WINE SPECTATOR, THE BIBLE OF WINE, CROWNS FRANCE’S CHATENEUF-DU-PAPE 2005 DI CLOS DES PAPES AS 2007’s NUMBER 1 WINE IN ITS ANNUAL CLASSIFICATION. TWO ITALIANS IN THIS YEAR’S TOP 10: TIGNANELLO (N. 4) E ORNELLAIA (N. 7)

This year, France has the best wine in the world with its Chateneuf-du-Pape 2005 di Clos des Papes. Receiving a score of 98/100 on Wine Spectator magazine’s much anticipated “Top 100” list, this wine has won the most coveted recognition in the world of wine. The “Bible” of wine has also included two Italian wines within the top ten wines of the world for 2007: Tignanello 2004 by the Marchesi Antinori, at fourth place, and Ornellaia 2004 from the Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, at seventh place. In 2006, the number one spot was awarded to Italy’s Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova 2001 Casanova di Neri.
The “Top 100” classification by Wine Spectator began in 1988 and has become a list that is now capable of orienting the world wine market. For the 2007 classification, the experts of the American magazine (among whom is James Suckling, responsible for Italian and European wines) tasted over 15,000 wines from all over the world.
There were four criteria that all of the wines were given: quality (represented by the number of points awarded), price, availability (production), and the “X factor”, or what the judges at Wine Spectator defined as the “excitement” a wine provoked. The complete list of the wines chosen by the magazine will be made available within the next few days at www.winespectator.com.

Wine Spectator’s “Top 10” for 2007
1) Chateneuf-du-Pape 2005 Clos des Papes
2) Ridge Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains Santa Cruz
Mountain Estate 2005
3) Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2005
4) Tignanello 2004 Antinori
5) Two Hands Shiraz Barossa Valley Bella's Garden 2005
6) Château Léoville Las Cases St.-Julien 2004
7) Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia 2004
8) Mollydooker Shiraz McLaren Vale Carnival of Love 2006
9) Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Reserve 2004
10) Krug Brut Champagne 1996

Wine Spectator’s Top Choices in Past Years
2000 - Solaia 1997 Piero Antinori
2001 - Ornellaia 1998 Lodovico Antinori
2002 - E. Guigal Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1999
2003 - Paloma Merlot Spring Mountain District 2001
2004 - Château Rieussec Sauternes 2001
2005 - Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa Valley 2002
2006 - Brunello di Montalcino "Tenuta Nuova" 2001 Casanova di Neri