In Best of the Best, we honour the brands and people behind the most covetable products. Here is a list of wine and spirits you’ll want more than just a sip of
Wine of the Year: Domaine des Lambrays, 2020 Clos des Lambrays Grand Cru (Burgundy, France)
Made in the first year that the vineyards were converted to biodynamic farming, this pinot noir is the second vintage produced from the estate’s walled clos by legendary winemaker Jacques Devauges. Despite a summer heat wave and a harvest that was the earliest in 30 years, Devauges tells Robb Report that 2020 is noted for its freshness and credits the complexity of the vineyard soils for this wine’s “three- dimensional” aromas of fruits, spices, dry herbs, tobacco and flowers. Twenty months of barrel ageing have added polished tannins and notes of butterscotch and cocoa powder to Mission-fig and black-cherry flavours.
Best Rose Champagne: Champagne Krug, Rosé 27ème Édition
This 27th release of Krug’s multi-vintage rose champagne is made with 38 wines from nine harvest years from 2005 through 2015. Cellar master Julie Cavil calls this the most difficult champagne to make at Krug, explaining: “It must reconcile the finesse, freshness and lightness of a champagne with the aromas and structure of a red wine.” The majority of the cuvee is from 2015, including 10 per cent traditionally macerated pinot noir, which adds spiciness, colour and texture. Flavours of tangerine, apricot and raspberry mingle with notes of lemon zest and toasted almond that dissolve into a baking-spice-scented finish.
Best White Champagne: Veuve Clicquot, La Grande Dame 2015
House founder Madame Clicquot was fond of saying: “Our black grapes give the finest white wines,” and this vintage champagne made with 90 per cent pinot noir is no exception. As chef de cave Didier Mariotti points out: “The acidity at the beginning whets your palate, while the bitterness at the end helps to create a long finish.” La Grande Dame is made only in exceptional years, and Mariotti describes 2015 as a “beautiful” vintage in champagne, “all about tension and elegance”. A cuvee sourced from eight grand-cru appellations, La Grande Dame 2015 offers a bold expression of orchard fruit and a precise, mineral-driven finish.
Best American white wine: Phalmeyer, 2021 Chardonnay (Napa Valley, California)
The first vintage produced in Pahlmeyer’s new winery on Atlas Peak Road—the previous facility burned in 2020’s Glass Fire—this chardonnay was made with high-elevation grapes that grow above the fog line, where they can grab much-needed extra sunlight each day. Head winemaker Katie Vogt credits the season’s low yields and tight clusters for 2021’s structure, concentration, acidity and ageability, suggesting that its peak drinking window is within the next two to four years. Full textured, it offers Bartlett-pear, bergamot, butterscotch and slivered-almond flavours with a gorgeous mouthfeel and an enduring finish.
Best American Pinot Noir: Emeritus Vineyards, 2019 La Combette Pinot Noir (Sonoma, California)
Named for a softly inclined triangular block on the estate’s Hallberg Ranch, La Combette is made only in outstanding years. The 20th anniversary of Emeritus’s founding by Brice Cutrer Jones, 2019 also marks the year he retired and passed the torch to his daughter, Mari. To concentrate flavours and textures, Jones and her team “dropped” half of the grapes early in the season so that La Combette yielded half the quantity of her other vineyard blocks. Eleven months in used French barrels created a wine with layered flavours of pomegranate, Oolong tea and dried Mediterranean herbs, along with lush tannins and dazzling acidity.
Best American Cabernet Sauvignon: Cardinale, 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley, California)
A multi-appellation Napa Valley cuvee focusing on high-elevation mountain fruit, Cardinale 2019 is mainly cabernet sauvignon with 9 per cent merlot. The first vintage in which new winemaking partner Gianna Ghilarducci worked alongside winemaker Chris Carpenter, it was also one with a very long growing season that, as Carpenter explains, allowed the fruit to hang on the vine and accumulate flavour as opposed to just sugar. Its velvety tannins and complex layers of black-cherry, blackberry, clove and dark-chocolate flavours are perfect to enjoy now after decanting, but this will lay down beautifully for up to 25 years.
Best Bordeaux: Chateau Cos d’Estournel, 2020 Saint-Estèphe (Bordeaux, France)
In honour of proprietor Michel Reybier’s 20th year leading the storied Saint-Estèphe estate, the engraved bottle of Cos d’Estournel 2020 reads ‘C’etait Cos sinon rien’, or ‘It was Cos, otherwise nothing’, a fitting phrase for this sublime release. While the hot and dry summer led to one of the earliest harvests, neither finesse nor freshness was sacrificed in pursuit of full flavour. This cabernet sauvignon–merlot blend offers incredible balance and complexity, with layers of blackberry, raspberry, mocha, black-tea and nutmeg flavours wrapped in powerful tannins that will mellow to perfect drinkability while lovingly stored in your cellar.
Best Rose: Gérard Bertrand, 2022 Clos du Temple (AOP Languedoc Cabrières, France)
The rare rose that’s designed to age, Clos du Temple will continue to evolve for up to 25 years, according to winemaker and owner Gérard Bertrand. Five grape varieties from 11 plots filled with limestone and schist known as ecailles de Cabrières were grown using biodynamic principles and aged in new oak for six months. The bottle itself is a work of art; its square base and rounded shoulders were crafted using the golden ratio. Pale pink to the eye, it features flavours of passionfruit, nectarine, Turkish delight and a hint of sage leaf that lingers on the palate.
Best Aromatic White: Zind Humbrecht, 2020 Rangen de Thann Clos Saint Urbain Riesling (Alsace, France)
From a walled vineyard in the Rangen de Thann grand cru in Alsace, this dry riesling has an exhilarating bouquet of Anjou pear, white peach, sliced ginger, orange blossom and smoke. The first full vintage made by Pierre-Emile Humbrecht, from the 13th generation of the founding family, the 2020 showcases the beauty of its volcanic terroir and a season that is said to have offered perfect weather. It delights on the palate as well, offering sumptuous viscosity, brilliant acidity and vivid nectarine, apricot, jasmine and beeswax flavours with intense salinity on the finish. Perfect now, it will also age impeccably for another two decades.
Best White Burgundy: Domaine Bertagna, 2021 Vougeot Premier Cru Les Cras Blanc (Vougeot, France)
Proprietor and winemaker Eva Reh tells Robb Report that 2021 was the most difficult vintage she has encountered since joining her family’s winery in 1988. Freezing spring temperatures, hail in springtime and July, and summertime rain could have destroyed the entire crop, but Reh, vineyard manager Arnaud Lecoeur, and newly promoted cellar master Franck Ambeis were able to make 970 bottles, far less than Domaine Bertagna’s usual 2,200. This white burgundy is a rare treat even in normal years, as Vougeot is known mostly for its reds, but the 2021 in particular offers luscious flavours of peach and Bartlett pear with soft notes of beeswax and oyster shell on the long, silky finish.
Best Rye Whisky: Old Overholt, Extra Aged Cask Strength Rye
Old Overholt is a bartender’s favourite for a reason. It’s a Kentucky-style rye whisky that’s both affordable and delicious, with a nice balance of sweetness and spice on the palate. Last autumn, the brand (which is made at the same distillery as Jim Beam) released this cask-strength, 10-year-old version of the whisky, much to the delight of rye fans. This is indeed a superlative spirit, bottled at a hefty but not antagonistic 121 proof and chock-full of flavours, including black pepper, caramel and baked apple.
Best Cask-Finished Whisky: Wild Turkey, Master’s Keep Voyage
Wild Turkey’s Master’s Keep collection offers master distiller Eddie Russell a chance to stretch his wings by experimenting with different blends and cask finishes. The latter technique is on full display here in what is arguably the best expression from this series of high-end Kentucky whiskies to date. Voyage is a 10-year-old bourbon finished in Appleton Estate rum barrels for five to six weeks and the result is transformative. Notes of brown sugar, grape jelly and banana pop in every sip.
Best Bourbon: Maker’s Mark, Cellar Aged
When it comes to wheated bourbon (meaning the mash bill uses wheat instead of rye), Maker’s Mark is a dram par excellence. Last summer, the distillery launched its new Cellar Aged, a blend of 11- and 12-year-old bourbons that makes it the oldest Maker’s expression to date. The barrels used for this release were moved to a cool limestone cellar for extra ageing, slowing down the interaction with the wood. The result features notes of dark berries, caramel, citrus and cinnamon, which make it fantastic for sipping.
Best Rum: Diplomático, 2007 Single Vintage
Venezuela’s Diplomático rum has released only eight single-vintage expressions since 1997. The term means that rum produced in an exceptional year—in this case, 2007—is held back and aged in ex-bourbon casks for another 12 years. After careful blending, it’s given a year-long sherry-cask finish. Notes of ripe cherry, blackberry, pineapple and dark chocolate are front and centre on the palate, making this a rum that whisky fans will want to seek out.
Best Cognac: Rémy Martin, Coupe Cognac 300th Anniversary Limited Edition
Cellar master Baptiste Loiseau has woven a symphony of flavours from Rémy Martin’s revered Réserve Perpétuelle, a collection of Grande Champagne eaux-de-vie meticulously curated over generations. For the Coupe Cognac 300th Anniversary limited edition, Loiseau drew on the previous 290th Anniversary Coupe, which was made with eaux-de-vie from the brand’s 275th anniversary bottling, and combined it with other eaux-de-vie from Grande Champagne. This extraordinary cognac unfolds with a captivating bouquet of candied fruit and sandalwood, complemented by notes of leather and spice. The bottle is housed in a luxurious wooden case, which includes a personal note from Loiseau. A coveted treasure for discerning collectors, only 6,724 bottles are available worldwide.
Best Single-Malt Scotch: Bruichladdich, Thirty
The Islay Distillery Bruichladdich makes some of the most heavily peated Scotch you can find for its Octomore range. These single-malt smoke bombs push the boundaries of flavour, but the core expression—Classic Laddie—is actually an unpeated whisky. Such is the case with the new Bruichladdich Thirty, a three-decade-old single malt that comes from stock produced before the facility was shuttered in the 1990s. (It resumed operations in 2001.) This is an exemplary single malt with notes of dark chocolate, black pepper and lemon curd. Despite its age, there’s just a touch of oak that pulls back before becoming overly tannic.
Best Japanese Whisky: Hakushu, 18 Year Old Peated Malt Anniversary Edition
High in the Japanese Alps, the Hakushu Distillery is producing some of the world’s best single malts. The House of Suntory, its parent company, marked a century of whisky-making last year. To commemorate the occasion, it launched this new 18-year- old peated whisky, an elegant single malt that combines a gentle smokiness with notes of citrus and spice. If you’re a fan of the rest of the Hakushu line-up, and even if you’re not, this bottle is worth trying.
Best Gin: Prosperous & Penniless, Barrel Finished Gin
If you’re not yet sold on the concept of barrel-aged gin, this bottle might persuade you to give the category another chance. Prosperous & Penniless is distilled in Northern California, an area more associated with wine than with spirits, but there’s a connection here. The gin was distilled in a copper pot still imported from France’s Cognac region, aged for four years in ex-bourbon and French Limousin-oak casks, and finally finished in Chardonnay barrels. The strategy produced a delicate gin filled with herbal and dried-fruit notes that’s adept at both sipping and mixing.
Best Mezcal: Tres Tribus, Espadín Capon
Juan Coronado, a co-founder of Mijenta Tequila, is also behind the new mezcal brand Tres Tribus, which is made from agave foraged in the Oaxacan wilderness. There are four expressions available, but the standout is Espadín Capon. It’s distilled from flowered agave, a move intended to enhance and concentrate the spirit’s flavour. It appears to have done that here. Every sip reveals a refined but still earthy taste that has notes of fruit and roasted nuts, a bit of citrus and a subtle backbone of the smoke mezcal lovers have come to appreciate.
Best Tequila: El Tequileño, Extra Añejo
This exquisite bottle is an example of what’s possible when a distillery hits all the right marks, from agave harvesting to distillation to maturation. El Tequileño Extra Añejo is a blend of three- to four- year-old tequila aged in just three barrels—two of which were previously used to mature Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whisky and another made from new French oak. This tequila is a rich dark- amber colour and the palate veers from sweet vanilla to cooked agave to crisp pepper. The crystal decanter the spirit comes in is certainly worth displaying, but the liquid inside should be savoured.
