Shared Notes 2017 Selected for Connoisseurs’ Guide Best Wines of the Year 2019

January 2020 Issue

Blessed with a succession of fine harvests and constant refinement by vintners and growers of the winemaking art, 2019 proved to be a banner year as your trusty editors tasted through thousands of wines for Connoisseurs’ Guide. As is our custom as we look back over the past twelve months, we take a moment to give special mention to those that have left indelible and enduring impressions as the very best of a remarkable lot, and we once again humbly offer our thoughts on those that stood out as the most memorable wines of the year.

Rows of Sauvignon Blanc Grapes
Best of ** WinesSelections by Stephen Eliot


2017 Les lecons des maîtres – 94 points

750 mL Bottle 2017 Shared Notes VintageThe white wines of Bordeaux are the avowed model for this impeccably crafted, multi-layered wine that offers a much different perspective on fine Sauvignon Blanc than its slightly brighter and racier cellarmate. Combining grapefruit, pineapple, minerals, sweet oak and a touch of fresh grass, it is full, fleshy and quite firm in feel with a sensationally long finish, and its considerable richness does not rely upon pushy ripeness. It will be prove be every bit as long-lived as its somewhat leaner sibling, and the two rank among the more serious and collectable Sauvignon Blancs to be had.