Aubert still has a waitlist and 6 bottle minimum purchase. 2 years and $700 incl shipping is a steep enough threshold for new buyers. I don’t think you’ll see your allocation drop. They have a new bottling this year which I’m very excited about. And did a full 4 page spread on Mr. Aubert this summer come to think of it… anyway, Aubert is no secret to anyone remotely interested in domestic Chardonnay - so I think this counts as recognition for the outstanding work he and Mr. Valdez (rip) have done rather than anything that will release a big new wave of interest. Already well known and deservedly on top, IMO
I like the Sassicaia pick and a 15 Bordeaux… maybe Smith Haut Lafite or something from Margaux.
I had a 15 Clos Des Papes the other day and it was STUNNING but agreed, they won’t pick another S. Rhône, and they like lower price points when they can…
It’s a widely-held misconception that the WS Top 100, other than the actual #1 wine, causes the wines to get snapped up right away and/or go up significantly in price.
Go back and look at #2-10 from recent years (of course, excluding the wines that were already highly allocated or sold out before being designated). Last year, #3 Coutet Barsac 2014, #4 Casanova di Neri Brunello 2013, #5 St. Cosme Gigondas 2014, #7 Canon la Gaffiliere 2014 – all widely available today, no particular spike in price beyond what they cost before the WS list came out.
The list is like most other “best of” lists, it’s just entertainment and for interest.
my friend that distributes Bedrock in the area actually told me last night that they’ve seen the Heritage wine disappear from store shelves this week. granted, that could just be because its a great thanksgiving wine too, but I struggle to believe it didn’t have something to do with the WS top 10. I will also concede to your point though, that I doubt that disappearance will be very long lived.
Not sure if they meant to show numbers 2 - 4 in announcing 4 (2005 La Rioja Alta 890 Gran Reserva), but that’s what is viewable on their website. 3 is 2015 Castello di Volpaia and 2 is 2015 Canon-La Gaffelière.
With the busy pre-Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving event weekends for the Willamette Valley coming up soon, I know that Colene Clemens is gearing up to be VERY busy thanks to this ranking. I’ll report back after the weekends to let you all know if there was noticeable impact to tasting traffic.
The 2015 Colene Clemens Dopp Creek actually sold out shortly after the score was announced on Spectator’s Insider a month ago.
I think it’s more likely to be a red wine, but if it’s a German red, I’ll eat my sock. I’ll throw out a guess for a 2016 vintage port, either Graham’s or Taylor’s.