Hi All, interested in the community’s suggestions for wines to store medium/long term for anniversary/birth year wines - 08 for anniversary and 11/13 as birth year wines respectively.
For 08, I have Champagne already and that seems to be the standout by far.
For 11 and 13 I don’t have much but not looking to drink yet (for obvious reasons). I have Chapoutier wines that scored highly for each of those years and allegedly will last a couple decades. Champagne seems to be very good for 13 and Bordeaux solid if not great in 11.
Would love to know if people have any other thoughts/suggestions - thanks in advance!
2011 was a sensational Port vintage and of course it will drink for 50+ years no problem. Not everyone likes Port but if you do it’s a bulletproof buy for long aging purposes like birth years
2008: Bordeaux (not an acclaimed vintage, but lots of beautiful, less opulent wines with great freshness and staying power). Vintage Champagne. Some Burgundies have been inconsistent but many seem to be evolving slowly and beautifully.
2011: Almost anything from Portugal, not just Vintage Ports - it was an extraordinary vintage there. Ditto with Naoussa - although doubt you’re going to find any at this point. Also lots of nice Bordeaux wines that might not be as big and ripe as 2009/2010, but showing more restraint and freshness. Also a solid vintage in Rioja. Some excellent wines in Barbaresco, but others have been a bit on the ripe side. (Conversely, some Northern Rhônes have been a bit on the green side).
2013: Almost anything from Italy - an outstanding vintage in almost all parts of the country. Ditto with Austria. With Italian wines I’d focus on Barolo, Barbaresco and Chianti Classico. Napa. Blanc de Blancs Champagne.
Trotanoy, Vieux Chateau Certan and Magdelaine all made excellent wines in these so-called lesser vintages, 2008 and 2011. In fact, I would take these over the more acclaimed - which generally means bigger and riper - 2009 and 2010 vintages. I think these wines have a very elegant maturity trajectory.
2011 and 2013 are supposedly very good Sauternes vintages.
And regardless of your personal interest in Sauternes, it’s probably more likely to be something that appeals to your 21 year old kids than things like Northern Rhône, Barolo and Bordeaux.
Ditto for German Riesling. 2011 very good, 2013 decent. They age very well for that long in most cases, and that includes without having to buy the most expensive wines.
I don’t think 11 and 13 are that great in Sauternes. Certainly not like 01 or 09. I’d do champagne for 08 and 13. 11 is a tough vintage for many areas, though.
A lot of good suggestions so far. For '08 I would add Howell Mountain Cabs from Napa, especially the Dunn Howell Mountain, If you can find it. It is outstanding. Staying in California, Ridge Monte Bello was excellent in all 3 of those years. '11 has probably a shorter drinking window than the other two, while the '13 is amongst the best I have tried.
This is nice to hear as I picked up some of the 2011 red Chave Hermitage for (relatively) cheap some years ago! I had one bottle young and it was very deep, rich, polished, and elegant but hard to tell the aging curve beyond the fact that it was terrific young and had a lot of substance
The 2011 VCC is superb and IMO more balanced than hotter years while still having quite a lot of size and depth. I think it will go 30 years with no problem at all. It used to be that you could find it at a significant discount to more celebrated years as well.
One question for the birth years is what is the objective and who is the primary audience.
If it’s your kids at age 21, it’s far more likely they will enjoy something like Riesling or Sauternes than aged Barolo, Cornas and the like. (Though you know them and maybe they’re the exceptions).
If it’s more for you the parent and as a wine geek type, then most of the suggestions in the thread go more to that.
I have a daughter born in 2011 also. It was a tough vintage. I have the usual suspects—some port, some Bordeaux, a few select Napa wines like Ridge. Some Oregon pinots—I think the damp cold rainy season wasn’t quite as pronounced up north. Portugal is a great idea I probably overlooked. I presume Spain was equally as good? I think I bought her a few riojas in magnum. The wines are almost all in magnum and stacked in a pyramid in the back of the cellar. We can compare notes in a decade from now!
