My wife is turning 30 (born in 1994) in a few months and I thought it would be a cool gift/experience for us to open a few birth year wines. What wines are still drinking well? I read that ports were great that year and also Napa cabs, but just yesterday someone at my local wine store told me the 94s from Napa are now past their prime.
Any thoughts or ideas?
1994 Dominus still drinking well
Opened a 1994 Taylor Fladgate port that was still a baby, but fantastic. 1994 ports FTW, definitely.
1994 for Rioja and Ribera del Duero are probably still very good at the top end. Although I haven’t had a Lopez de Heredia Tondonia 1994 Gran Reserva I am pretty sure that, if you can find one, would be very much intact. Vega Sicilia also comes to mind. 1994 was a small vintage in Spain so these will not be cheap.
Napa, Port, and Rioja are great places to look (so I’m agreeing with the suggestions so far). Those 1994 Lopez de Heredia Gran Reservas are not cheap these days, but they’re also not hard to find, and they should have many years ahead of them if they’ve been stored well.
1994 Leoville Barton.
I cannot imagine the top-tier of classic Napa cabs are past prime. Togni. Mayacamas. Maybe even Caymus SS could be fun. I had the 1994 Dalla Valle last year and it was still youthful! Like shockingly youthful!
That’s what I was thinking too.
Another vote for the Léoville Barton. I bought 6 magnums and we drank the last not that long ago. Delicious.
I think Dominus is a great choice. It’s made for aging and the 94 may be my favorite vintage of that wine. Another Spanish wine I would look for is Torre Muga. Cheers!
Some 1994 Caymus SS on WineBid right now. Obviously, I cannot speak to the provenance. I think this would be a really fun bottle to pop with your wife, such an iconic producer. While I do not like the direction Caymus has gone over these past 25 or so years, I will say back in the day that I liked all the vintages up to 1995. Granted, my palate was a lot younger then, but I did pop a 91 special select a couple of years ago for a friend of mine who loves the current iteration. We all enjoyed this 91 very much.
Latour. And sometimes can be found at a decent price. But how these wines were stored over the last few decades could be concerning.
Don’t know if already drinking well/accessible, but the 1994 Lopez de Heredia Tondonia Gran Reserva is highly regarded. Perhaps a good double-decanting can ready them up.
(I have some in the remote storage and can look forward to some TN 
.)
Hard to find any well-stored 1994 California merlot or cabernet sauvignon which drinks less than well.
Stunningly even time profile as they age.
Had a 94 Pride cab and Grahams port recently, both drinking well
Do you have a budget or dollar amount you’re looking to spend?
For a Napa option, Mondavi Reserve should be more affordable than many other options and will be drinking great.
Port, Napa Cab, and Rioja are you best bet.
Taylors is a fantastic Port. I’d bet any bottle of well stored 1994 Port from any of the big houses will be good. Others have mentioned great Napa options.
Regarding Rioja, I’ve had the Tondonia Gran Reserva that others are referring to. It was great, but it’s expensive and I don’t think you need to spend so much. Other traditional producers like La Rioja Alta (the 904 is much less money but of comparable quality to the 890) and Riojanas are good options for less money. I had a 1994 Riojanas Monte Real Reserva a couple years back that was amazing with many good years ahead of it.
Good luck and let us all know how it turns out!
Surprised myself by forgetting about 1994 Dunn. Might not be ready yet 
Had the 94 Silver Oak Alexander from 3L a few years ago and it was stunning.
L’Evangile was gorgeous a couple of years ago and seemed to have plenty of steam