Today's Workshop Wednesday is written by Brandon Bartfalvi, Wine Manager of the Lawrenceville store.
PUTTING TOGETHER A WINE CELLAR FOR UNDER $50 A BOTTLE
PUTTING TOGETHER A WINE CELLAR FOR UNDER $50 A BOTTLE
Are you curious about collecting wine or do you want to put together a nice cellar on a budget? I put together a small list of wines that will cost you less than $50 a bottle and provide you with vino enjoyment over the next decade. I concentrated on a few of the major wine regions providing a good basis for a starter cellar. These wines will improve with age and provide enjoyment for the upcoming decade.
I constantly get questions from newbies to experienced wine-rs about putting together a nice collection on a small budget so I decided to help everybody out by providing a small selection of cellar worthy wines at great prices. This list will help beginners as well as serious collectors looking for value-priced, cellar selections.
Putting a cellar takes time, knowledge and money! We are here to assist you in your pursuits and help make your collection the envy of the neighborhood. Think it takes big money to put together an impressive cellar? Well, think again! There are several wines out there that are flying under the radar (at ridiculously good prices) that make awesome additions to any cellar.
This list is just a sample of what we can put together for consumers looking to start (or round out) a wine collection. We will work with each consumer on a personal basis to put together wines that will improve with age. Take advantage of buying a few bottles to start or jump in and buy a few of each of these selections and start that cellar!
CALIFORNIA
2007 Turnbull Cabernet Sauvignon Regular Price: $41.99 BottleClub Price: $36.99
The brilliant 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is the real deal. Incense, forest flowers, black fruits, and crushed rock, jump from the glass of this inky purple-colored wine. Full-bodied, dense, and voluptuously textured, this is a beauty, a superb bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon that should drink well young but age 15-10 years. Bravo! 92 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
2007 Cliff Lede Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon Regular Price: $59.99 BottleClub Price: $48.99
The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap (75% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc) is everything that one expects in a wine from this sector that is known for elegance, harmony, and Margaux-like finesse. A perfectly balanced Cabernet, it exhibits a dense purple color along with a big, sweet nose of spring flowers, black and red currants as well as graphite. It is deep, rich, young, and promising with plenty of tannin, but an unmistakable, profound minerality. Although accessible, 2-3 years of bottle age will be beneficial, and the wine should age for two decades. 93 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
2007 Ramey Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Regular Price: $44.99
A stunning yet reasonably priced, high end Napa Cabernet Sauvignon is the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa. The final bottling from the extraordinary Larkmead Vineyard, it boasts a dense purple color as well as a big, sweet bouquet of blueberry and black currant fruit intertwined with licorice, bay leaf, cedar and fruitcake notes. Full-bodied and opulent, this precocious 2007 is drinkable now and should evolve for another 15+ years. 92 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
2007 Frank Family Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Regular Price: $40.99
The dense dark plum/purple-tinged 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa is composed of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot. The fragrant bouquet of blueberries and flowers is followed by admirable complexity, sweet tannins, a medium to full-bodied, graceful mouthfeel and no hard edges. Drink this outstanding Napa Cabernet over the next 15+ years. 93 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
WASHINGTON
2007 Januik Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley Regular Price: $29.99
The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon contains some Champoux Vineyard fruit. It sports a nose of pain grille, mineral, a hint of balsamic, black currant, and blackberry. Structured, balanced, and lengthy, it will benefit from 3-4 years of cellaring and offer prime drinking from 2013 to 2027. 90 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
OREGON
2008 Shea Wine Cellars Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir Estate Regular Price:$39.99
The 2008 Pinot Noir Estate contains fruit from all of the vineyard blocks and clones on the property. Dark ruby red, it displays an inviting bouquet of smoke, spice box, rose petal, incense, black cherry, and black raspberry. This leads to an intense, layered, spicy wine with enough structure to evolve for 2-3 years, excellent volume, and a lengthy, fruit-filled finish. It will provide prime drinking from 2012 to 2020. 92 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
SOUTH AMERICA
2007 Cousino Macul Finis Terrae Regular Price:$19.99 BottleClub Price: $17.59
The 2007 Finis Terrae is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot aged for 15 months in French oak. Now it is essentially the second wine of LOTA with lots not making the cut for the grand vin going into Finis Terrae. Dark ruby red in color, it offers up an inviting nose of balsam wood, spice box, rose petal, violets, blackcurrant, and blackberry. Medium-bodied on the palate, with some elegance, it displays excellent volume and intensity and enough structure to evolve for 3-4 years. Drink this classy effort from 2013 to 2022. 91 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
2007 Montes Purple Angel Regular Price: $51.99 BottleClub Price: $39.96
The 2007 Purple Angel is a blend of Carmenere and Petit Verdot that might be the only competition for Terrunyo’s Carmin de Peumo for top Carmenere-based wine in Chile. Purple/black in color, it displays a splendid nose of exotic spices, herbs, lavender, incense, blueberry, and blackberry. Dense, chewy, and opulent on the palate, this is a rich, already complex offering that is meant strictly for pleasure-seekers. Enjoy it from 2013-2022. 94 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
2007 Catena Alta Malbec Regular Price: $44.99 BottleClub Price: $39.96
The 2007 Alta Malbec is a glass-coating opaque purple color with an inviting perfume of balsam wood, clove, cinnamon, lavender, black cherry and black raspberry. More structured and with greater density and aging potential than the “regular” bottling, it can be cellared for 5-7 years and will provide a drinking window extending from 2013 to 2022. 92 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
AUSTRALIA
2008 Noon Eclipse Red Blend Regular Price: $75.99 BottleClub Price: $46.66
Blended of Grenache, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Graciano, 2008 Eclipse has a medium-deep garnet-purple color and intense aromas of black cherry, black raspberry, menthol, cumin and fennel seed with some white pepper and a whiff of dusty earth. Full bodied and rich, the fruit is very opulent if a little straight-forward with crisp refreshing acid, medium-firm velvety tannins and a long finish. Drinking well now, it should develop a few more layers with 2-3 years in bottle and drink to 2023+. 94 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
2007 John Duval Entity Shiraz Regular Price: $33.99
The purple-colored 2007 Entity Shiraz spent 17 months in 30% new French oak, the balance in seasoned French and American oak. It displays an alluring nose of wood smoke, game, meat blood, Asian spices, and blueberry. Ripe and sweetly-fruited, this plush effort conceals enough structure to evolve for another 2-3 years. Drink this classy offering from 2012 to 2022. 93 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
SPAIN
2006 Vinedos Alonso del Yerro Alonso del Yerro Regular Price: $22.99
The deep crimson-colored 2006 Alonso del Yerro displays an alluring nose of smoke, scorched earth, Asian spices, incense, and blackberry. Layered on the palate with some elegance, this harmonious, savory offering has excellent length and enough structure to evolve for 2-3 years. Drink it from 2012 to 2021. 91 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
2005 Vinedos de Paganos El Puntido Regular Price: $48.99 BottleClub Price: $42.99
The 2005 El Puntido is 100% Tempranillo sourced from a vineyard of the same name planted in 1975. Malolactic fermentation was sur lie in new French oak for four months followed by 18 months in new French barriques. Purple/black-colored with a brooding nose of great promise, it shows off notes of new oak, crushed stone, scorched earth, roasted herbs, incense, and blackberry. Voluminous yet elegant on the palate, it is mouth-filling and rich with gobs of fruit and plenty of ripe tannin. Give this lengthy effort 6-8 years of cellaring and drink it from 2016 to 2030. 94 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
FRANCE
2007 Clos des Brusquieres Chateauneuf du Pape Regular Price: $36.99
The outstanding 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape exhibits a darker, plum/garnet/ruby hue as well as an evolved, but complex bouquet of kirsch liqueur, lavender, new saddle leather, spice box, and garrigue. It is an unadorned, pure wine with the kirsch/black cherry liqueur character following through across the attack, mid-palate, and finish. Quasi-rustic tannins kick in at the finish, but there is more than sufficient substance to stand up to the wine’s structure. Nevertheless, I recommend 1-2 years of bottle age, and consumption over the following 12-15 years.
90+ POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
90+ POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
2005 Chateau Lafon Rochet St Estephe Regular Price: $54.99 BottleClub Price: $47.99
At present, this structured, backward 2005 is dominated by the vintage’s substantial tannins. It exhibits a saturated ruby/purple color, a reticent but promising bouquet of sweet black fruits intermixed with weedy tobacco, licorice, and leather characteristics. Medium-bodied and powerful, with excruciating tannin, but promising potential, patience is most definitely required. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2030. 90 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
2005 Chateau Rauzan Gassies Margaux Regular Price: $54.99 BottleClub Price: $48.99
Significantly better from bottle than it was from barrel, the 2005 Rauzan-Gassies appears to be the finest wine this estate has ever produced. Dense purple-hued with a beautiful perfume of camphor, creme de cassis, licorice, bay leaf, and incense, it is a full-bodied, stunningly concentrated, broad, rich Margaux with lovely integrated tannins. This backward 2005 will handsomely repay cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2030+. 92 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
2006 La Fleur de Bouard Regular Price: $35.99
At present, this estate is the reference point for high quality wines from Lalande de Pomerol. The basic cuvee from proprietor Hubert de Bouard and his wife Corinne, the 2006 La Fleur de Bouard is composed of 80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Sensationally rich, with abundant quantities of blue and black fruits, spring flowers, graphite, licorice, and hints of espresso roast as well as toasty oak, it is supple enough to be drunk now, or cellared for a decade.
91 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
ITALY
2004 Fanti Brunello di Montalcino Regular Price: $56.99 BottleClub Price: $39.96
Shows blackberries and dried flowers on the nose. Full-bodied, with lots of ripe berry and cream character. Rich and flavorful. Long and beautiful. It's layered and velvety. Seductive. Drink now. 5,610 cases made.
94 POINTS WINE SPECTATOR
2007 Felsina Rancia Chianti Classico Riserva Regular Price: $40.49
The 2007 Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia bursts onto the palate in a big, brooding expression of Sangiovese from Castelnuovo Berardenga. Muscular and dense to the core, the 2007 powers all the way through to the long finish. Hints of smoke, tar, leather and scorched earth emerge over time, but only with great reluctance. In a vintage where so many wines are open, the Rancia comes across as quite stubborn and in need of at least five more years in bottle. That said, it is a standout, not to mention one of the greatest values in fine, age-worthy wine. In a second tasting the 2007 Rancia came across as decidedly more elegant and restrained in style, so it will be interesting to see where this ultimately settles within the context of recent vintages. Today I don’t think the 2007 has the elegance of the 2004 nor the power and ageworthiness of the 2006, but we will see. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2027.
94 POINTS WINE ADVOCATE
2006 Viticcio Monile Regular Price: $49.99 BottleClub Price: $39.96
Offers currant, berries, light toasty oak and light coffee. Full-bodied, with ripe fruit, soft, silky tannins and a rich finish. Ripe and beautiful, with a lovely texture. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best after 2012. 555 cases made.
94 POINTS WINE SPECTATOR
2005 Silvio Grasso Pi Vigne Barolo Regular Price: $44.99 BottleClub Price: $34.66
Plum, prune and bark aromas turn to raisin. Full-bodied, chewy and powerful, with big tannins and lots of concentration. Best after 2012. 850 cases made. 94 POINTS WINE SPECTATOR
2006 Rocca Giovanni Barolo Regular Price: $32.99
Very lush and round, offering black cherry, plum and floral notes. Bright and firmly structured, yet the tannins are supple and the texture rich. Approachable now. Fine length. Best from 2012 through 2028. 900 cases made. 93 POINTS WINE SPECTATOR
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