Every January we sit down and read through our tasting notes from the year before with the goal of creating a Top 21 list. Last year was oddly and strangely different. After March 15 sales reps no longer stopped by with their 6, 8, 10 bottles (sometimes 16 thank you Justin!) for us to sample and instead began dropping off 4 ounce glass containers filled with various wines.
The bonus to this new routine which made itself apparent fairly quickly was this:
We could take the wine home, sit down leisurely with pad and paper and pen notes in a relaxing fashion. The end results were more verbage per bottle and a more intimate introduction to the wines.
-
After completing our review of 2020 and after much consideration we arrived at these 21 wines. All worthy components of our 2020 Top 21.
-
Read and enjoy. Most of the wines are available at Renegade so if anything sparks your fancy you can email or give us a call.
-
Here's to a fantastic 2021.
-

2017 Boyer-Martenot Meursault Cuvée Fernand Boyer (France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault) $80
Vincent Boyer is an anomaly—a hard-working, hands-in-the soil grower focused on quality in an appellation where many wineries have hired enologists and coasted on Meursault’s reputation.
Domaine Boyer-Martenot is a family winery where the wine in the bottle unquestionably lives up to its noble appellation. This is a special bottling of Chardonnay from four villages-level vineyards, as a tribute to Vincent’s grandfather and the founder of the family estate, Fernand Boyer.
A very elegant wine with a fresh aromas of hazelnut, white peach, acacia blossom and citrus zest.  The wine offers  a beguiling sense of tension that is heightened by citrus-tinged acidity on the finish. This is flat-out delicious.

2019 Domaine du Bel Air (Pierre et Rodolphe Gauthier) Bourgueil “Jour de Soif” (France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Bourgueil) $18
We asked our sales rep for a new wine, something lighter, fresh and juicy for under $20 and boy did he deliver. “Jour de Soif” (Thirsty Day) from Pierre Gauthier is really a beautiful bottle of Bourgueil designed to be very, very easy to drink out of the blocks, and the 2019 most assuredly is just that! The pure and vibrant nose jumps right out of the glass in a blend of black cherries, sweet dark berries, a touch of dark chocolate, gentle notes of cigar smoke and an impressively complex base of earth tones. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, pure and sappy at the core, with a fine signature of soil, just a whisper of tannin and a long, complex and bouncy finish. This is wonderful Cabernet Franc.

2018 J.L. Chave Sélection Crozes-Hermitage Silene (France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage) $30
“The Chave line… could make a fair claim to be France’s winemaking royal family: in no other of France’s great terroirs is the largest individual landholder so deeply rooted in time and place, so supremely competent, and so modest a custodian of insights and craftsmanship of the past.”
Andrew Jeffords, The New France
-
Wine growers in the northern Rhône since 1481, the Chave family represents 16 generations of unbroken lineage committed to the production of some of the finest Syrah on the planet. We selected this wine for its charm and demeanor.  A Ripe and friendly Syrah balanced with backbone and structure. Notes of plum, black pepper, pencil lead, and warming spices surround the palate. The finish is remarkably long. Perfect with heartier comfort foods such as cassoulet or braised beef short ribs.

2019 Cos Frappato (Italy, Sicily) $28
COS is a benchmark producer in the Vittoria appellation of Sicily, and certainly one of the most important, influential producers in all of Sicily, if not Italy as a whole. Throughout the entire range there is a focus on elegance and purity, especially the joyous, floral Frappato, Sicily's answer to Cru Beaujolais. The 2019 COS Frappato is a pure delight. Light ruby colored, aromas of wild flowers, red berry and herbal spices. Flavors of raspberry, orange peel and sweet spices emerge with subtle acidity and soft tannins. There is beautiful freshness and vibrancy in every sip.