Few other mysteries:
How do recent buyers of ‘mysteries’ feel about the value they are receiving?
Generally terrible. They still peak my interest and I try to read them, but what I think I’ve learned is the less they write, the better the deal is. The best deals are the Sunday mysteries where there is literally nothing except the link without a description.
I’ve ordered probably a dozen mysteries. So has a good friend of mine. None turned out to be anything we really loved and nothing we would have bought on its own almost regardless of price. I’m not saying it’s not impossible to get a good deal that way, but it’s a dice roll. Maybe the best case scenario is you save 30-50% off the going rate. If your hit rate isn’t 1 in 2, it’s a bad deal. Compared to last bottle wines where you can decode and guess what you are getting, I would only recommend it for folks that don’t have any idea what they like.
As a side note, I like the food stuff offers more than the wine. Baci di dama, toasted fregula, whole artichokes in olive oil, jams. That stuff is really good.
As it often is, the Italian mysteries are where Garagiste shines.
I bought a June 22nd red wine mystery, 2000 vintage. 60 bucks - I’m pretty sure I was into my cups when I “hit the blue line.” Does anyone know this one?
2020 Brunello Mystery
10/25/24 offer $29.70
Flavio Fanti La Palazzetta
Guesses for today’s Brunello mystery? This one is actually temping….
AI-generated, too little info to really have a good guess for.
| Clue | Valdicava Madonna del Piano (Riserva) | Il Marroneto Madonna delle Grazie | Casanova di Neri Cerretalto | Poggio di Sotto Riserva | Gaja Sugarille |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top winery with unique lineage/caché | Very high; iconic estate; multiple 100-pt vintages; widely esteemed | Very high; cult, classical style; meteoric rise in prestige; age-worthiness | Very high; global critical acclaim; modern icon | Very high; meticulous viticulture; cult status | Very high; Gaja is among Italy/Europe’s most decorated estates |
| Price ~$190–275+ | Often sits ~$200–300 depending vintage (fits band) | Often ~$220–350 (upper band; fits many vintages) | Often $250–500 (upper band; fits “275+”) | Often ~$220–350 (upper band; fits) | Often ~$150–250 (upper-to-mid band; can fit) |
| Scant, scarce allocations | Riserva is tightly allocated and released infrequently | Boutique scale; very limited production | Limited single-vineyard bottling | Very limited; small yields | Limited single-vineyard sugarille; tighter than Rennina |
| Not from Pian dell’Orino, Le Ragnaie, Romitorio |  |
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| Not a Rosso or second wine | Top-line Brunello Riserva |
Top-line single-vineyard Brunello |
Top-line single-vineyard Brunello |
Top-line Riserva |
Top-line single-vineyard Brunello |
| One of Italy/Europe’s most decorated wineries | Very high | High-to-very-high | Very high | Very high | Extremely high (Gaja) |
| Vineyard is “grand cru of grand cru” | Frequently described as a benchmark single-site; often linked to Montosoli prestige; considered among the apex crus | Frequently described as one of Montalcino’s top-perching sites near the famed northern exposures; widely held as “grand cru” caliber | Regularly cited as one of Montalcino’s top crus | Often grouped with elite “grand cru equivalents” | Sugarille is regarded as a top-tier “cru” in Montalcino |
2017 Bioni-Santi currently showing W-S listings from $190 to 300.
Poggio di Sotto has been offered multiple times in the past by Garagiste…
It’s above my self imposed spending limit on any mystery wine so of course I put in for 2.
Italy, and more specifically Brunello, is probably where I’ve had the most consistent success/happiness on the mystery wines so hoping that continues.
Not knowing the vintage is preventing me from pulling the trigger
Chances are this is an off vintage of a great producer.
General Garagiste Rule, Italian mysteries rarely disappoint.
My mind went here as well, but given the open ended vowel, could also be Salvioni.
Yeah, I suspect there is a lot of 17/18 not selling well with a good trio of vintages following. I have had some good luck with Garagiste Italian mysteries, though I try to take care to avoid modernist Piedmont.
2014 was the weakest vintage of the last ten. Could there still be enough unsold to make up a reasonable offer?
Any of the above named wines in just about any other year would constitute a bargain.
The Cortell Collection made some excellent Gamays. She believes in even amounts of tannin and acidity so there’s that and the Gamays are sturdy well structured wines! That are full of both dark and red fruits
Few mysteries, not 100% sure if these have been revealed yet but.
2018 Willamette Valley Estate Pinot Noir Mystery
Andante 2018
Washington State White Wine Mystery
2022 The Walls Lip Stinger
Barolo Single-Cru Mystery
2020 Schiavenza Perno
This ended up being Valdemar.
Rhys Carricante for $37 instead of $60…….this is the Sicilian one not the Aeris Centennial