One of Vidal Fleury’s top-notch specialties has long been their Muscat de Beaume de Venise, and the 2010 may be the finest I have yet tasted. The wine possesses 15% natural alcohol and 110 grams of residual sugar, and the delicacy of the aromas (peach, apricot, spring flowers, honeysuckle and maple syrup) is finely etched in the wine’s expansive aromatics. Full-bodied, opulent and luscious, this terrific Muscat de Beaume de Venise is about as good as these wines can be. Its acidity, freshness, overall exuberance and well-delineated personality give it an extra dimension that is rarely seen in Muscat. These wines are not meant for aging, so drink it over the next several years. As I wrote last year, the Vidal Fleury enterprise, which is in large part a negociant business owned by the Guigal family and run with considerable precision by Guy Sarton-de-Joncquey, seems to be going from strength to strength with a bevy of wines offering some of the most reasonable prices of any Rhone Valley negociant. Both Guigal and Vidal Fleury consistently produce excellent rose wines. Last year, the 2010 GSM, a Southern Rhone cuvee that is bottled early to preserve its freshness and fruit, was introduced. Vidal Fleury has also done exceptionally well with their selections from Vacqueyras. Cote Rotie has always been one of Vidal Fleury’s specialties and they have done exceptionally well in 2010 and 2011 with the Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde as well as the limited production, single vineyard offering, La Chatillonne. Importer: William Deutsch and Sons, White Plains, NY; tel. (914) 251-WINE