Food and Wine Winemaker of the Year

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Source: DC Examiner - Thursday, January 3, 2008 - http://www.examiner.com

Scott Greenberg, The Vine Guy - http://www.vineguy.com/

At the end of each calendar year, my dear friend Kev- in hosts a “predictions luncheon” for 10 “regulars” and two guests. We usually gather in the back room of a local steak- house to share our thoughts on the previous events of the year and to make predictions, both light-hearted and serious, for the upcoming year. The group buys lunch for the

person who makes the most accurate predictions from the previous year.

While the predictions vary widely, the one thing that is consistent from year to year is the plethora of wonderful wine that everyone brings to share with the group. These are wines that most of us think to enjoy only on special occasions — such as this luncheon. And then it hits me: I should be enjoying and sharing better wines — even great wines — throughout the year. Don’t get me wrong. One of the marvelous perks of this job is that Cindy and I get to taste a lot of wonderful, beautifully made wines throughout the year. But it’s usually in a clinical setting, and we’re just “tasting” it, not “drinking” it. I usually spend most of my time analyzing the wine for flaws and perfections and writing copious notes about structure, balance, fruit and finish. And when I do actually sit down to enjoy a glass of wine, I usually think more about the food than the juice. So this year, my New Year’s resolution is to enjoy — I mean really, thoroughly enjoy — great wines without taking notes or looking for imperfections. Just to relax and take pleasure in the wine. I already got a pretty good jump on the year, thanks to Kevin and the rest of the gang. Here’s what I hope to drink more of in 2008.

2005 Parallel Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Calif.

Find it at: Vienna Vintner in Vienna, VA ($60)

One of my favorites of the day, this cabernet, made by renowned wine artiste Philippe Melka, may very well be one of the best values from Napa Valley. The complex bouquet features dazzling scents of blackberry, cassis, sweet earth and rose petals. Full-throttled flavors of blackberry, black cherry and hints of vanilla are well-balanced over

the entire palate. Prominent notes of coffee and mint-chocolate cookies slide in on the lengthy finish. This is

a cabernet in search of a bone-in ribeye steak — medium rare.

Scott Greenberg, The Vine Guy - http://www.vineguy.com/

Food and Wine Magazine’s

2005 Winemaker of the Year, Philippe Melka

It may raise eyebrows to name a Frenchman as the American Wine Awards' Winemaker of the Year, but Philippe Melka is an honorary native of the Napa Valley. "I bring my French roots," he says, "but I don't have a French conservatism in winemaking; I have an American open-mindedness." In addition to creating his own tiny-production, Bordeaux-style Métisse and CJ wines for the past nine years, Melka is currently the winemaker of and consultant to 12 first-rate small Napa wineries, including Lail Vineyards, Hundred Acre and Vineyard 29. (Add to that Washington State, where Melka's new Bordeaux-style blend, Pirouette, was just bottled.) His most publicized coup came in 2002, when he seamlessly succeeded the legendary Helen Turley at über-cult-winery Bryant Family Vineyard. This University of Bordeaux–trained soil geologist was enticed by the Bryant family's exquisite Pritchard Hill Vineyard. "My clients are not blind dates," says Melka. "They represent some of the greatest vineyard sites of Napa Valley." Melka believes in strictly noninterventionist winemaking, designed to let the fruit produced by a great vineyard—not the art of the winemaker—

Philippe pictured below, tasting Parallel Napa Valley ESTATE at Auction Napa Valley