Over time, I’ve had several. From France, Pichon Baron and Ducru. From CA, Ch. Montelena and Dehlinger.
I still purchase Dehlinger cabs and a few others, including Arnot-Roberts and Corison. All, IMO deliver value.
For my palate and wallet, however, the best claret value, year-after-year is Ridge Monte Bello for $90. In today’s wine world, a bargain that you just don’t find much any more.
In the past, I would’ve said Larkmead. However, while it’s still great wine, the price continues to go up every year and is now beyond my usual self-imposed ceiling.
I’ve only opened cabs from '08 and '09 so far (haven’t opened my '07 Quivet Spring Mtn. yet), but would have to nominate Mike Smith’s wines from Myriad and Quivet. Really, really good - even the least expensive bottlings (which run $48).
Great question, by the way. I look forward to hearing what others have to say.
You could get two bottles of Lucio Gomiero’s Vignalta Gemola Colle Euganei Rosso (a frequent Tre Bicchieri winner) and a good bit of change back from that $90.
It must be nice to live in a world where $90 represents a “best value”. Honestly, how much do you guys who think nothing of dropping a hundy (or more) on a single bottle spend on wine per year? I almost never pay more than $35 for a single bottle and I about crapped my pants when I calculated that I’d spent almost $5K on wine last year.
It is scary how quickly this hobby adds up, but it really depends on how you define value. For instance, I think the Educated Guess represents good value in the 12 dollar range, and the Myriad Three Twins value in the 50 dollar range. Others include Lewelling, and Shelter 27-29. I think “value” needs to be interpreted in the context of wines at similar price points. Everyone has there own limits beyond which value seems unobtainable.
In my cellar, the best values in this category are the Ch. Meyneys from the 80’s. It’s rare for such inexpensive wines to develop so nicely for so many years. Sociando-Mallet and Chasse-Spleen have also done very well. I’m not sure which lesser Bordeaux Chateaux are still on that long-aging track, but I suspect there are some that still sell for under $40, and maybe some sleepers for $20-30.
Mike,
As far as absolute quality/dollar, irrespective of price, I definitely agree with you on Monte Bello. We had the opportunity to visit the Calluna property and winemaker this weekend, and it is a stunning piece of ground, with some very nice wines in the early stages. Polished, restrained, California Bordeaux-style blends.
YES! I really enjoy the Laureate from White Rock; technically it’s cab @75%, but with a good dollop of Cab Franc, and a few drops of Merlot and Petit Verdot. Yum!