WHO: Miramont Estate Vineyard WHAT: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon WHEN: 2006 WHERE: Lodi, CA HOW: After unsuccessfully trying to make earthly contact with the vintners, we looked up the vintage notes online. According to the Miramont website, the Celestial Lodi Cab was harvested by some dirty hippies “under starlight” at around 24 brix. The juice underwent a secondary malo-lactic fermentation then bathed in 1 year old 60 gallon American Oak barrels for an amount of time unknown to us.

We hipsters usually shun bandwagons, but our desire to espouse our opinion was stronger. So, we grabbed our glasses, hopped on the good foot and summarized our favorite wine experiences of 2009. Not many wine blogs can lay claim to four palates, so we felt it best to let each tongue, er, voice speak. Here now, for your unedited enjoyment, is each member’s top 3 wines of 2009. Drum roll please…

WHO: Famille Quiot WHAT: 35% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 20% Cinsault, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Mourvèdre , and 5% other grape varieties from les Arnevels vineyard. WHEN: 2008 WHERE: Côtes de Provence, France HOW: The grapes are partly pressed and macerated with a short fermentation period of 12-24 hours for color. According to the bottle: “Special efforts are made to preserve freshness and fruit with the use of CO² gas to exclude oxygen during the harvest.” To this, we tilt our heads like curious kittens.