recently had the opportunity to drink several of these wines over dinnerwith a group of friends. This wine seems as if it could do another 15 years in the cellar without blinking. 2002 Luneau-Papin Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine Clos des Noelles Excelsior , $22, Louis/Dressner Selections. Recently re-released by Dressner. MORE >>

The Aszu is run off to casks, and a slow second fermentation takes place for at least two years in underground cellars. Secrets of the Cellar. Lazlu takes us on a magical tour of the cellar, where the bottles of wine glow orange in the darkness like some luscious gold elixir. 2000 (white peach) and 2002. Disznoko Estate. MORE >>

John Gilman, author of the newsletter The View from the Cellar , joins us again for a Q&A. But being younger than the gentleman I just mentioned, I do not have the same reserves of old vintages of white Burgundy or white Bordeaux in my cellar, and so premox has really hit my collection hard. Are these wines forcibly better? MORE >>

Before lunch, though, Jean-Rene gave our group a very extensive, insider’s view of the high tech winery with all its bells and whistles. The Cellar. Christian Seely led a very interesting test, in which we tasted two groups of base wine: Group 1 was 2008 Merlot, and Group 2 was Cabernet Franc. Perfect Berries. MORE >>

Everyone reaches into the cellar for the good bottles to help celebrate the passing of another year. Usually I put them into groups - excellent, very good, and so on, but I had so many great wines in December that I will simply list my favorites without any qualification. December tends to be a good month for wine drinking. MORE >>