Each of our regular WRO contributors has selected a Wine of the Year and a Wine Producer of the Year for 2007. We will feature one of their write-ups each day in this space through the end of the year, and if you’d like to nominate a wine or winery , email your choices to [email protected] –Ed.
Producer of the Year: Dominio de Valdepusa, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain: This wine estate–along with its iconic founder, Carlos Falco, the Marqués de Griñon–deserves recognition on 
several levels. One reason, of course, is for the quality of the wines; these include ageworthy Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, an intriguing Petit Verdot, and a wine called Emeritus that is a blend of all these varieties. Another reason is the estate’s intelligent and innovative application of technology in the vineyards, such as partial root drying to conserve water, and dendrometers to measure, record and fine-
tune water uptake of the vines. A final reason is leadership. No one has done more than Carlos Falco to inspire the complete turnaround of the huge Castilla-LaMancha wine region from a bulk wine area on the precipice of ruin to a vibrant modern region, if still somewhat low on its learning curve. Falco has led by example. In the 1970s he planted Cabernet on the property owned by his family since the 13th century, and began building the Dominio de Valdepusa estate winery in 1989. In 2003, Dominio de Valdepusa became Spain’s first wine estate to be granted its own DO. Falco’s success has not only earned international respect for his wines but also has enabled winemakers all across Spain’s largest region to dare to excel.
Wine of the Year: 2003 Rubicon, Napa Valley–Rutherford: An impressive sequel to the excellent 2002 
Rubicon, this red wine boasts all the characteristics of a world-class Cabernet-dominant blend. It has real concentration of fresh flavor on the nose, great depth and great length on the palate, tannin that runs all through the wine but with delicacy, softness and suppleness that envelop the tannin, and that enigmatic quality of seeming round. It has enormous elegance and real definition of flavor, and is an impressively complete wine.
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