Insider
Tips
By Mark Millet
The holidays are over and now is my favorite
time of year in the wine world. The great fishing stories of
old surface, telling tales of trophies consumed over the November
through January period. So what did you drink over the past
celebration months? It seems everyone has a reason to drink a
special bottle.
Since the hoopla is over it is time to develop a buying
strategy for the New Year's wine needs. I suggest staying close to
home if you are from Washington State. This New Year will be our
best yet. Whether you are looking at 1998 Cabernet Sauvignons,
1999 Merlots or whites, Washington will be selling the best
quality wines ever at reasonable prices.
A newer wine I can recommend is the 1998 Reininger Cabernet
Sauvignon from Walla Walla. A nice drinking wine with chocolaty
notes, strong color and nicely priced.
A California wine from the spotty 1998 vintage is the Shafer
Merlot. Small production numbers can help sometimes. This is a
dense Merlot in a fruity California style. Just remember the
1997's are disappearing fast and the 1998 vintage does not look
that great for California.
Australia is banging out smashing highly extracted monsters for
very little money. For those with a sweet tooth try the mighty
Yalumba "Old Sweet White Wine." Cough syrup density and
honey-like highly extracted flavors make this wine great for under
$20.
I would like to leave with this advice: in 2001, stick to
Northwest wines for great quality to price ratio!
Cheers,
Mark Millet
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