate — 37.5 acres and 90 percent pinot noir — is now operated by Emile’s great-grandson, Jean-Sébastien.

So, what do we have? The Fleury Brut Millésimé 1996 sports a medium gold color with darker gold highlights and a plethora of infinitely teeny bubbles that spiral upward in dazzling but sedate display. Buttered toast and warm brioche; cloves, ginger and a hint of white truffles; lime peel, limestone and a flicker of flint: all of these elements add up to a complete sense of balance, suavity and elegance, but with a touch of something wild, yeasty, perpetually burgeoning. This is, in short, a Champagne of tremendous presence, tone and character that delivers a profound presence of limestone and gravel minerality layered with vibrant acidity and the subtlest of stone fruit flavors touched with smoke and toffee and sea-salt; the finish — long, lacy, racy, complex — devolves to limestone, spice and some austerity. 12.5 percent alcohol. Now through 2020 to 2026. Excellent. National average price is $109, but realistically, look for $90 to $100. Worth a Search.

Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York.

The house of Henriot was founded in 1808 by Apolline Henriot, widow of a vigneron and scholar whose family had owned vineyards since 1640. Henriot makes about 55,000 cases of champagne annually, which puts it in the fair-to-middling level; by comparison Taittinger makes 355,000 cases a year and Mumm makes 625,000. On the other hand, the company has displayed a fairly aggressive tendency toward acquisition, now owning, among other properties, the estates of Bouchard Pere et Fils in Burgundy and William Fevre in Chablis.

The Henriot Brut Souverain is usually touted as the house “entry-level” Champagne, meaning that it’s the least expensive of the roster. Be that as it may, we drank this blend of 60 percent pinot noir and 40 percent chardonnay on New Year’s Eve (and last night too) with our own cured gravlox, and it was delicious. The color is radiant medium gold; a tide of tiny bubbles swirls vigorously up the glass. Biscuits and fresh bread, pears, lime peel and ginger are wreathed with notes of limestone and chalk that take on increased resonance as moments pass. The Henriot Brut Souverain is one of those Champagnes — or any wine, too — that delivers so much personality and verve, so much frank appeal that its place in the firmament of beverages hardly matters; it draws you in irresistibly, and you just want to keep drinking. Part of that dynamic can be ascribed to the Champagne’s vivacious acidity; part to its almost glittering minerality; and part to its refreshing balance of savory and saline elements with the more ethereal nature of its effervescence. 12 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $52 as a national average, though I have seen it priced as low as $35.

Imported by Henriot USA, New York.

Judy Jordan was only 25 when she founded J Winery in 1986, adhering to the principle that Russian River Valley grapes could produce great sparkling wines. While in subsequent years the winery moved into still wines — chardonnay, pinot gris and pinot noir — the heart of the enterprise is still sparkling wines made in the traditional Champagne method of second fermentation and aging in the bottle. She is still the president of the winery. Today, I review two special products, the J Vintage Brut 2005 and the J Late Disgorged Vintage Brut 2003. This would be a good point at which to explain the rather unpalatable term “disgorged,” which sounds like what a coyote does after a night indulging in too much roadkill.

When the base wine is put into bottles, a mixture of sugar and yeast is added to restart the second fermentation that produces the bubbles; then the bottle is capped. After the Champagne or sparkling wine has aged an appropriate period — sometimes many years but more often 15 to 24 months — that mixture inside the bottle must be gotten rid of. This “disgorgement” is accomplished, at least traditionally, by freezing the bottle neck where the deposit has lodged, upending the bottle and popping the cap, thus expelling the frozen material. This is a simplified and sketchy description of the Champagne method, but you get the idea about disgorging.

These sparkling wines were samples for review.
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The blend of grapes in the J Vintage Brut 2005, Russian River Valley, is 54 percent chardonnay, 43 percent pinot noir and 3 percent pinot meunier. This sparkling wine aged nearly five years before being disgorged in October 2011, followed by three months aging “on the cork” before release. The pale gold color is activated by myriad glittering bubbles streaming to the surface. It’s a precise and crystalline sparkling wine, emitting lovely clean fresh aromas of roasted lemons and pears, toasted hazelnuts, quince and ginger and a burgeoning limestone quality. The wine, exquisite in many ways, exhibits terrific presence and tone; it’s dry and crisp with taut acidity that animates a supple texture wrapped around notes of yellow plums and caramelized grapefruit; reservoirs of limestone and chalk contribute a serious structure that does not detract from the wine’s innate elegance. 12.5 percent alcohol. Production was 700 cases. Drink now through 2015 to ’18. Excellent. About $48.
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The J Late Disgorged Vintage Brut 2003, Russian River Valley, was bottled in July 2004 and disgorged seven and a half years later in early 2012; the sparkling wine aged five more months “on the cork” before release. It’s a blend of 49 percent each pinot noir and chardonnay and 2 percent pinot meunier. The color is pale blond; the bubbles are fine, energetic, persistent, a transfixing of silver on gold. For a sparkling wine that’s nine years old, J Late Disgorged Brut 2003 is remarkably clean and elegant and elevating; ethereal aromas of steel and acacia are bolstered by notes of green apples and cloves, lime peel and lightly-buttered cinnamon toast, with the barest hint of fresh biscuits. You might think that a sparkling wine displaying so much winsome personality and appeal, that’s such a refined weaving of ephemeral tissues would be too fragile to be taken seriously, but you would, My Readers, be wrong, because J Late Disgorged Brut 2003 incorporates lithe sinews of crisp bold acidity and limestone and slate-flecked minerality to ensure the tensile strength of all its meticulously balanced elements. By the time this sparkling wine has passed mid-palate and you feel the deep resonance of its structure and the increasing power of its glacial austerity and authority, you should come to acknowledge that this is a brilliant effort, even though it feels so effortless. 12.5 percent alcohol. Production was 500 cases. Drink now through 2018 to 2020. Exceptional. About $90.

The striking image is from Cortney Roudebush’s blog Sip Swirl Savor, and I hope she doesn’t mind if I borrow it on New Year’s Day.
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… and I offer, as usual, a variety of Champagnes and sparkling wines to suit, I hope, every taste and pocketbook and every occasion, whether you’re entertaining the entire cast of Survivor: Dude, Is Mars Even Inhabitable? to the most private, secret rendezvous a deux. And be careful tonight and in the wee hours. I don’t want to lose any of My Readers to the vagaries of drunkenness, whether in themselves or others. Happy New Year!
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Yes, the Kenwood Yulupa Cuvée Brut, California, is manufactured in the Champagne method of second fermentation in the bottle, and for the price, it’s completely appropriate for large crowds. It’s a racy blend of chenin blanc, French colombard, chardonnay and pinot noir that’s fresh, effervescent, clean, crisp and very dry; packed with limestone-like minerality verging on the saline quality of oyster shells, it offers hints of roasted lemons and pears and a touch of spice. According to Kenwood’s website, the Yulupa Cuvée Brut is available only in December. Very Good. About $12, but discounted as low as $9 throughout the country.
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The story of Gloria Ferrer’s sparkling wines in Sonoma County makes a chronicle of constant improvement and success. In fact, one of the products I reviewed in my first wine column, published in July, 1984, in The Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis, was a very early rendition of the Gloria Ferrer Brut, and I didn’t think much of it. I’m happy to say that’s not the case all these years later. The Gloria Ferrer Brut, Sonoma County, is a blend of 91.2 percent pinot noir and 8.8 percent chardonnay, and I sort of dote on that accuracy of detail. The color is medium gold with a pale copper flush, energized by a streaming froth of tiny golden bubbles. Notes of dried strawberries and raspberries reveal hints of roasted lemons and lime peel over a layer of limestone and flint; lip-smacking acidity keeps this sparking wine crisp and lively, while its lovely, dense texture, given a dose of elegance by scintillating minerality, lends personality and appeal. 12.5 percent alcohol. Very Good+. About $22.
A sample for review.
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The Argyle Brut 2008, Willamette Valley, Oregon, a blend of 63 percent pinot noir and 37 percent chardonnay, presents an exuberant welter of fresh biscuits and steel, cinnamon bread and limestone, quince and crystallized ginger. The color is pale gold; tiny winking bubbles spiral ever upward. I cannot overemphasize the terrifically irresistible nature of this sparkling wine, its elegance and elevating nature, its blitheness rooted in the stones and bones of crisp, nervy acidity and the essential, lacy element of limestone-like minerality. In the background are hints of lemons, baked apple and toasted hazelnuts, these elements subsumed into a finish that delivers a final fillip of flint and caramelized grapefruit. 13 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $27.
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All right, so you want real Champagne for New Year’s Eve, like from France, the Champagne region, but you don’t want to hijack your credit card or fall into 2013 already entailed by debt. (Haha, good luck with that!) Choose, then, the Champagne Philippe Fontaine Brut Tradition, a 70/30 pinot noir/pinot meunier blend that will satisfy your festive taste-buds and spirit as well as your wallet. The color is shimmering pale gold, and tiny bubbles indeed shimmer up through the glass. This is an very attractive, clean yet savory and nicely faceted Champagne that features a modulated toasty character, vibrant blade-like acidity, heaps of limestone and flint elements for minerality and a texture engagingly balanced between fleetness and moderate density. What’s not to like? 12 percent alcohol. Very Good+. Prices vary widely, but the national average is about $28.

Imported by Bourgeois Family Selections, Asheville, N.C.
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David Léclapart cultivates three hectares — about 7.7 acres — of mainly chardonnay vines in the Premier Cru village of Trépail. I have unfortunately never possessed a whole bottle of any of Léclapart’s four cuvees — L’Amateur, L’Artiste, L’Alchimiste, L’Apôtre — having tasted them on three occasions in New York at trade events, but those encounters made me wish devoutly for more intimate and prolonged contact. The estate has been operated since 1998 on biodynamic principles, certified by EcoCert and Demeter; the wines are made sans dosage, that is, without sugar for the second fermentation, so they are bone-dry, sometimes achingly so. And yet they are, at least to my palate, eminently appealing, though equally demanding, even rigorous. Champagne David Léclapart L’Amateur Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut (sometimes called the estate’s “entry-level” wine) is a 100 percent chardonnay Champagne that was fermented in stainless steel. Notes of limestone, flint and steel practically explode from the glass; paradoxically, while it takes elegance to the farthest extreme in the realms of chilliest allure, L’Amateur reveals a savory, earthy background, as well as an unexpected wisp of camellia and fresh apples and pears. Acidity, it’s almost needless to mention, is of the most resonance and chiseled quality, while the limestone element feels deeply and irrevocably etched. If I were summoned to my fate tomorrow morning on the dueling ground, I would sip a glass of this Champagne before turning to face my foe. 12.5 percent alcohol. Exceptional. Again, price range across the map, but the national average appears to be about $83.

Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York.
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In doing the research on the Champagne Françoise Bedel Entre Ciel et Terre Brut — “between sky and earth” — I ran into contradictory information about its composition. Some sources said that it was 100 percent pinot meunier, others that it was 80 percent pinot meunier and 20 percent pinot noir, and still others that is was a blend of 41 percent chardonnay, 35 percent pinot noir and 24 percent pinot meunier. I contacted Jon-David Headrick, importer of Françoise Bedel, and asked “what’s up?” It turns out that all the sources were correct but for different editions of the wine. The composition of the example that I tried in New York back in February, at “The Return to Terroir” event, is indeed 80 percent pinot meunier and 20 percent pinot noir. The vast variation in the make-up of “Entre Ciel et Terre” isn’t the result of inconsistency but a conscious decision to allow the character of the year and the harvest to dictate the nature of the wine. Unlike the large Champagne firms, which maintain an identifiable house-style year by year, especially for the non-vintage products, small estates tend not to purchase grapes or keep large stores of reserve wines for blending. There’s nothing wrong with the former practice; one reason I love a Champagne like the nonvintage Pol Roger Brut Réserve is because it does provide the pleasure and security of a consistent and recognizable manner. It’s also gratifying though to mark the individuality and handcrafted qualities of smaller, primarily family-owned and operated houses like Champagne Françoise Bedel.

Françoise Bedel took over her parents’ estate in the tiny village of Crouttes sur Marne in 1979; her son Vincent joined her professionally in 2003. Bedel owns 8.4 hectares — about 20.75 acres — of vines that range from 20 to 60 years old. The emphasis is on the pinot meunier grape, which accounts for 79 percent of the vineyards, with chardonnay making up 14 percent and pinot noir 7 percent. The estate has been operated on biodynamic principles since 1998, that is, no synthetic chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides or insecticides and a strict calendar-based regimen of special organic “teas” and totally natural mixtures to ensure the health and integrity of the vineyards. I’m a skeptic about the efficacy of the more radical biodynamic philosophy and techniques, but in the case of Francoise Bedel, the result is great Champagne.

You know how there are some grand edifices that are imposing without being distinguished? In terms of that comparison, Françoise Bedel Cuvee Entre Ciel et Terre Brut is both imposing and distinguished. This is indeed a Champagne of grand proportions, quite sizable, very dry, possessing dimension and detail in abundance. The color is pale straw-gold, enlivened by a tempest-like froth of bubbles. The approach is all limestone and steel, with a snap of gun-flint and undertones of cloves and ginger. It’s a mouth-filling Champagne, substantial, high-toned, even a little demanding in its sheer elegance and austerity; one understands the metaphor of earth and sky in its inextricable melding of scintillating minerality and (paradoxically) the more delicate elusive fruit and floral qualities that provide a sense of urgent elevation. This is exciting stuff, a Champagne of great character yet tremendous appeal. 12 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $75 as a national average.

Imported by Jon-David Headrick Selections, Chapel Hill, N.C.

December 29 is the Holy Day of Thomas Becket, murdered by four knights of Henry II in 1170 and canonized by Pope Alexander III in 1172. Today’s birthdays include Charles Goodyear (1800-1860), Andrew Johnson, our luckless 17th president (1808-1875); and Mary Tyler Moore (76), Marianne Faithfull (66), Ted Danson (65), Patricia Clarkson (53) and Jude Law (40).

Champagne Besserat de Bellefon was founded in 1843 by Edmond Besserat. Then, it was simply Besserat; the name of the house was completed in 1927, when Besserat’s grandson, also named Edmond, married Yvonne de Meric de Bellefon. Headquarted in Epernay, the house produces about 40,000 cases annually. It is now owned by Lanson BCC, headed by Bruno Paillard.

The Besserat de Bellefon Cuvée des Moines Brut, non-vintage — though it would be more accurate to say mixed or blended vintages — offers a beautiful moderate gold color and a robust fountain of tiny bubbles. The impression this Champagne creates is, in fact, of a robust character that manages to be fairly elegant at the same time. The blend of grapes is 45 percent pinot meunier, 35 percent chardonnay and 20 percent pinot noir. This is toasty, with lots of acacia and almond blossom, biscuits and cinnamon toast, roasted hazelnuts and lemons, hints of toffee and walnut crème; also, though, there’s a delicate structure of clean acidity, fresh apples and apple skin, cloves and allspice, a sort of lacy transparency of limestone and flint, with a finish that stretches out in a pleasing but slightly bracing and austere haze of minerals, hay, stone fruit and, ok, more crisply faceted minerals. The whole effect is somewhat lapidary. 12.5 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $45 to $55.

Imported by Winesellers Ltd., Niles, Ill.

Birthdays today: Our 28th President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924); jazz pianist Earl “Fatha” Hines (1903-1983); actor Lew Ayres (1908-1996); and among the living, Stan Lee (90), Maggie Smith (78), Denzel Washington (58), Noomi Rapace (33) and Sienna Miller (31).

The hallowed reputation of an ancient wine region like Burgundy is predicated on the supposition that some vineyards are better than others and that minute variations in microclimate, exposure, slope, drainage and soil, even over a distance of a few yards– we’re not talking miles — will be not just detectable but identifiable and desirable in the wine. This is the concept of terroir. In the hierarchy of Burgundy’s intricate system, for example, vineyards like Le Musigny and Les Borniques, in Chambolle-Musigny (primarily pinot noir but a little chardonnay), may be divided by no more than a stone wall, but Le Musigny is a Grand Cru vineyard, while Bornique is classified Premier Cru, producing great wines perhaps but not, theoretically at least, as great. Likewise, in chardonnay-dominated Meursault, the vineyards Les Gouttes d’Or and Les Terres Blanches are separated only by a country lane and a creek, yet Gouttes d’Or is designated Premier Cru, while Terres Blanches produces a mere “village” wine. The number of people who possess the knowledge and experience to distinguish the differences (in a blind tasting) among the wines produced from Burgundy’s hundreds of small vineyards and lieux-dits is probably quite small, yet the enduring romance of the region lies in the supposed integrity and individuality of those vineyards and the vignerons that make the wines and honor the distinctions.

Can that philosophy translate to the New World?

The Italian and German immigrants that launched California’s wine industry in the mid 19th century regarded blending and branding as far more important than some airy notion of single-vineyard designated wines. The tremendous growth of that industry after World War II, and especially in the 1960s and ’70s, inspired investigations into French ideas and methods of winemaking, and one of those ideas was the concept that an individual vineyard could become the expression, through the wine made from it, of a particular plot of land and geographical trope, as in the iconic Heitz “Martha’s Vineyard” Cabernet Sauvignon. So theoretically — there’s that word again — a wine produced from a single vineyard or a particular lot or block of vines in a vineyard will represent higher quality (and of course command a high price) than a wine with a broader background; anyway, that’s the argument. The scenario doesn’t always work out that way, and the proliferation of single-vineyard wines in California and in Oregon’s Willamette Valley doesn’t always translate to better wine or wines that express a vineyard’s, um, theoretical character, yet producers continue to make wines based on that philosophy. Not always; but sometimes they do, thinking for example of the pinot noirs that Morgan Winery makes from Rosella’s, Gary’s, Double L and Tondre Grapefield vineyards in Santa Lucia Highlands.

I want to explore the possibility today, though, by looking at one general designate wine and three single-vineyard wines, all pinot noir, all Sonoma Coast, from Sojourn Cellars, a winery that specializes in small lots of pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon. The winery was founded by Craig and Ellen Haserot and winemaker Erich Bradley; the first release was 100 cases of cabernet sauvignon from the 2001 vintage.

Sonoma Coast, comprising 500,000 acres, is one of those huge AVAs that the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (aka TTB) seems to dote upon. Certainly it’s not as vast as the “North Coast” AVA, which includes the counties of Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma and Solano, an area so geographically broad and geologically varied as to be meaningless as a vineyard and wine region, nor is it as large as the “Sonoma County” AVA, of which Sonoma Coast represents the most westerly enclave and the one most pertinently influenced by the presence of the Pacific Ocean. As you can see by the map above, Sonoma Coast extends from the Mendocino border all the way down to San Pablo Bay, with a big and improbable jut inland and up between Russian River Valley and Sonoma Valley. This cool climate region, however diverse it may be from north to south, is attracting an increasing number of producers for its demonstrable affinity for pinot noir and chardonnay. (Map from schiller-wine.blogspot.com.)

These Sojourn Cellars pinot noirs are not inoculated but undergo fermentation by native yeasts, that is, yeasts that occur naturally in the vineyard and in the winery. They are all aged in French oak barrels, 50 percent new, but material on the winery’s website does not reveal how many months the wines spend in oak, a crucial factor as far as I’m concerned; none of the wines, however. felt as if they suffered from too much exposure to wood. How do they stack up, in terms of their single-vineyard designations? Read on…
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Let’s start with the Sojourn Pinot Noir 2010, Sonoma Coast, a blend of grapes from eight lots deriving from vineyards along the length of the appellation. It’s a graceful expression of the pinot noir grape, a lovely marriage of elegance and power, beautifully balanced and integrated. The wine is quite lively and spicy, with notes of macerated black and red currants and plums and a deep vein of slightly loamy earthiness and graphite-like minerality. For all that grounding, however, this is the sleekest and most svelte, the most elevated of this quartet. 14.4 percent alcohol. 925 cases were produced. Excellent. About $39.
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For the first of the single vineyard wines, let’s take the Sojourn Sangiacomo Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010, Sonoma Coast. The Sangiacomo family, whose immigrant ancestors started as pear farmers in Sonoma County in 1928, maintain 10 vineyards in the Carneros appellation and three in the Sonoma Coast AVA; the family grows primarily chardonnay and pinot noir. Altogether, they supply grapes to 84 wineries, 34 of which use the Sangiacomo name on their labels. The Sojourn Sangiacomo Pinot Noir 2010 is a sinewy, muscular model, dark, deeply fragrant with fresh and dried black and red fruit scents and flavors and notably clean, pure, intense and spicy. 14.5 percent alcohol. 925 cases. Excellent. About $48.
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The interesting comparison follows with the Sojourn Gap’s Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010, Sonoma Coast, because Gap’s Crown lies just above the Sangiacomo Vineyard that provided the grapes for the previous wine. Whatever the geographic proximity of these vineyards, the Sojourn Gap’s Crown is the most individually styled of these four pinot noirs, the most exotic but also the most tannic, deeply and roundly spicy and fleshed out but also the driest, even tending toward austerity through the finish, but suffering no diminuendo of juicy black fruit flavors. 14.6 percent alcohol. 300 cases. Excellent. About $48.
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Finally, the Sojourn Rodgers Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010, Sonoma Coast, registers brilliantly for its spare Burgundian sense of lightness, delicacy and elegance, its radiant medium ruby color, the acidity that cuts a swath on the palate, its core of black cherry and mulberry fruit slightly shaded by notes of cloves and sandalwood, its background of earthy loam and truffles. The vineyard lies on a ridge high on the Petaluma Gap, where the Pacific breezes surge through to the east, bringing cool temperatures and fog. 14.2 percent alcohol. 375 cases. Excellent. About $48. Though it seems superfluous to nominate a favorite from these four well-made pinot noirs, this one was my favorite.
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