24. Leonetti Cellar 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley, $85
The legendary Leonetti Cellar is the oldest winery in the Walla Walla Valley and among the most revered in the New World. Second-generation winemaker Chris Figgins continues to drive quality at Leonetti as he works alongside his father, founder Gary Figgins. The grapes for this superb Cab come from estate vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley. It opens with dark, elegant aromas of rich plum, black olive, dark chocolate, leather and black pepper with just a hint of vanilla. On the palate, it reveals suave, dark flavors of black raspberry, blackberry and dark cherry compote, all backed with artistic tannins that back this wine’s full mouth feel and lengthy finish.
Production: 2,760 cases
Alcohol: 14.6%
Lists such as this are nice. But I content that wines with a production of less then 250 cases should not be included. There are wines here with microscopic production levels. That just amounts to teasing the vast majority of the readers.
Jim,
A valid point. I would contend that highlighting even small-production wines gives wine lovers an idea about what wineries to visit or wines to try.
Additionally, this is a bit of a slippery slope. Do we also exclude wines based on price point because they are accessible primarily to those only able to afford them?
We went into this with the thought of picking out the very best wines we tasted in 2013. During the process, we didn’t look at price point or production level. As a result, we also ended up with a lot of wines in which tens of thousands of cases were produced (in addition to small-production wines).