Top Shelf August 2007

This month's top-scoring Cellar Selection, Editors' Choice and Best Buy.

Here's a look at this month's top-scoring Cellar Selection, Editors' Choice and Best Buy. For full tasting notes on these and hundreds of other wines, visit our Buying Guide.

Cellar Selection

91 Poonawatta Estate 2006 The Eden Riesling (Eden Valley); $35. Incredibly powerful, with bold lime sherbet aromas that are nearly overwhelming in their intensity. Flavors are strident and linear at this young stage, underscored by vibrant acidity and fantastic length. Imported by Epicurean Wines. —J.C.

Editors' Choice

97 Caymus 2004 Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley); $136. Beautiful wine, lush and soft in the style of this warm vintage. It's immediately enjoyable for the wealth of cherries, blackberries and raspberries, with a decadent edge of melted milk chocolate. Oak adds extra dimensions of smoky vanilla, caramel, butterscotch and gingerbread. —S.H.
 

Best Buy

91 Ballentine 2006 Pocai Vineyard Old Vines Chenin Blanc (Napa Valley); $15. Ballentine's Chenins nearly always impress, and this is one of their best. Bone dry and very crisp, almost tart, in acids, the wine shows intriguing lime, wildflower and sweet pepper flavors. —S.H.

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