Let's not tell my doctor how many bottles I've tasted in the last year, okay? From hundreds of gins, zins, cognacs and more, I've narrowed it down to the top 15 wines and spirits (listed in no particular order) you should go after in 2015, from rare new releases to options inexpensive enough to drink every day. My New Year's resolution: to have as many of these as possible on my bar at all times.
1) Kim Crawford Fizz Methode Traditionnelle ($35 for 750ml) My favorite Marlborough vineyard delighted me this year by coming out with a radiant gold sparkling wine that's 40% chardonnay and 60% pinot noir, which translates to a crisp, citrus-forward sip with a surprisingly silky texture. The "traditionelle" in the name refers to the fermentation process, which mimics that of traditional Champagne by pressing grapes in whole bunches (versus crushing individual berries) to yield a less tannic, more delicate juice, then fermenting a second time in the bottle to create powerful bubbles. Available at liquor stores nationwide; find a bottle using Kim Crawford's store locator.
2) Koval Millet Whiskey ($50 for 750ml) Koval, a husband-and-wife-owned distillery on a quiet street in Chicago, is putting out the first-ever whiskey (at least commercially available whiskey) made from millet, a prized grain in Asia and Africa. It's rare to taste something this fresh and new and different in the whiskey world: a mix of hay and banana bread on the nose, and sweet and funky on the palate. Available at binnys.com or at the distillery's store in Chicago.
3) Tesseron Trésor XO Cognac ($1,200 for 750ml) If you don't know the name Tesseron, commit it to your memory (and bar) immediately. The cognac house—one of few to grow its own grapes—has been aging casks since 1905, but only started selling under its own name in 2003, producing nothing but XOs. I had the rare pleasure this fall of tasting the just-released Trésor with fourth-generation owner Alfred Tesseron, who dipped into the house's Paradis cellars (where the oldest cognacs are kept, aged 50-plus years) to select and blend more than 100 eaux-de-vie for the spirit—a rich, velvety treasure that stays on your tongue long after each sip. If you manage to get one of the 3,000 bottles out there, you're going to have a lot of friends eager to come over for dinner. Limited availability; inquire via email.
4) Fords Gin ($28 for 750ml) Leave it to The 86. Co., a spirits business started by industry vets Simon Ford, Jason Kosmas and Dushan Zaric, to release a gin that manages to be juniper-forward without shoving the botanical down your throat—distillers balance it perfectly with lemon, orange and grapefruit. Equally remarkable: the versatility of Fords, which is light and pleasant when sipped solo, yet strong enough to hold its own against virtually anything you'd want to mix with gin. A high oil content, Kosmas explains, prevents the spirit's flavor from getting drowned out. Available at liquor stores nationwide and at binnys.com.
5) Etude 'Fiddlestix' Pinot Noir ($40 for 750ml) Etude is known for its Carneros pinot noirs, but the wines coming out of the label's vineyards in Oregon, New Zealand and Santa Barbara are equally (if not more) impressive. This bottle, from California's cool-climate Santa Rita Hills, stands out for its inviting spiciness, delivering notes of nutmeg, cardamom and cloves. Available at etude.com.
6) The Macallan Rare Cask ($300 for 750ml) As the first addition to The Macallan's core collection in 10 years, Rare Cask is a return to what the distillery is known for: aging its Scotches in sherry casks (or, today, custom-ordered sherry-stained barrels, since the declining sherry market can't keep up with the growing whiskey market), imparting a raisin-y sweetness and rich mahogany hue. It's also the first Macallan without an age statement, a choice that gives master whiskey maker Bob Dalgarno the freedom to blend barrels based on their intensity, not simply how long they've been in the cellar. The result: a Scotch that's bold, spicy and oaky with a wonderfully warm finish. Available at select liquor stores.
7) Marnier XO ($190 for 750ml) A bottle of this cognac is tough to come by—earlier this year Terlato brought a limited run to the U.S for the first time in a decade—but it's absolutely worth the hunt. The spirit is a blend of 30 casks from the Grande Champagne region, aged in two types of French oak: Troncais and Limousin, respected as two of the best woods for aging cognacs. It's one of the earthiest cognacs I've tried, with plenty of umami. Available at select liquor stores and at binnys.com in limited quantities.
8) Crafthouse Cocktails ($20 for 750ml) A bottled, ready-to-drink cocktail is an idea I would trust only from Charles Joly, the man named the best bartender in the world at London’s World Class competition last June. That’s because Joly is the kind of guy who would (and did) commission a white wheat gin and try 40 types of mint before settling on the right blend for the Southside, a Prohibition-era tipple. His Moscow Mule and Paloma were created with equal care, and it shows. Available at liquor stores in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Colorado (check Crafthouse's store locator for locations), or at wlvliquors.com.
9) Ravenswood Old Hill Zinfandel ($60 for 750ml) The ubiquitous Vintner's Blend will always be the bread and butter of Sonoma winery Ravenswood, but you're missing out if you haven't discovered founder and master winemaker Joel Peterson's true passion project: a collection of single-vineyard zinfandels bursting with flavor and charm. This one, made from what may be the oldest vines in Sonoma County, is rich and powerful, with notes of dark chocolate and licorice balanced by a pleasant acidity. Available at liquor stores nationwide or at ravenswoodwinery.com.
10) Pisco Portón ($38 for 750ml) Made in Ica, Peru in a 330-year-old distillery at the foothills of the Andes, Portón is a mosto verde pisco, meaning the juice from freshly pressed grapes is only partially fermented during distillation. The result: a slight bump in residual sugars, which lends a light sweetness and a full-bodied, velvety texture to the spirit. The taste of a Peruvian pisco depends heavily on the types of grapes used, since the country doesn't allow distillers to age pisco in any type of barrel that would impart flavor (like oak); in Portón, a mix of Quebranta, Torentel and Albilla grapes deliver notes of citrus and cinnamon. (A bonus to buying Peruvian pisco: You know there are no additives messing with the spirit's natural flavor, since it's also against the law there to dilute it in any way.) Available at liquor stores nationwide or at binnys.com.
11) L'Essence de Courvoisier ($3,000-$3,500 for 700ml) This year, Courvoisier introduced a batch of its L'Essence in $3,500 Baccarat crystal bottles, each engraved with an image of Napoleon on a horse—a terrific collector's item, but you can also still snag the brand's plain Baccarat decanters, which house the same rare cognac for $3,000. It's a blend of more than 100 barrels, some dating back to the early 1900s and others from the '70s and '80s, when Courvoisier began to age cognacs in a variety of French oaks (versus just that of the Limousin forest) to pull out new flavors. As you'd image, this makes L'Essence one of the most complex cognacs out there: woody, smoky and sweet on the nose; fruity, nutty and dry on the tongue. Limited availability; check Courvoisier's store locator.
12) Dorda Double Chocolate Liqueur ($27 for 750ml) It's not 1998, so no one expects you to be drinking chocolate martinis. That said, a rich chocolate liqueur poured over ice cream or into hot cocoa is timeless. I get if you're skeptical, since "chocolate liqueur" usually means a bottle of something alcoholic loaded with sugar and ambiguous non-dairy chocolate flavoring. But Dorda is the real deal; to make it, distillers melt down Polish chocolate, then add just enough Chopin Rye to make an ultra-creamy spirit. Available at liquor stores nationwide.
13) Gary's Improv Zinfandel from Clif Family Winery ($32 for 750ml) Yes, the people who make energy bars have a winery; and yes, their wines are really good. If you're looking for something to pair with creamy sauces or gamey red meat, grab a bottle of Gary's Improv Zinfandel, a bold, spicy, tannic zin rich with notes of blackberry, black currant, licorice, peppers and cloves. A gift set ($68) comes with dark chocolate snacks from Clif, too: chipotle almonds, sea salt almonds and crunchy almond toffee. Available at cliffamilywinery.com.
14) Campari Limited-Edition Bottles ($27 for 750ml) I hope Campari is already a staple on your bar, but I had to include it among my recent favorites because of these new limited-edition labels, which are a neat nod to the brand's history; Italian artist Fortunato Depero, an influential figure in Italy's Futurism movement, sketched all three images for Campari ads in the 1920s. Two, originally in black-and-white, were redone in splashy yellows, greens and purples for the new labels, while the third—featuring an abstract Depero sipping Campari—is true to its original colors. Available at liquor stores nationwide.
15) Cointreau Guignolet Cointreau has become synonymous for orange liqueur, but the first spirit the Cointreau brothers actually bottled was a wild cherry liqueur called Cointreau Guignolet, named for the sweet guigne species of cherries used heavily in the recipe, along with black and sour varieties. More than 150 years later, the distillery in Angers, France, has brought Guignolet back (along with another long-lost spirit, Cointreau Camomille) and it's incredible—bursting with fresh cherry taste without any of the sickly sweet or medicinal undertones that so often curse cherry-flavored anything. Sip Guignolet as an aperitif or mix it into a cocktail, but you'll have to find a bar that carries the liqueur to try it, since it's not available in stores; if you're in New York City, head to Extra Fancy in Brooklyn for a taste.
For more of what I’m loving right now, check out these Champagne cocktails from a 1971 Playboy bar guide. Follow me on Forbes and Twitter.
