I’m new to wine (but very curious and eager to learn!) and had a few questions I was hoping a more seasoned wine lover could help me with.
I’ve been exploring French wines and focusing on three regions that caught my interest: Beaujolais, Languedoc-Roussillon and Châteauneuf-du-Pape. I’m looking for bottles in the $50–100 range.
From what I’ve read on the Wine Advocate vintage charts, recent vintages from these regions seem a bit too young to drink now, while 2014 (Beaujolais), 2011 (Languedoc), 2006 (Châteauneuf) are more in their prime drinking window.
The issue I’m running into is that most wine shops I’ve checked only carry the most recent vintages (2020–2023).
So here’s my question:
If I want to start seriously exploring these regions, should I be buying younger bottles and cellaring them myself, waiting (for several years) for them to mature? Or should I look for older, ready-to-drink vintages—and if so, where can I actually find those? Are there any physical stores that stock well-stored older vintages?
All of the above. Keep buying and consuming young wines to see what styles and producers you like. When you find ones you really like, consider buying 6 bottles and begin to build a cellar slowly. And then buy some older bottles at auction, from Commerce Corner here on WB, or from friends who have been cellaring for a while.
Welcome to the forum!
+1 what @Chris_Miller said. Finding back vintages of anything at a retail store is usually hit or miss, mostly miss. For the regions you mentioned, you’re going to have to do a lot a DIY cellaring to get mature bottles, as I have with a lot of my personal faves like Savennières.
At the same time, you shouldn’t fret too much about hitting peak maturity on everything. For one thing, most wines trace a life arc, with youthful primary exuberance, sometimes a sullen adolescence, a very different maturity, then a slow senescence. While these periods are not all equal, neither is “maturity” the only period of enjoyment. This is true even of great renowned wines in Bordeaux and Burgundy— ask @MChang about the latter.
Finally, I’d be very leery of taking advice on peak maturity for an entire vintage from a website, even a respected one. For example, within a vintage and a commune some wines are built to be enjoyed sooner or later. As a (verrry general) example, in Burgundy I’ll usually drink village level before 1er before grand cru.
Use vintages guides as a very rough guidepost. Don’t be afraid to ski off piste. Use this forum and resources like Cellar Tracker to get specific maturity and decanting advice on specific wines. Above all, remember that even the best advice has an element of throwing darts at a dart board.
As long as you’re happy with a powerful, juicy wine, young Châteauneuf du Pape can be great. In that price range, maybe try a Charvin which I (and many others on here) think is a super wine at a good value.
If you want to try some mature bottles, have a shot at online auctions (there was a very recent thread) or sellers like Blacksmith and Cellarraiders that specialize in that.