Leonetti's Cab

[tomstevenson]

Welcome on Board Chinney. As you've sussed, you won't find any Leonetti in the UK, but as Innkeeper points out, you'll find sources via www.wine-searcher.com (I just checked and there are 31 Leonetti wines listed, all in the USA, but how many are the same wine from different retailers or different wines from the same retailer, you'll have to unravel yourself). I'm a fan of Leonetti, but not to the extent that it knocks Lafite or any 1st growth for six. There again, the specific bottle you tasted might not have been at its best, so even the staunchest Bordeaux fanatic could well agree that on the day the Leonetti was better. However, I do understand where Bucko's coming from. When I was a moderator at the Seattle Wine Fair a number of years ago, I was asked whether I thought the tendency of Washington wines to spend longer in oak was the right route to go. I prefaced my response with the usual caution that oak should always be balanced by fruit, then said that I would not want all Washington wines to follow Leonetti just because this style earned Gary Figgins a fan by the name of Robert Parker and a perfect 100-point score from the WINE SPECTATOR. On the other hand, I said, every region should have people intent on pushing the envelope in directions they particularly want to go, and let's face it Figgins has been incredibly successful following his own route. It must be said that some of his wines are more oaky than others and even I confess that the oakier ones are usually best. Having said that, this is probably because he selects better wines for longer oak-ageing. Ideally I would like to see the best Leonetti wines with less oak, but they are stunning nonetheless and a visit to Walla Walla is worth it for the crispily fried Walla Walla onion-loaf alone!
Tom