Recommend a Vintage wine

Hi all!

I’m not new to wine but definitely new to the forum! I am looking for a bit of advice on acquiring a bottle of wine of a good vintage and I hope I’ve come to the right place.

To avoid telling a story worthy of Joseph Heller I’ll get straight to the point. Myself and my brother are massively into wine and this year we are looking to invest in a bottle of something special (which is ready to drink now) to add to the heaving collection we already have. Also looking for something medium to full bodied.

These are some vintages we’ve been initially looking at:

Bordeaux '96 or 2000 (St. Julien/Pauillac/St. Estephe)
Californian 2001 or 2007 (Cabernet)
Tuscan 2004 or 2006
Southern Rhone 2000 or 2001

Our list is not limited to those, but it gives a good idea of the kind of wines we like.

We’re willing to throw up to maybe 250 - 300 at a bottle of something really special (I’m Irish, so am talking in Euro, but the exchange rate pretty much makes that around $300 USD or £200 GBP)

For example, I have come across some bottles of 2000 Carruades de Lafite, Pauillac… but to be honest I’m not blown away by the reviews it’s getting.

So tell me, what would you recommend?

You should repost this in Wine Talk. It’s the more appropriate forum.