Hello, I am a newbie and I am curious which offering you will pick and why? I had never tried any of these.
2019 Abreu rothwell hyde 3 bottles for $675
2019 Sloan Asterisk 3 bottles for $591
2020 Spottswoode Cabernet, no price yet.
I am trying to stay under $300/ bottle. No plans of reselling but I am wondering which one will be harder to acquire and will be more expensive if I were to purchase them after 10 years? Which one will have better aging potential?
Appreciate your opinions. Thanks.
Others can weigh in, but 2020 is a vintage id stay away from
Edit: after reading the thread on 2020 Napa, maybe I’m wrong
Will that include wines from Washington and not just CA? Tnx
Jeb just posted a terrific review for the 2020 Spottswoode this week. I wouldn’t be concerned about that one and, based on personal preferences, that’s what I would buy out of the three listed. Based on other vintages, I would expect it to age very well.
That said, I have no idea what pricing will be like in 10 years for any of them.
Interesting Galloni was quite the opposite; makes me excited to try to see where I lean.
In general I’d go for the Spottswoode, though I don’t know how they fared in the 2020 vintage
Abreu is a first growth and 19 an excellent vintage. For me this is wine I try to get a few bottles of for special events.
As far a s value ? Unless it’s Eagle/Scarecrow/SQN I don’t ever think Napa Cabs are worth considering for those purposes.
I like Rothwell Hyde. However, they don’t ship to KS and I can usually find it at auctions for <$200 all in.
With shipping and tax from Abreu it’s $271/bottle.
I’d recommend a stroll though the retailers and WineSearcher, Wine Bid, etc… to get a vibe for what the wines you are interested in go for 10 years after release.
You might end up with a good feel for which wine has the best ROI by watching what bottle prices have been doing.
I think many Spottswoodes sell for below what the winery price is, I have not looked at the others.
Keep in mind, the price gap should be getting lower as the wineries adjust their release prices to what the secondary market gets for the wine, so there is no certainty to this.
You might end up actually deciding that the secondary market is the place to be.
If you haven’t tried them, you really need to. Pick up a few older bottles and try them. I say that because, while many people love these sorts of wines, many don’t. I’ve only had Abreu a few times in snapshots, and they were excellent. Some friends were big Sloan fans, so I tried those a lot a decade plus ago and found them boring. Just had a '17 Spotswoode served blind a couple days ago. Very dense, youthful fruit, nice perfume, some heat and a weird underlying mature aspect that had me thinking it was much more mature. Interesting enough to sip and spit for a few minutes. Most of the other wines we had were in the $15-30 range, and most, to my tastes, were better.
Another suggestion that you find examples and try them. There will be a big difference between all three, and I think the Sloan in particular will be an outlier. I used to buy Sloan and Abreu, but Spottswoode is the only one I still purchase. Nothing against the other two, but limited dollars and limited storage.
Aron Weinkauf over at Spottswoode is good people. I’d support them with my money.
Since you are new to wine- I would stay away from any CA 2020 Cabernet. There is no way to know if there is smoke taint, heat impact, picked too early, manipulation, if not issues today will there be in a few years…
Do you know what style of wine you enjoy? Are you starting a collection, or just a handful of bottles to enjoy right away <1 year or lay down?
Lots of questions to help…
The above is having read your post about $ later but still mater on why you are asking… if not selling and more about drinking - does price in 10 years matter?
We like brewer clifton pinot noir, ridge cabernet and zinfandel.
Just started collecting last year. We have been buying mostly California wines.
We like the idea of buying some good vintages now and aging them for those special occasions 10-15 years from now, without the hassle of needing to buy them later. Thanks.
Agree with other posts. 2020 is a vintage that is littered with landmines.
As a newbie, I would skip the expensive wines you are looking at and buy multiple cheaper wines until you find what style you like.
Its unlikely these wines will appreciated a lot in value if you find you don’t like them, so using it as an investment, frequently doesn’t work.
Based on that… perhaps grab some Bordeaux as well and thank me later. Not sure of your capacity to lay down but you can buy some incredible wines at fractions of Napa in excellent vintages.
VCC (might as well pick up 2018-2020) vs spending more money for back vintages (and quality continues to improve).
Valandraud
Leoville Poyferre (2016 would be best and not too expensive going back)
Carmes haut Brion
Laroque
Feytit Clinet
Calon segur
Canon
Cos d’Estournel
L’Evangile
Figeac
Eglise-Clinet
Malescot st Exupery
Palmer
Pichon Comtesse
Rauzen Segla
On the Napa front, try and grab some Christopher Tynan, Macdonald, Kinsman Wines, VHR, Greer, Vice Versa, Memento Mori (SVD)… list goes on but so not buy 2020 no matter what anyone tells you as it’s not worth your risk based on your select holdings. Hope that helps.
Something Ive always wondered, is there anything like the Napa mountain fruit in Bordeaux, or really anywhere?
That’s a loaded question- in what way? Mountain fruit can run the gamut of flavor profiles - take a more austere wine like Dunn vs a more welcoming style like Cade or even more over extracted styles… what is the mountain fruit aspect you seek vs valley floor? In many cases the mountain fruit can create a cooler climate vs say the hot valley floor.
Is it mouth feel, highly concentrated small berries (less juice to skin ratio), more tannins, structure and length- if it’s some of the later heck yeah. if you would have asked how it compares to the valley floor… that would be a bit harder to compare (even though Bordeaux doesn’t have mountains) as Both Bordeaux and Napa Mountain (style dependent of course) tend to be more rustic than valley floor (in general style dependent).
All 3 are legit wines with good reputations. The Abreu and Sloan are harder to get on the secondary market & would assume the same 10 yrs from now. Spottswoode is -relative to the other two- plentiful and much easier to acquire on release and the secondary market.
The Abreu Rothwell Hyde is a blend of other Abreu single vineyards & the Asterisk is Sloan’s second wine. Both are intended to be more approachable early than their flagship brethren, so might not be the best candidates for long term agers (20+ yrs). The Spottswoode Cab is their flagship and is well known for aging.
The mountain fruit Ive had has tended to be less over extracted, but still showing darker fruits. Tannin, structure, and length all come to mind. I think Dunn is the exteme when it comes to austerity, and honestly not looking for that but also NOT not looking for that if ut makes sense.
I’ve always enjoyed wines that seem to be in between the classicists and modernists. They show, but they arent over the top. Ive really liked the wines Ive had from the Margaux region, but sometimes theyve felt a bit soft (compared to other great wines rather than 2 buck chuck).
Ive also been trying to figure out the exact fruit p rofile I like and where to find it. On bigger wines it tends to be some combination of plum, creme de cassis, and/or black cherry.
Not sure if that helps…