giddy

Our Australian sister brand is on Wine & Spirits' Top 100 list this year, so we poured at the Top 100 tasting Wednesday.

It was my first time at this tasting. I knew going in that I would be surrounded by greatness: The wineries selected for the Top 100 list consistently received high scores from the W&S tasting panel during the past year. But I had no idea how amazing this tasting would be.

First off, everyone was there: The entire W&S staff (Peter Liem -- who is one of the best-dressed men I have ever met, by the way -- actually showed me to my table), the Chronicle wine editor and his girlfriend (who is also a journalist and knows quite a bit about wine), the most widely read wine blogger, tons of wine buyers from all over the Bay Area, etc. And of course, many fellow winery folks. Even Roman Bratasiuk, famed winemaker for Clarendon Hills (I've seen him described as one of the world's best winemakers in several publications), came all the way from Australia.

And then there were the wines. Let me give you an example of how amazing this tasting was: I began with the Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin 1985 Champagne Brut Rare Vintage Rosé. It was tarter than expected, but I still enjoyed it.

I tasted numerous wines -- E. Guigal, Shafer, Penfolds, practically everything in the Pinot room (Flowers, Raptor Ridge, Williams Seylem, Domaine Serene, etc.), a few Italian wines (Ceretto and Schiopetto), even some sherry. My favorites from the tasting:

Peay Vineyards: I tried these wines at the insistence of my boss. "If you don't try anything else here, you need to taste those wines," she said. So I did. And wow. They were pouring four wines, and my favorite was the 2004 Chardonnay. Hands-down superb -- it had this wonderful toasty note (like really good pie crust maybe?), but still had excellent acidity and crisp, clean fruit. And all of these flavors were melded together in a way that was delicate but not fragile. And the finish went on and on. Man. I signed up for their mailing list the next day. (Side note: Another thing that makes Peay awesome is the fact that the winemaker is a woman. An Asian woman.)

Ridge Vineyards: I have always loved Ridge. They make Cabs in the style that I enjoy: Elegant, balanced wines that don't leave your mouth burning with a hot alcohol feeling after you swallow, making it impossible for you to taste anything else afterwards. (This style is actually getting harder and harder to come by with California Cabs. Everyone seems to think bigger is better, but for me, that's not always the case. I like wine that tastes like wine; if I wanted a cocktail, I'd order one.) Anyway, the Ridge 2003 Santa Cruz Mountains Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon was exactly what I think a good Cab should taste like. It was a rich wine, but I didn't feel like someone had punched me in the face. Also, the Ridge 2004 Santa Cruz Mountains Monte Bello Chardonnay was beautiful, too. Basically, you can't go wrong with Ridge.

Aveleda: So this might seem a weird choice -- from California to Portugal, right? From $135 Cabernet to $6 Vinho Verde? But yes, I liked this wine. (And apparently, I'm not alone since it was part of this tasting.) The 2006 Quinta da Aveleda Vinho Verde was like summer in a bottle -- crisp, refreshing, slightly citrusy. And its big sister, the 2006 Vinho Verde Alvarinho was also tasty.

Telmo Rodriguez: And now to Spain. And also to dessert. (This is about where I discovered the "dessert lounge" at the tasting, where they were making cream puffs dipped in chocolate right before your very eyes. I immediately abandoned everything else. Luckily, next to the cream puffs, they were pouring several dessert wines, so my tasting quest was not totally forsaken.) The 2005 Malaga Molino Real Mountain Wine was a sweet white wine, different from anything I've had. The texture was totally new to me -- lighter-bodied, but sort of silky at the same time. It wasn't like a late-harvest wine, nor was it similar to a botrytis wine. I did some research, and it looks like this wine was made in the passito, or dried grape, method. Grapes are spread out on straw mats or trays and left in special rooms to dry, which results in concentration of sugar and flavors. Yum.

The Royal Tokaji Wine Company: And since we are on dessert, no dessert is complete without Tokaj. They were pouring the 1995 Tokaj Aszu 6 Puttonyos Mezes Maly and the 1996 Tokaj Aszu 6 Puttonyos Nyulaszo. Such a huge difference bewteen the two wines, but both were excellent. The 95 was so spicy -- definitely the more masculine of the two. Meanwhile, the 96 was softer, had more crème brûlée characteristics.