My wedding anniversary is 1997 and I want to start buying wine from that vintage opening one each year in the future with my wife. I know it was a great year for Italy and good for California. I have never bought wine from an auction or private cellar. What is everyone’s opinion on Wine Bid vs Wine Searcher. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Go!
Stephen,
That’s a great idea. I was married in 1996, and bought cases of Calon Segur from that vintage. They’ll probably outlast us.
1997 is a bit trickier. In Piedmont and Tuscany, it was a warm vintage, and while the wines were highly rated, many were pretty exuberant and showy young, and not all will last as long as you’d need. It’s the same with 1997 California Cabernets. Some are holding up beautifully, but many were a flash in the pan. I was collecting a bunch as it was my son’s birthyear, and there were quite a few disappointments. If you like Port, many of the 1997’s will outlast us. Rioja was average, Loire valley pretty good and those wines can last.
For auctions, YMMV, but I often browse WineBid, K & L, TCWC (Chicago Wine Co), Heritage, Benchmark Wine Group, Spectrum, Wally’s, plus others I’m sure I’m forgetting. If you log in, you can set 1997 as a favorite and most will let you know when wines come up for auction. Watch out for buyer’s fees and shipping. You might think you got a bargain only to find the fees pushed the cost up 30% or more.
There are several great wine stores that stock or get older wines; Chambers Street in NY, Vinopolis in Portland, K&L and JJ Buckley in California. You can also check SommPicks and European Wine Resource. I’m sure folks here will chime in on others.
You can also put a request in here on Commerce Corner.
Happy Hunting, Happy Anniversary. and Cheers,
Warren
Jadot’s 1997s are really good and very well priced.
My recommendation would be Philip Togni. In a slightly hit and miss vintage, the Togni is not only fantastic for the vintage, but in my top five California wines, period.
Warren’s assessment is excellent - both of the 1997 vintage and the best sites to purchase back vintages.
I’ve gone through quite a few 1997 Piedmont and Tuscan wines in the past few years and while some showed very well, the majority were getting tired (balsamic and brown sugar notes beginning to overtake the fruit in the Barolos) and a few were undrinkable.
FWIW, I’ve had better luck with 1997s from Northern Rhone and Burgundy.
I have a bunch of wine in the upcoming HDH auction including an OWC and singles of 1997 Salon. 1997 Giacosa Falletto and Rocche. Also 6 bottles of 1997 Monfortino.
I concur. 1997 was overrated in Tuscany and never considered that great in Piedmont, except by Wine Spectator (no credibility) and in some early remarks of Parker, but he later backtracked and cautioned about inconsistency.
Togni is my clear cut favorite Napa Cab producer. That said, I’ve had two different ~ 6-packs of the ‘97 that I won at auction, and I ended up selling the majority of them. I greatly preferred the ‘92, and actually thought everything from the ‘90s was preferable to their ‘97, with the exception of ‘98 and ‘99. Given Mark’s (and others) high praise, I am convinced it was bad luck with my bottles.