I agree with '94 California, but If you can find a well-stored bottle, '94 Bordeaux would be an interesting choice, especially if served blind against a '94 California. I have had some really nice bottles of '94 La Miss and Haut Brion.
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Old Aussie stuff is generally more difficult to find in the US but a Coonawarra Cab vs a CA wine would definitely be fun.
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echoing port recs. 94 quinto do nacional would be rather epic. I have one bottle of '97 I am saving for similar sentimental reasons but expect to wait a long time before I crack it. cheers.
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I think 94, like 99, was wildly underrated in the Rhone. Just of the top of my head, Beaucastel, Pegau and Charvin were much better in 94 than 95. But these wines might be slightly past their prime at this point Still, if you can find one, it will be worth a peck.
94 in Bordeaux also produced nice wines. I’l second Alfert on Montrose and add Ducru Beaucaillou and Pichon Lalande. If you don’t have a Parker palate, these are nice wines and have aged well.
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Beautiful. Thanks all.
Feeling great on the red list. Starting to go through.
Anyone familiar with Whites? @Vince_T thanks for flag on
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Had a 1994 Hermann Ludes that was drinking well. From what I could find, German riesling in general did well that year.
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Yes, 1994 Hermann Ludes Riesling Klüsserather Bruderschaft Auslese was great when I had it a little over a year ago.
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Thanks!
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Joining the chorus suggesting Napa and Rioja. There are so many to choose from that should be beautiful today, as long as provenance is good and you don’t have bad luck with the cork.
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1994 LdH Tondonia blanco gran reserva was terrific but still too young a decade ago. It’s probably in the zone now!
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1994 Napa is such a ‘Goldilocks’ year! Forgive the hyperbole, but I don’t think anyone made bad wine that year. If you can find well stored bottles, they can be great.
The Dominus is crazy good. I prefer the base Caymus to the Special Selection in 94, but they’re both good bearing little resemblance to current Caymuses (Caymi?). All of the Stags Leap Wine Cellar offerings are good that year- I liked the SLV best early, but as they’ve aged I prefer the Fay to even the Cask23. I’m biased towards the Spring Mtn Vineyards 94 because it’s the first over-$20 wine I bought and was our special occasion wine for the first 10 years of our marriage. Opus One is great. The Mondavi Reserve was fabulous.
The best 94 I’ve had would be either the Araujo Eisele or Dalla Valle Maya. Those were beautiful wines 5-8 yrs ago when I last had them and seemed to have plenty of years ahead.
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Don’t have any 94s left but Napa Cabs were pretty good across the board for that vintage. Monday Reserve, BV GDL, Heitz are a few old school wines.
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We opened 3 1994 Oregon wines a couple of years ago. All were exceptional, and nowhere near over the hill (provenance was exceptional).
The best of the three, Brickhouse, was my wine of the year for 2021. It was absolutely fantastic.
The vintage was small, so I wouldn’t know how accessible to find a wine from then might be but it would be worth a look. You might also check with Cristom to see if they offer wines from the library that go back that far (Steve Doerner, their winemaker made the Brickhouse wine for Doug Tunnell and the 90s Cristom wines are stellar).
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Lopez de Heredia Tondonia Reserva or Gran Reserva.
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1994 Spottswood in drinking very well right now.
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I think Port is more universal than Cal Cab!
94 beaucastel was great but haven’t had in several years.
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Echoing what @Ian_Sutton has said, '94 was a good year in South and Western Australia, and I would think the usual age worthy suspects would be in good form.
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Lopez de Heredia is a great suggestion. The 1994 Napa Cabs are still drinking wonderfully. And 1994 Port just rocks. Those are two very good places to spend some money.
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Yea, that’s a great call.
Love their whites. Have never had one that old, seems like a good reason.
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Gotta a lot of heart in OR. Didn’t think to look at all. Thanks Marcus. Will check that out.
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