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We tried two different di Montalcino's last time. Both priced about $80 in the restaurant. 99 Val di Suga $78
Cool I will look for those.I recently bought a 1999 Antinori
For our Honeymoon last year we stayed in the Chianti region - Drove to Montelcino and Montepuciano as well as a ton of places along the Chianti trail in search of great wine.. And Boy did we find it...One thing I did find out for myself though was that the most expensive Brunellos were a little harsh to me (pardon the non-wine vernacular).... I was told the Brunellos were made to age a long time and that the Chiantis and Rosso's were better for now and I agreed while I saved a ton of money...
Yeah, 2 of us decided that $80 a bottle was making the other 2 guys a bit uncomfortable, so we decided that we'd put a limit on from time to time precisely for the same reason, to find a good value. I bought a half case of 2 of the wines I mentioned for about $40-50 a bottle, which is still a good value to me, based on the quality of the wines.We're going to host a party at our house for something similar. We're going to have a chef come in and prepare dinner (maybe 12-18 people), and have each couple bring a $15-20 bottle, and a $30-40 bottle and have tastings. That should be a good time.
Don't know about what vintage of Brunello you tried, but it is my understanding that by Italian law, any wine made with a sangiovese grape cannot be exported for 6 (or is it 5?) years. That's why you wont find a 2002 Brunello in a store. Currently, the lastest vintage of Brunello I can find is a 2000.
I'll look it up - But, I know I read somewhere that the latest vintages of Italian wines are nothing special - So, you wind up paying way too much for a Brunello that's still living off it's 98' 99' reputation.I've tasted 12 pinot noirs this week, 8 cabs, 6 merlots, 8 zins, and a slew of chardonnays (by slew I mean at least 10) this week.
Saintsbury Brown Ranch Pinot Noir. About $42 wholesale or $55 retail.
It is the single best Pinot I have tried all year.
BTW...don't expect much from the 2005 Napas...their rain this past fall could not have come at a worse time. (I've heard this from 3 different winemakers in the last month).
Drunk & going to bed.
Brunellos will always demand a premium, even in off years. Not every year will be 1997.I'll look it up - But, I know I read somewhere that the latest vintages of Italian wines are nothing special - So, you wind up paying way too much for a Brunello that's still living off it's 98' 99' reputation.I've tasted 12 pinot noirs this week, 8 cabs, 6 merlots, 8 zins, and a slew of chardonnays (by slew I mean at least 10) this week.
Saintsbury Brown Ranch Pinot Noir. About $42 wholesale or $55 retail.
It is the single best Pinot I have tried all year.
BTW...don't expect much from the 2005 Napas...their rain this past fall could not have come at a worse time. (I've heard this from 3 different winemakers in the last month).
Drunk & going to bed.
I have 1 1997 Brunello. I plan on having it on my 25th Wedding Anniversay. My wife and I just celebtared our 4th for the record.Brunellos will always demand a premium, even in off years. Not every year will be 1997.I'll look it up - But, I know I read somewhere that the latest vintages of Italian wines are nothing special - So, you wind up paying way too much for a Brunello that's still living off it's 98' 99' reputation.I've tasted 12 pinot noirs this week, 8 cabs, 6 merlots, 8 zins, and a slew of chardonnays (by slew I mean at least 10) this week.
Saintsbury Brown Ranch Pinot Noir. About $42 wholesale or $55 retail.
It is the single best Pinot I have tried all year.
BTW...don't expect much from the 2005 Napas...their rain this past fall could not have come at a worse time. (I've heard this from 3 different winemakers in the last month).
Drunk & going to bed.
Argyle used to be good, but the last few years they have produced terrible pinots IMHO. Their sparkling is top notch however.
I'm the same way with homemade beers, I've tried a bunch that people have made and most I would just dump them down the drain. It really comes down to the grapes you start with and the time you are willing to put into it. We get all our juice from either a local wine store that will have like 500 gallons shipped down from the Finger Lakes or from a big wine making suplier just outside NY that has grapes shipped in and pressed right there. If you start with a quaility grape and take your time, use decent equipment in a clean enviroment (way too many people get bacteria in there wine when making it) then there is no reason that a homemade wine can't be as good as the $8 to $10 bottle you get from a lot of your smaller reginonal wineries. We've talked to a bunch of the local wineries at different winefest and thats pretty much how they all got started and have said they actually felt they made a better wine when they were producing 20 gallons at a time then they do now producing 500 gallons at a time.
Sounds like a win-win.
Their styles are completely different at a minimum. The vines planted in Australia are not the same syrah grapes they used to be, as time, climate, & soil have changed them over time. Sure, they have the same genetic background, but they are more like cousins now.At least this is what I have been told.
tomato tomahto. Ok, if the law is that it must be 5 years to be sold, they obviously can't be exported prior.Makes sense.
I don't hold anything for long living down here in the heat & humidity of the swamps. Maybe when I can buy a house & build a cellar I'll keep some; of course I would have to hide the key from my wife...
Personally I am not collecting for the sake of collecting. Most good wines improve with age. I want to drink them at their peak. No sense buying a good wine then not waiting till it's "ready". Waste of money...imo. BTW...I have a small wine fridge to assist with aging it properly.Perhaps the more experience collectors can weigh in.
Wine Spectator
NoSpain has got to have its own category. For the past two years Spain was the best value for dollar in the wine world. Well to me it was. There were some outstanding wines coming out of Spain that were dirt cheap.
I believe the sommellier said it applied to wines of a certain PERCENTAGE sangiovese, now that you bring it up. Maybe 90% or higher??
No one who's paying attention "collects" wine. Many French wines are not ready to drink, but are priced to buy. When most good wines are "ready" they are significantly more expensive. Sure, you lose some before they get good due to cork issues, or they just plain never get good. The other reason I have wine in the cellar is because the good ones sell out. I don't want to have to buy wine off an auction site later becuase I didn't buy enough to store.Take a 1999 Silver Oak, about $150 in a store. I bought 4-5 bottles 2-3 years ago and paid less than $60/bottle. That's not "collecting", that's saving $300 on a wine I knew would be fantastic.
Is that the Napa or Alexander Valley?
That is such a blanketing statement abut Italian wines it is ridiculous. In its worst years you can find INCREDIBLE wines from Itlay if for no other reason than they make so much of it. There are hundreds of "Napa's" in Italy.I'll look it up - But, I know I read somewhere that the latest vintages of Italian wines are nothing special - So, you wind up paying way too much for a Brunello that's still living off it's 98' 99' reputation.I've tasted 12 pinot noirs this week, 8 cabs, 6 merlots, 8 zins, and a slew of chardonnays (by slew I mean at least 10) this week.
Saintsbury Brown Ranch Pinot Noir. About $42 wholesale or $55 retail.
It is the single best Pinot I have tried all year.
BTW...don't expect much from the 2005 Napas...their rain this past fall could not have come at a worse time. (I've heard this from 3 different winemakers in the last month).
Drunk & going to bed.
I do both. Sometimes I buy a wine to drink immediately, sometimes I buy a wine (especially French wines, and monster names like Shafer, Stag's Leap, Caymus to get a better price) and sometimes I buy a half case or a case to make sure I have my favorites around for a year or 2.
Wines don't last forever. They don't even continue to improve forever, at some point they begin to degrade. "Collecting" wines allows you to buy wines in advance at a much cheaper price than you could if you wait for them to be "ready." You can then drink it when its ready or trade\sell it. It is also very interesting to see a wine develop over time. It is an intellectual exercise to sample bottles of wine from the same case over several years and learn how it has changed.
Napa. Actually, I've seen the 99 and the 2000 vintage in wide ranges, from 110-150. I've never bought in online, where you'd likely find it cheaper, but will have to pay shipping charges of $6-10/bottle, if you bought in quantity.
That I can fully understand, especially with the rarer high price wines if that is what you are in to.As I said I was under the false impression you basically were buying these for the sake of having them and never had any intention of ever drinking them. Doing so before they are fully aged to get a better price or so you can have a favorite on hand for enjoyment over a few years I get.
wow. Awesome. Thank you for this site.This is the Tenuti Frigialli I mentioned earlier that we paid $88/bottle for in the restaurant
I prefer the Alexander Valley over the Napa. Otherwise I have the '01 Alexander and '00 Napa, and '01 Napa which I received as a gift. I also have the only wine that Silver Oak makes that isn't Cabernet and doesn't have the Silver Oak name on it.
Oh I like this sight.Has anybody here tried this Nineteen Nineteen line? It looks to be Argentine and I like the price. They hav a Cab, Syrah, and Malbec.
This explains it pretty well. As soon as new vintages are released for sale, you can buy them directly from the vineyard in many cases. If you know what you like and who's making very good wine, you can get in early and save a lot of cash for top notch wine. In the late 1990's, Silver Oak had an amazing run of exceptional wine. There was a time when you could buy their bottles for $40-80, depending on exactly when and where you were. Today, those wines are hitting their peak, and are easily $150 in stores, twice that in restaurants. However, with that success, Silver Oak has gotten pricier, and it's harder to get good value out of their new releases. And because they set the bar so high in the late 1990's, many of their new releases are getting as good of a buzz as the 1990's stuff did.
