Classic Wines You Must Try

by Ray Isle

A short list from article "50 Classics You Must Try" , Food and Wine Magazine, October 2009

NV Pol Roger Brut Reserve Champagne, $45.00 — One of the last major Champagne houses that is still family-owned. This bottle is exactly what brut, (i.e.dry) Champagne should be: vividly crisp, yet creamy, with complex fruit flavors and a tantalizing toasty aroma.

2008 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling, $44.00 — Jeffrey Grosset's single-vineyard wine from the South Australian region of Clare Valley practically defines the potential of Australian Riesling. It is entirely dry, with sparkling acidity and flavors that float between chalky minerality and fresh lime fruit.

2007 Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Noir Estate, $29.00 — If not for Eyrie Vineyards' David Lett, (who passed away last year), Oregon wine would be unrecognizable. In 1965 he planted the Willamette Valley's first Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Since then Eyrie has consistently produced one of the area's defining Pinots: velvety and sleek, and full of wild strawberry and raspberry notes.

2007 Penfold's Koonunga Hill Shiraz/Cabernet, $12.00 — Penfolds introduced this Cabernet Shiraz blend in 1976, naming it after a vineyard at the northern end of Australia's Barossa Valley.It has been one of the world's top red wine values ever since. Full of ripe blackberry fruit with a slightly spicy edge, this red also ages surprisingly well—unusual for such an inexpensive wine.

Ray Isle is the wine editor of Food & Wine Magazine. He also writes their Tasting Room blog.