Inspired by another post, my wife and I want to stock up on wines of the same year that we got married (2015) that would age well and that we could open on anniversaries and special occasions. She mostly likes riesling (I prefer dry or off-dry, she goes more for sweet like Spatlese) and pinot noir. I also like Syrah and GSM/Southern Rhone blends, though it might be too early to tell for some of them. Any recommendations?
Riesling should be easy…almost any good quality German or Austrian Riesling should last a very long time, whether toward the dry or sweet end of the scale.
Chateauneuf du Pape might fit the bill in the Southern Rhone category…
I LOVE drinking CdP and collect it when I can find a good vintage (I have several Vieux de Telegraphe and Chateau de Beaucastel going back to 1998 and 2000). What’s the consensus on 2015? I’ve been away from wine berzerking for awhile.
2015 is a great vintage in Germany, Bordeaux and Burgundy, so you are lucky and have many choices. How about Chateau Climens and Burgs from Hudelot-Noellat or Mugneret-Gibourg. Or, at a lower price point Dublere’s 2015s are quite tasty
It was a good year in many wine-producing countries. You should have no problem. In north Spain it was a hot year but there’s a lot of good quality age-worthy wine, in Bordeaux they’re quite happy, in the Loire it was warm for the most part, Central Europe it was also warm but they had a little rain late in the summer so it turned out well, north Italy it was warm but they had reserve moisture from the winter, Tuscany was decent, the south of Italy was really hot but some of them were saved by the winter water reserves, the south of France was also hot and while I haven’t tasted many of those wines, I kind of expect them to be a bit like 2007 and 2003, which I didn’t care for all that much.
In CA it was another drought year, but most people I’ve talked to are happy with the grapes they did get. In parts of WA it might even be better and in OR they were happy. In Chile it was also hot and they had a some trouble with volcanoes down south, but pretty decent in the middle part of the country. Argentina seemed to have had trouble in Mendoza, with way more humidity than they’re accustomed to.
Don’t know about SA or Australia - those are big places and certainly will have some decent wines as well.
So all in all, in much of the northern hemisphere it was warm to hot with some areas getting hit by badly-timed rain and others saved by well-timed rain. It wasn’t a bad vintage overall in many wine-growing regions - really good in some and even great in a few. The question is what kind of wine do you like to age. I’d go with Bordeaux, Tuscany, Rioja, Hungary and maybe WA, because I like those.
2015 was a great vintage in Austria. Gruner will age forever. I’ve been stocking up on Schloss Gobelsburg and Brundlmeyer in particular.
The winemakers in Barolo and Barbaresco were very, very happy with 2015. But you’ll have to stay married for quite some time to enjoy those in their prime.
Thanks for the tips guys. I definitely like to age CdP and some pinot noir, haven’t really tried many rieslings with age on them but figured that since it’s the only style my wife really enjoys drinking it would be worth it.
That would be 101 for blissful married life
Happy wife, happy life ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
2015 was exceptional in AUSTRIA, and of course in Germany and France as well.
Not only fine Austrian Riesling and Grüner Veltliner in Wachau and neigbouring regions in Lower Austria, but also very fine in Styria - so if you like Sauvignoin blanc and Morillon (=Chardonnay) from Styria you will find great wines that can age 1-2+ decades …
I have no idea what´s available, but from Styria I can recommend Tement, Gross, Potzinger, Lackner-Tinnacher, Erwin Sabathi, Polz (only vineyard designated) and some others …
Interesting you mention that, as Austria is an area I haven’t delved much into with wine yet half of my family originates from there. Any tips for good “starter” or easy to find Austrian Grüner Veltliner and Riesling that may also be ageworthy?
Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Smaragd Singerriedel
Prager Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Achleiten or Bodenstein
Top Rhones will age very will
Bordeaux is amazing, especially Pomerol estates
It’s a vintage in these two areas where you can pretty much just pick your favorite house with little risk.
The wines which Tony C recommends
Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Smaragd Singerriedel
Prager Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Achleiten or Bodenstein
are fine wines, but no “starters” …
If you can find them, you might try anything from Bründlmayer (GV Lamm, Berg Vogelksang, Käferberg, R. Steinmassl, Z.Heiligenstein …) or Gobelsburg (GV Lamm, Grub, Renner, R. Gaisberg, Z.Heiligenstein … ) … even the “Terrassen”-bottlings are excellent …
Bordeaux had some really great success with 2015, especially in the Margaux, Pomerol, and St. Emilion appellations. Most are affordable and several can age for decades.
Any specific recommendations?
2015 Germany…buy all the Spatelese & Auslese that you can get your hand on. Next, I’d stock up on 2015 Barolo & Barbaresco. Time will tell about other regions…
I can’t tell you anything about SA but Australia was pretty much very good to excellent across the board.
Also, most people with a bit of knowledge about the situation would put money on 2015 being a generally declared port vintage for 2015. We won’t know for sure until April 2017 though.
John… Several. It depends on the style of wine you like and the price point you wish to purchase your wines at.
When you have a moment, peruse this article : Best 2015 Bordeaux Wine Buying Guide. Tasting Notes, Ratings, Reviews
Feel free to ask me about any 2015 that looks interesting to you.