Wines that won't break the bank for cellaring?

I've struggled a bit trying to find wines for medium term cellaring which won't break the bank and are not too hard to source.

The kind of wines that a newbie like me can invest in and enjoy not too long from now.

Any favouites with 5-7 year or so cellaring potential?

I will defer to others in this but you shouldn't have too much trouble finding fine recommendations. Personally I have some Vino Nobile di Montepulciano I purchased on my honeymoon, and they told us directly that we should wait at least a year to open it [with an upper end cellaring potential of 10 years, I think]. That ran us $25/bottle or thereabouts.

5-7 years is a pretty populace range and you should find a lot to suit your taste, whatever that may be.

"Break the bank" is, of course, a flexible concept, and any suggestions are subject to the add-on "for a relatively normal year." But with those proviso's, let me suggest you follow the Languedoc Pic St. Loup threads on Wine Focus, or any Languedoc thread for that matter. Not all thgese are agers, but the LaRoque, Clavel and many others are at or under $20 and 5-7 years is about perfect for many of them. In the Southern Rhone, there are Cotes du Rhone Villages wines, Vacqueyras and Gigondas that are $12 to $30 that, in a relatively normal year, will hold that long or longer, but avoid 2002. Many Bordeauxs that are between $15 and $30 will improve with age, but I would avoid 2003 not because it won't improve but because it is a bit atypical - others will disagree. Spanish wines from Rioja and Ribera del Duero that are $12 to $30 can improve with age, some significantly - and there are many 2001's out there that are fabulous. And for that matter, I hear that a lot of Cal Cabs that are under $30 will, in a relatively normal year, age that long easily.
In wine terms, aging 5-7 years is not long.
Most of Robin's winenotes have a comment about aging. You might check out his qpr listing, and follow the link to the note, and pick up some good ideas there.

To my mind wines like you are looking for come the $ high teens U.S. One that has been mentioned around here from time to time and is available in Canada is Baron Philippe de Rothschild's, Escudo Rojo. It is one of only a handful of wines from Chile that we rebuy on purpose. It is usually best at the five year point, so depending on the vintage and release date you would be laying to down for two or three years.

We have also had good luck with the second offerings from the top three Bordeaux Growths. Les Fiefs de Lagrange, for example, always finds a home in our celler up to six or seven year point.

Aamer, you need look no further than your own backyard. The Speck Family Reserve Cabernet-Merlot from Henry of Pelham is a surprisingly good Ontario Bordeaux blend and worthy of medium-term cellaring.

I'm not sure what "breaking the bank" is for you, but the 2002 is going for about $60-$65 in these parts.

If you're looking for something a little less, I really enjoy Cedar Creek's Meritage from B.C. It's in the $30 range and could go for at least five years in the cellar.

I'm not sure what "breaking the bank" is for you, but the 2002 is going for about $60-$65 in these parts.

It wouldn't take many $65 bottles to break my bank.

In the $30-$40 range, St. Innocent Seven Spring Vineyard Pinot Noir or Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir (I like these better 6-7 years after vintage)
Ridge Lytton Spring or Geyserville (Zinfandel blended with other grapes)
Ateo (blended red wine in the Super Tuscan mold but not as expensive as the superstars)
Ferrari-Carano Tresor (red blend or Meritage-style California wine)
Muga Prado Enea Gran Reserva (this may be closer to $45 in a good vintage) from Spain or similar Spanish Gran Reserva
Gilles-Jourdan Cote de Nuits Robignotte (nice red Burgundy--2002 vintage or possibly 2005 when it is released in U.S. markets)

I'm not sure what "breaking the bank" is for you, but the 2002 is going for about $60-$65 in these parts.

It wouldn't take many $65 bottles to break my bank.

Me too, but it depends how many bottles he wants.

Shhhhhh


Come closer.


I've got a secret to share with you.
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Almost any red wine from Edmunds St John, but please don't tell anyone I said so.
(I see that ESJ has a distributor in Montreal)

Dammit, Bill. Now everybody knows......

Shortly you will be seeing 2005 lesser level red Bordeaux. Buy them and store them for the 5-7 years-IF you can keep your hands off them!

I have found that the 2003 Penfolds Bin 389 and 2002 St. Henri are in good supply so I am considering those.

I've also just discovered that you can buy some wines not available through the local monopoly through an agent - but it has to be an unmixed case.

Some possibilities this has brought up are:
2004 EARL Jasmin Cote Rotie (case of 6)
2004 J.L. Chave St. Joseph "Offerus" (case of 12)
2004 Gigondas Les Hauts de Montmirail (case of 6)
2005 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage (12)
2004 Chateau Fortia Chateauneuf-du-Pape "Cuvee du Baron" (12)
2004 Nicolet Freres, Domaine Chante Perdrix Chateauneuf-du-Pape (12)

I suspect that 2005 Nothern Rhone's will last longer but I don't really have them available yet and I have no clue how the prices will compare.

What are your thoughts on the cellaring potential / quality of the Rhones above vs. wines like St. Henri and Bin 389?

-Aamer

I picked up three 3 2003 Ridge Geyservilles on the recommendations of others on this forum the last time I was in Austin - can't find them here.

I absolutely love them!. I strongly suspect that they will be gone in over the next couple of years. What do you think the cellaring potential is of them? They are pretty yummy as they are but I don't want to let them go past their prime.

Geyserville will go 10+ years. Twenty isn't a stretch for a good vintage.

BTW, any Dry Creek Valley zin will cellar very nicely for 5+ years. And if you ever find any Joseph Swan, it cellars wonderfully. Trouble is, it's too good to live long in my cellar.

Some possibilities this has brought up are:
2004 EARL Jasmin Cote Rotie (case of 6)
2004 J.L. Chave St. Joseph "Offerus" (case of 12)
2004 Gigondas Les Hauts de Montmirail (case of 6)
2005 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage (12)
2004 Chateau Fortia Chateauneuf-du-Pape "Cuvee du Baron" (12)
2004 Nicolet Freres, Domaine Chante Perdrix Chateauneuf-du-Pape (12)

What are your thoughts on the cellaring potential / quality of the Rhones above vs. wines like St. Henri and Bin 389?
-Aamer

I don't know about 2004 and 2005 vintages, but in an average year most of these Rhones should age very well. I understand that Bin 389 is thought by some to be an ager - I don't really know. But I would doubt it would age as well as a good CdP or Cote Rotie. Assuming good storage conditions, some of these may well be 20 year wines.

I have found that the 2003 Penfolds Bin 389 and 2002 St. Henri are in good supply so I am considering those.

The Bin 389 easily improves with 5-10 years of age and often can go much longer. The St. Henri can usually benefit from 5+ years, but isn't up for quite such a long haul as the Bin 389 in my experience.

Some possibilities this has brought up are:
2004 EARL Jasmin Cote Rotie (case of 6)
2004 J.L. Chave St. Joseph "Offerus" (case of 12)
2004 Gigondas Les Hauts de Montmirail (case of 6)
2005 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage (12)
2004 Chateau Fortia Chateauneuf-du-Pape "Cuvee du Baron" (12)
2004 Nicolet Freres, Domaine Chante Perdrix Chateauneuf-du-Pape (12)

All of the wines you list will improve with some age. Of the list, the Jasmin Cote-Rotie and Graillot Crozes might last the longest. I'm still drinking CdPs from the '89 and '90 vintages and haven't yet dipped into more recent years, but Chante Perdrix isn't built for the long haul and I'm not familiar with Fortia's luxury cuvée (their regular bottling also isn't one of the longer-aging CdPs).

Mark Lipton

Aamer,

What styles of wine do you tend to like?

From that list I would go for the Jasmin and the Graillot. But this will depend on the style of wines that you prefer.

To be honest I'm still discovering what I like.

I have mostly been drinking new world wines. I really enjoyed the following:

2003 Ridge Geyeserville Zin, 2004 Thornclare Shotfire Ridge Shiraz - added a few of each to the cellar, 2001 Craneford Shiraz, 2004 Jim Barry (sp?) Mcrae Wood shiraz - could not source any vintages of the last two locally - I hear that the 2005 is really good.

I've also tried one Cotes-du-Rhone - Louis Bernard 2004 - quite inexpensive but I enjoyed it so I suspect that I will probably like other Cotes-du-Rhones and possibly CDPs as well.

I don't enjoy pure Cab. Sauv. as much as I thought I used to any more so I'm not buying anything that is just Cab. Sauv. anymore but I plan to try some blends.

Aamer,
Let me strongly encourage you to discover what you like before you start collecting. Give yourself a couple of years. Try anything and everything, go to some tastings where mature wine is poured, join winetasting groups, do whatever it takes to sample a broad range of wines BEFORE you start collecting. I can assure you that your tastes will not only become refined, but they will change. There is no sense ending up with a bunch of new world wines, and old world tastes. Don't be in a hurry to lay something down.

What are your thoughts on the cellaring potential / quality of the Rhones above vs. wines like St. Henri and Bin 389?
-Aamer

I wouldn't bother much with Penfolds in 2003, but the 2002 St Henri should well repay 10 years cellaring. Generally the better St Henri's need 10 years to be worth opening (86,90,91,94,96,98,99). Hang out for 2004 of Bin 389 if you can. Hopefully it will be worth waiting for. I think that St Henri is actually Penfolds best wine after Grange - the oak is toned down a little and the fruit purity is usually top notch.
Don't know how readily available it is in your area, but Wynns Coonawarra Cabernet (the black-labelled wine) has a terrific cellaring pedigree for such a modestly priced wine and - apart from some vineyard quality wobbles in 2000-01 - has mostly managed to avoid the heavily worked, high alcohol trend that has been ruining so many Australian wines of late.
The ultimate bargain among ageworthy Australia's whites (given that so few Eden rieslings and Hunter semillons get to your shores) is probably Tahbilk's Marsanne, which seems almost vintage impervious and invariably provides top notch drinking at 5-8 years of age.
cheers,
Graeme