2007 is not only an epochal year for Rhône Valley Reds, it marks the start of a new era at Les Pallières, with their decision to bottle two cuvees instead of one. We have the good fortune to have a few pre-arrival sample bottles of each, which will be open as part of this Les Pallières tasting. See last month’s VVW News for 2007 pre-arrival prices.

Sensational new releases from Altamura, Forman and Dominus form the heart of this tasting of Napa Valley’s signature wine.

Spend a hour on the 4th tasting some of our best home-grown Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs.

Before he retired, Bernard Morey established his "Les Baudines" and "Les Embrazées" bottlings as iconic versions of Premier Cru Chassagne-Montrachet. Both vineyards are located high on the slope at the south end of the village, Baudines above Embrazées. This tasting showcases Bernard's last three vintages, 2004, 2005, and 2006, along with his sons', Thomas and Vincent, first vintages in 2007.

This is a great time of year to enjoy chilled, minerally, dry Riesling. This tasting showcases wines from two of the best Riesling vineyards in Austria. Gaisberg and Heiligenstein are steep, south-facing slopes that lie side by side, but yield wines with distinctly different characters. Here are six 2007s.

Daniel Ravier has been at the helm at Domaine Tempier for almost a decade now, and he has re-established its reputation as the greatest winery in Provence, making sensational wines vintage after vintage. This flight showcases the two most recent vintages, the opulent, muscular 2005s and the more structured, sinewy 2006s, along with a couple of 2001s for comparisons.

Marsannay and Fixin are the two northern-most appellations on the Côte-de-Nuits, situated between Dijon and Gevrey-Chambertin. This tasting features Pinot Noirs from Burgundy stars Meo-Camuzet, Bruno Clair and Mongeard-Mugneret from three recent vintages.

Brothers Jean-Pierre and Thierry Usseglio have driven Domaine Pierre Usseglio to superstar status in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This tasting features their off-the-charts 2007s, along with bottlings from 2004, 2005, and 2006.

When Bernard Morey retired after the 2006 vintage, his domain's vineyards were split between his sons Thomas and Vincent, each starting their own domains. Each got pieces of Baudines, Embrazées, Morgeot, and Truffière. Vincent got all the Caillerets. Thomas got all the Vide Bourse and Dents des Chien. Here are their 2007s.

Vosne-Romanée, with its constellation of Grand Cru vineyards is the epijustify of Pinot Noir quality, for Burgundy and the rest of the world. Here is an exciting collection of 2006s, six village level and one Premier Cru.

Weinbach is one of the superstars of Alsace Riesling. Selbach-Oster is one of the superstars of Mosel Riesling. Here we compare several vintages of their best table wines: Selbach-Oster's Auslese Rotlay, and Weinbach's Auslese-level L'Inedit. Come enjoy this clash of world-class Rieslings.

Domaine Weinbach's 2007s are stellar. They are racy and focused, with admirable depth and tremendous purity. Four Rieslings form the heart of this tasting, but the entry-level Sylvaner and Pinot Blanc are sensational this year, and the two Gewurztraminers are textbook examples. See page 2 for tasting notes and prices.

Syrah from the steep slopes of the Northern Rhône comes out very differently from Syrah from California's sun-drenched vineyards. Which do you prefer, lean and muscular or fleshy and voluptuous? Here are four excellent examples of each, including stellar Saint-Josephs from Chave and Faury.

Here are five Vosne-Romanée rareties, including our first showing of de Montille's two Malconsorts.

2007 is special for this unique region, a vintage that emphasizes Chablis' classic qualities of minerality and precision. Here is an exciting flight, with one village wine, five Premier Crus and two Grand Crus. See page 3 for prices.