Friday, December 15, 2017

2015 Vintage - Which Reds To Buy?

2015 has been a great vintage for red wine in many parts of the world. Where can you find the absolute outstanding wines? Following, in very brief form, are my recommendations.

In Australia, Pinot Noir from Victoria, pretty much all regions, is outstanding. Tasmania is good, too. The Barossa had a good vintage for Shiraz, quite warm. Depending on your preferred style, you need to focus on producers who make concentrated and ripe wines or those who prefer elegance and freshness. The differences are likely to be significant this year.

Europe had great results in 2015 and would be my go to continent. The Burgundy wines are the best of the decade so far. Cooler sites from higher elevation are best in this warm year. I would opt for Rhone over Bordeaux for sheer drinkability, in particular Chateauneuf-du-Pape with its ripe Grenache blends.

In Italy, wines from Tuscany are outstanding. On the Iberian peninsula,  I would opt for Portuguese wines from the Douro Valley over Spain - a watershed year.

There it is, in a nutshell.

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