Otra Vez!
Forgot to mention we are headed to NW Portugal and Galecia, Esp. in July for their Albarino/Alvarinhos and Portugal's red Douros.
M

Mediterranio,
Wow, you sure blew off the great white Bordeaux! Have you ever tasted the Grand Cru white Graves from Ch Haut Brion, Ch La Ville Haut-Brion, Ch Couhins-Lurton or the bargain AOC Graves from Ch Coucheroy (made by Andre Lurton of Couhins-Lurton) or Ch Reignac? The '98 and '01 vintages are great.
M
PS Andre Lurton's sons are doing some remarkable stuff in Europe and South America - their '02 Pinot Gris from Argentina @ about $ 5.49 was world class and better than anything near the price from the US or Italia!
PPS I just opened a '00 Zind-Humbrecht Herrenweg-Turkheim Gewurztraminer from Alsace - mind-blowing stuff for about 1/2 of the '02 retail price given the weak USD.

We've just spent the last two days prowling the tasting rooms of the wineries in Sancerre (which is a picturesque hill town)...and THE wines for us are from Vacheron...two amazing finds:
2001 Les Romains (rated by several critics as one of the best Sauvignon Blancs in the world)
2001 Belle Dame. A few critics said this was about the finest pinot noir you could find outside Burgundy and we have to agree (after living a decade in Oregon/Wa State, we are big PN fans). The winery only had two cases left and we scored one of them! We also bought a case of 2002 Belle Dame and would have taken the last case of 2001 except we literally couldn't squeeze any more wine into the car, already loaded down with cases of Saumur Champigny and other Loire Valley reds and sparkling wines.
Anyway, if you can find either of those two Vacheron selections, do NOT pass them up!

BTilke,
Sounds amazing! Too bad the USD is so weak.
I'll let y'all know about Portugal and Galecia.
M