Help me build a case of birth wines for 2019

WINE TALK
41

Lovely point about getting wines from around the world.

To that:

Clonakilla Shiraz/Viognier (seconding Mark Golodetz) this is a dynamite wine from an off the beaten path, if highly regarded, Australian winery.

Dry River in New Zealand

Spain, the single vineyard Bierzo’s from Palacios as well as something classicly styled from Rioja (LdH is fantastic, so are many others and I have a soft spot for Muga Riservas)

Portugal-the Poeira wines are exceptional and will easily age 20+ years. Though I would take Tomas Costa’s recs over my own.

While 2019 in Europe is regarded as a good vintage, it was a VERY warm vintage. I would look to cooler regions for off the beaten path wines.

Loire Valley-Raffault Les Picasses, Theirry Germain Franc de Pieds, Breton, Baudry, and, of course, Rougeard.

German Rieslings are excellent and vintage Champagnes for all the previously offered reasons.

The 375ml of Y’Quem is a great suggestion as well

For Oregon, it was a remakably cool vintage vs many other areas. But the wines are great, very classic, and producers with a track record for aging would be good choices.
I like our Pumphouse Block from Temperance Hill, Oracle Vineyard, and the two Heritage wines we made. But Patricia Green’s Wadensville and their Ridgecrest bottlings are fantastic, as are Kelley Fox Bottlings from Maresh. Brickhouse, Cristom, Bethel Heights, McKinlay, and others make wines to last 20+ years. We had 94 Brickhouse last year that was a ridiculously good bottle of wine.

There are lots of more knowledgeable California consumers than me, but I would suggest both a wine from Edmunds St John and Ridge Montebello. Cathy Corison would be a good bet too.

42

Maximin Grunhaus (Von Schubert) and Reinhold Haart made great wines in 2019.

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43

100%. Fabulous rieslings all across the pradikat range, and definitely worthy of consideration. I just listed a few examples, otherwise the sweet riesling list would be some 20+ producers deep. One could fill cases of just 2019 MSR rieslings.

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44

May be the best German vintage since 1990.

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45

Just tasted all of Vajra’s 2019s. It was a classic Barolo vintage that will be long lived. Vajra’s wines are very pure and made completely old school. Great expressions of terrior and the single crus can be found for less than $100.

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46

19 Spottswoode would be a damn fine one to add to your list.

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I would love it for $150

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48

yeah that ship has sailed. You can definitely get older vintages for the price though.

49

Stock up on 2019 burgs while you still can. Will likely be impossible to find in a couple years from now.

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Just bought the 2019 Baudry Croix Boissée which made me think of this thread. Still below 30€, which is funny considering the price inflation in other regions. Also got magnums of Tempier and Simone for my son (born 2020), surely good candidates for OP too.

51

Unsolicited thoughts from someone who put away wine for kids a few years ago:

If the dollars work for you, consider including magnums. They generally age longer and can serve more people at things like birthday celebrations in a few decades.

Think about including wines that mean something to you. This may make opening the bottles more special for your kid.

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A few other California Cabs that are under $150 that should go at least 20 years are Forman and Mount Eden.

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I paid $133 for mine. Wine.com NY warehouse with a few coupons ( I don’t do the ridiculous stacking stuff from the other thread). They are long gone by now. But you asked.

54

As a slightly counterintuitive suggestion, unless you actually plan to leave these to your oldest to drink without you, I would consider mostly including wines you yourself expect to like. By that I mostly mean you don’t need to pick a wine from a variety of regions - you can focus more narrowly on things you really enjoy.
A 21/25’s year old palate is unlikely to be the most sophisticated and they’re most likely going to appreciate something you really like and with which you have a personal connection. I bought quite a bit for my nephew’s birth year and I have no idea what he’ll appreciate, but I didn’t buy random regions because I don’t like those wines and I won’t really want to drink them. If he really wants to drink Sauvignon Blanc, I’ll buy him some when he’s older and won’t regret not laying it down now :slight_smile:

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