A well preserved 74 Clos du Val just rocked a year ago! And relatively easy on the wallet.
Do Noval Colheita 1974 might be a solution …
Jurançon Clos Joliette 1974 if you can find this rare gem.
3 Likes
Thanks to all the suggestions! I imagine this thread will serve as a repository of information of '74s for future reference!
74 Mayacamas in large format is a great wine that is dong just fine right now.
I opened one of the 1974 non-reserve bottles a couple of months ago and it was still going strong. Good chance the Reserve is even better!
At $2k (or more) for a mag, I’d hope so!
If their birthday is in the first half of the year, go for the year of their conception!
The 1973 Baumard Quarts de Chaume or one of the Lopez de Heredia Riojas would be singing.
Great thread and suggestions. Anyone up for a mild hijacking?
Would your recommendation be the same if the birth year were 1964 (assuming the winery/bottling existed at that point)?
You may be beter off starting a new thread and getting a whole other set of replies. But jus tquickly… 1964 is my favorite old vintage Barolo. For me, leaps and bounds better than others mentioned as good years (e.g. 1967). I’ve had good bottles from producers that people forgot about years ago. Just remember to stand the wines up for 2 weeks+ (or ideally decant from a cradle) and give them air (google the Chambers decanting instructions, and as noted above, they sell a lot of older Barolo including 1964).
1 Like
1974 Bertani Amarone is a thing of beauty. Highly recommended and within the budget.
Sorry to be a downer but you’re not getting a ‘74 Maya for the price you are willing to spend. Sterling (reserve) is the way to go in terms of price point and quality.
I would also suggest to be a little malleable in terms of year…I totally get the desire to hit a birth year but it’s been my experience that close enough and a great wine experience trumps a number. Intent and hustle matters and a friend will be blown away by no matter what year the wine is. Opening up an old bottle of wine is like opening a time capsule and hopefully you all get a chance to forget about the current hellscape and recall wonderful e periences/moments. The wine ends up being a facilitator and prop for this. Please don’t get hung up on hitting a specific vintage. I promise you it truly doesn’t matter.
Agreed. The 74 Sterling Reserve is great.
74 Mount Veeder was one of the best wines we’ve ever had.
Haven’t had the 74 Veeder but had a bunch of the 78 and they were awesome.
1974 Porta dos Cavaleiros still sells for a song. Revolution year wine, too.
Another vote for Colheita Port.
I really think when non-geek friends (and I’m assuming that’s the case, because geeks know what to look for) are looking for a birthyear wine, it truly does matter. They are not looking for a great wine experience, they are looking for a wine that marks their 50th. I’m a 1960 , so fine with averaging a 59 and 61 Bordeaux to equal. But when non wine geeks friends have their birthday what is meaningful is I open their birthyear (68 Rioja, 64 Rioja or Piedmont, 63 Port etc-). And especially with a year with lots of great possibilities why not just do birthyear? Older bottles can be unpredictable, storage matters. But with $500 limit I’d get two bottles, Sterling or Mondavi regular (each only a step behind reserve- I’ve had both in last decade that showed well) or something like Marcarini or a Produttori single vineyard, Better to source separately to increase odds
1 Like
Not looking for a great wine experience??? You have a low opinion of the non-geeky crowd.
Wasn’t Togni at Cuvaison in '74?? There is very little talk about his stretch there. I had a friend who worked with him there then. He always wondered if he would live long enough to enjoy the cabs PT made.
Charles Krug Vintage select, mostly from the See Ranch, was excellent that year.
The problem with 1974 is that once you leave Napa and northern Italy, there is not much too choose from. Simi is a great idea. Burgundy, Bordeaux, Germany…no…northern Rhone? I remember the 74 Guigal Cote Rotie as being great in the early 80s…now?? There were lots of great Napa wines that year, but the prices…
The other question is storage.
Good point. The sentiment over a birth year wine is great. It’s a fun thing to do. But, I’d caution putting too much expectation in it. With wine that old, a particular bottle of a great wine can be a total flop. So, it’s a good idea to have backup bottles or some other sort of hedging.
1 Like