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WINE TALK
21

All

This might be the most fun board I have joined in a long long time :slight_smile:

I should probably provide a few clarifications

  1. When I said 50 cases, I didn’t specify the timing. I am probably looking to buy 5-10 cases for immediate consumption right away and another 5-10 for 5+ years of cellaring.

  2. I also don’t think I specified my taste preferences quite accurately. What I really meant was that I am not a fan of over-ripe, over oaky wines. Eg there is very little of Barossa Shiraz that we have really loved. On the other hand a big fan of lot of Victoria (AU) and Tasmanian Pinot. Most of these labels wouldn’t be imported to the US (Ashton Hills, Tolpuddle, Mayer, By Farr).

  3. Recently one of my buddies made me try multiple Napa cabs and really liked them - M Etain, Tor

  4. Absolutely looking for suggestions on different styles. To begin with here is a short list I have created

Pinot < $50

  1. Rhys Bearwhallow
  2. Domaine Eden Pinot
  3. Arcadian (not sure which label)
  4. Soliste Narcisse
  5. Freeman Sonoma

Cab < $50

  1. Domaine Eden Estate
  2. Raymey

$50-$100 Cab & Pinot

  1. Foxen Block 8 Pinot
  2. Mount Eden Estate Pinot
  3. Ceritas Hacienda Pinot
  4. Cristom Louise Pinot
  5. CHAPPELLET CABERNET SAUVIGNON
  6. Ridge Estate Cabernet
  7. Caymus Cabernet
  8. Vice Versa La Petit Cabernet

$100-$200 Domestic Cab

  1. Lede Poetry Cabernet
  2. Robert Mondavi To Kalon
  3. Maybach Amoenus (barely)
  4. TOR Beckstoffer
  5. Scarecrow M Etain


    Europeans (<$100)
  6. "EMILIO MORO RIBERA DEL DUERO
  7. Bodegas Aalto Ribera del Duero
  8. La Rioja Alta 904 Gran Reserva Rioja
  9. 2010 Beaucastel Châteauneuf-Du-Pape
  10. Chateau Giscours Margaux 2009
  11. Clos du Marquis 2009
  12. Château-La-Gaffelière Saint Emilion 2009 (Barely)

It would be in particular good to get some recommendations for domestic Cabernets under $50 and Bordeaux under $100. Bordeaux in particular I feel I understand very little of and have a prejudice that it is way overpriced. However recently tried a tasting of various labels offered by Leoville Las Case and enjoyed it immensely.

22

Wrt Bordeaux I would suggest trying at least a couple of older ones from the '80s and '90s. K&L is good at sourcing affordable yet tasty examples from less well known producers

Also this old post is very instructive:

23

No advice on wine types, however i strongly suggest whatever size your planning build it at least twice that size. Does not matter which wines you get into your cellar will need to be bigger than you plan initally

24

Great reference! That song was on the Kruder and Dorfmeister DJ Kicks and Rebirth of Cool 3.
Now do Basehead [thumbs-up.gif]

25

Before you do anything else in the world of wine, treat yourself to a bottle of this:

https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/agostina+pieri+brunello/2013

If that wine doesn’t turn on the lightbulb in your head, then you can go back to wasting your money on all of the crap that you’re talking about wasting it on.

PS: For your $100 bottles of USA Pinot, look at the oldest vintages of this:

https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/arcadian+pinot/

At least then you won’t be wasting your money.

26

Lol. Given your passion, I will try your recommendation for sure :slight_smile:

27

I would not fill up a cellar too fast. New York retailers have great wines from all over the world. Go to tastings at stores like Chambers Street and Crush when they taste wines and learn what you like. Go to big tastings that will be in NYC in the next few months like the Wine Spectator Experience http://www.nywineexperience.com/ , the Paulee de New York http://www.lapaulee.com/ , the Rieslingfeier https://rieslingfeier.com/ , the Union of Grand Crus of Bordeaux Home | Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux and the Fete du Champagne http://www.lafeteduchampagne.com/ Figure out what you like.

A few American wineries to look out for in your journey - Ridge (don’t just focus on Cabernet - try Geyserville or Lytton Springs and their Chardonnay), Chateau Montelena and Stony Hill. But, you will also find great wines from Italy (for example Produttori), from Burgundy (start with Bourgogne Rouge from Hudelot-Noellat. Bourgogne Blanc from Bernard Moreau and virtually anything from Domaine Dublere to stay in budget), Bordeaux, Alsace (Trimbach), Germany (Zilliken, JJ Prum, Selbach, for example).

Have fun in the process. Buying is probably more addictive for more people on this board than is drinking. GO SLOW. Or you will end up with a lot of wine that you outgrow.

28

Dinesh - Since you are interested in buying multiple cases of ageworthy wine that you have never really tasted before, I would suggest you buy a few older bottles of the very same wines you are interested in (either from a retailer or at auction or even here on commerce corner) and see whether you like them. You have the benefit of learning from mistakes many of us have made, buying and cellaring wine that we haven’t tasted or known how it would taste with years of age - DON’T DO IT! Not only do tastes change, but my point is that before you invest a lot of money in wine for future consumption, make sure you know that you like it.

29

Thank you everyone for your thoughts.

I am going to start with 5-10 cases to ensure I have sufficient to drink for the next 3-6 months

Howard Cooper, thank you for those recommendations. Love wine shows.

30

Also check out benchmarkwine.com to obtain some older wines and see if you even like older wines. I also like the idea of trying some ‘high quality’ producers of wine varietals with which you may be unfamiliar. If you don’t like what is generally considered well-aged or of high quality, then you probably won’t like lesser quality (IMO).

31

Also, check out the Offline Planner page here. Getting together for wine dinners with fellow Berserkers is a fun way to share wines and be introduced to wines.

32

Don’t sleep on the Oregon scene for Pinot (and Chardonnay). There are a good deal of OR threads on this board (many with titles including Willamette Valley) and the average price for top level Pinot is lower than California and I’ve found OR Pinot much more to my liking. Hell, before i started drinking Oregon wines, I didn’t even realize I liked Chardonnay.

33

Second on Oregon Pinot, start and finish there. Also pick up some Bedrock Zins.

34

Thank you guys so much. We have been feeling quite overwhelmed at the idea of moving from Sydney to NYC. You have all given me a reason to cheer up.

Thank you.

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Sign up for Chambers St emails.
That will cheer you up even more! [cheers.gif]

36

re wine stores in NYC - Chambers, Crush and Flatiron are my favorites though there are a lot of others that can also be worth a visit.

If you’re looking for wine storage there are threads on that as well. Many choices ranging from very convenient and ridiculously expensive to the less convenient and less expensive.

If you’re here soon La Fete du Champagne is coming up in November. The grand tasting is a great way to decide what Champagne you’d like to buy.

37

Blast from the past! That reminds me, time to queue up Earth Vol 1 from LTJ Bukem. Sad that Poets of Thought never gained enough traction to cut a solo.

38

Jay Miller, thanks a lot.

Yes have read a few threads on storage and based on that shortlisted Manhattan Wine company and Domaine. Both Marc and Michael have been super responsive.

MWC has a waiting list at the moment. So might go with Domaine.

39

I would go and look through NYC at the stores in the area. Find the store that has the most of the wines you want and spend 50% of your cash there…immediately establish yourself as a loyal customer and you’ll be surprised what you can turn up. This should be a fun adventure.

40

When I was starting, I wish someone had told me to buy nothing but Tignanello. So I’m telling you:

BUY NOTHING BUT TIGNANELLO