Needless to say, I was able to sample only a fraction of these wines. My age is making me increasingly aware of my limitations, but even the young and ever-thirsty Ubriaco would have met his match at this tasting. Among the French wines, even though I chose to concentrate on whites, I skipped over Pol Roger. Why?  Because the basic Brut NV is among the most reliable fine wines in the world, always good and always made in the same pleasing house style – medium-to-full body, nutty and wheaty, with great perlage – and because if I had started sipping the superb Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill 1999, I would have gotten no further.

Etienne Hugel at the Wildman tasting

So I began with the fine Alsace producer Hugel, whose lovely everyday wine – Gentil, a blend of several Alsace white varieties – showed itself once again as one of the greatest bargains around. The ’08 Riesling and the ’06 Pinot Gris Classic were appropriately more impressive and demanded more attention. Both showed marvelous varietal character and intensity of flavor, and both were beautifully structured to survive and in fact improve over a few more years in bottle. The latter is especially true of the very lovely 2005 Riesling Jubilee, a wine of deep Riesling flavor and massive structure (and a commensurate price, alas).

From much further south in France, Wildman’s Rhone producer Jaboulet was showing three lovely whites, Crozes-Hermitage La Mule Blanche 2008, Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Roure blanc 2007, and Hermitage Blanc Chevalier de Sterimberg 2007. The latter is among France’s greatest white wines. All three are vinified from the Rhone white varieties Marsanne and Rousanne, which do not, elsewhere in the world, produce wines of any great distinction.

Among Wildman’s Italian producers, I was particularly struck by some of the big red wines, especially Re Manfredi’s Aglianico del Vulture 2005 and the Riserva Serpara 2003. These are both wines that want more cellar age to show their best, and from past experience with them, I consider them worth whatever wait it takes.

Also impressive were Rapitalà’s  new 2008 Nero d’Avola, Alta, and La Spinona’s 2004 Barbaresco Bricco Faset and 2001 Barolo Sori Gepin. (The latter estate, if I remember correctly, is not a Wildman import but a wine it distributes on the east coast.)