Singular wines

L

Levi Dalton

Levi Dalton
Back a few years ago on Therapy I asked people to name what they thought to be the singular wines of the world. To name wines with no peer. Wines that were of exceptional quality, but also wholly different from all the others.

I remember - sadly, there is no way to go back and see it now - at the time my list mentioned Gravner, Radikon, and Massa Vecchia, which just shows you which direction I was going in in my own explorations at that time.

I am curious what wines people might name today. I learned a lot from that old thread. It would be nice to check back in.

What is on your list? Maybe 5 or 10 names? Maybe more?

I'll post my own picks after awhile. Last time I posted my personal list ahead of everybody else's and it ended up influencing the subsequent argument (er, discussion) too much, I think.

What say you?
 
This one measures up in every respect except perhaps your "different" criterion.

Most memorable -- Ch Margaux 1899

. . . . . . Pete
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
Singular winesBack a few years ago on Therapy I asked people to name what they thought to be the singular wines of the world. To name wines with no peer. Wines that were of exceptional quality, but also wholly different from all the others.

I remember - sadly, there is no way to go back and see it now - at the time my list mentioned Gravner, Radikon, and Massa Vecchia, which just shows you which direction I was going in in my own explorations at that time.

I am curious what wines people might name today. I learned a lot from that old thread. It would be nice to check back in.

What is on your list? Maybe 5 or 10 names? Maybe more?

I'll post my own picks after awhile. Last time I posted my personal list ahead of everybody else's and it ended up influencing the subsequent argument (er, discussion) too much, I think.

What say you?
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It's an interesting question. The way you've posed it, it lets out most of the classics. Roumier Musigny might be exceptional, but is it really utterly different from other great wines of Chambolle, or even of Vosne? To the expert who looks in fine focus, sure, but not from any distance at all. So no grand cru Burg for your list, I'd say.

So you will tend to lean in the direction of the New World, where one can be distinctive by being first, and of stylistic outliers in the Old (viz your Gravner).

But no Huet--Clos du Bourg is brilliant and distinctive, but there is a family relation to Le Mont, I'd say.

And Pete, is 1899 Margaux so distinct from 1899 Latour? Or, as I think Levi asks, is Margaux on a different plane than other Bdx?

So, in stylistic outliers in classic regions, I'd offer Clos Ste Hune. From the New World, Monte Bello. A bit of each, Els Jelepins.
 
I think I mentioned Musar back then. And will do so again. Both red and white. I'd like to say the rosé, too, but then that sometimes seems a bit like LdH, so isn't quite unique. Am I starting to sound like a broken record?
 
Well, I would say LdH rosado. I have never had something like that elsewhere.

Another that leaps to mind is Cédric Bouchard's champagnes. 3 bar, mini-yields, single-vintage, single-vineyard, this kind of mouth-coating quality. Quite game-changing, no matter which side of the riot gear you're on.
 
originally posted by SFJoe: And Pete, is 1899 Margaux so distinct from 1899 Latour? Or, as I think Levi asks, is Margaux on a different plane than other Bdx?
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Joe, Valid questions...which I alluded to in my submission.

I guess I would try to advance the thesis that the Ch Margaux 1899 is enough different due to its incredible (perhaps unmatchable, in my view at least) quality level.

I still recall having this Margaux during an extensive Margaux vertical that included most all of the notable Margaux from the 1800s to the then current vintage. The tasting started around 6:30 PM and didn't adjourn until after 2 AM. Corinne Mentzelopoulos and Prof Peynaud were in attendance.

In any event, the 1899 Margaux stood out then and since above all the other comparable Clarets.

. . . . . . Pete
 
Wait, are we talking about single bottles/vintages? Or a continuing tradition of singularity over a good stretch of time?

In either case, Mollydooker has my vote.
 
not sure exactly what is meant by unique, but off the top of my head:

de Vogüé Musigny blanc
white vdt probably from Muscadelle from a Chambolle vineyard and a producer that I cannot name
Knipser Syrah and I think he also has a Nebbiolo
Molitor Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Spätburgunder
J-L Chave vdt Viognier
Senard Aloxe-Corton Pinot Gris
 
I don't have much experience with them, but the Vatans I've had have been pretty distinctive. I think Beaucastel qualifies. Is there anything quite like Chateau Grillet? I think Huet's Bourg is distinctive enough. I don't know the areas too well, but Emedio Pepe's wine comes to mind as does Paolo Bea.
 
Pieropan, Calvarino; agree on Clos St. Hune; and Lopez de Heredia, Rosado; Clos Rougard (sp?); Folk Machine, Jeanne d'Arc (skin-fermented Chenin); Kalin, Semillon; etc.
And, as a personal opinion only, my Isa.
Best, Jim
 
Claude's remarks on unusual white Burgundy remind me of one I would also mention: Domaine de la Cadette's Melon de Bourgogne from around Vézelay.

Romorantin meets the Chablisien.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
Well, I would say LdH rosado. I have never had something like that elsewhere.
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Have you (and the others who nominated LdH) tried Musar's rosé? I used to think that white Musar and LdH were pretty similar, but now that I've had more experiences with both I see them as very different - with Musar being the more unique one. I have very little experience with LdH Rosado and not much more with Musar, but if these two end up like the whites, then I'll have to add them to my propositions.
 
I guess I should have added Vitovska and Terrano from Carso. There are about 20 producers down there, but only about five I've found who really make interesting Vitovska; not sure how many make interesting Terrano, but I've found at least one.
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
I guess I should have added Vitovska and Verduno from Carso. There are about 20 producers down there, but only about five I've found who really make interesting Vitovska; not sure how many make interesting Verduno, but I've found at least one.
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Damned, I thought Verduno was a town in northern Barolo. I even thought I'd been there.
 
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