Started during the pandemic, didn’t drink much wine in 2024 and just got around to categorizing everything. Some are probably past their prime, but just looking for any thoughts, or opinions on what’s here.
notadoctor1776
Nice start. As a younger person getting into wine I realized it’s more important to drink the wine than to age it. I wouldn’t say any are past its prime but I wouldn’t bother aging a few of those wines as they are usually made as drink now sort of wine. I wouldn’t expect to get anything special out of aging sub $20-30 bottles unless you know specifically it was intended to be aged.
Eetabeetay
Idk if this is what you’re looking for but here are some of my favorites from some of the styles I see here and roughly around the same price point:
Chianti: Felsina Berardenga. Monsanto.
Pinot noir: Au Bon Climat Santa Barbara County. Ken Wright. Division ‘Un’.
Malbec: El Enemigo. Altos Las Hormigas.
Chardonnay: Au Bon Climat Santa Barbara County. El Enemigo. Stag’s Leap Karia (depends where you find it, I’ve seen as low as $28).
Rioja: Lopez de Heredia Viña Cubillo Crianza. La Rioja Alta Viña Alberdi. Faustino I.
Champagne: Andre Clouet Grande Reserve Brut. Voirin-Jumel Blanc de Blanc.
GSM/Rhone: If you have a Costco, basically any of their Rhone appellations: CdP, CdR, Gigondas, Vacqueyras. I’m pretty sure all of them are made by Guillaume Gonet and are great value for their quality. St. Cosme CdR is also great value and fairly easy to find.
Barolo/Nebbiolo: Langhe nebbiolo from any of these producers: GD Vajra, Vietti, Produttori del Barbaresco. Kirkland Barolo.
Other sparkling: Raventos Blanc de Blanc. Col Fondo (this is a style not a producer) if you can find it. Schramsburg. Any type of Cremant you can find is generally good value.
To be honest, the term “collection” is pretty grandiose for what you have. These are mostly bottles meant to be consumed fairly immediately after release and are of middling to low quality, for the most part.
This isn’t meant to be an insult to you or the wines you have. It’s just not really a collection except in the literal definition of the word, like “a group of things”.
With that said, the easiest things to do are to identify the wine styles you vibe with the most, identify a vendor that you can form a relationship with and be willing to try wines with the understanding that you’re not always going to love every bottle you get. Identifying what you like and where to buy wines are the easiest steps on your journey. Once you start there it’ll get a lot simpler for you to find what you like, more often than not.
4 Comments
Started during the pandemic, didn’t drink much wine in 2024 and just got around to categorizing everything. Some are probably past their prime, but just looking for any thoughts, or opinions on what’s here.
Nice start. As a younger person getting into wine I realized it’s more important to drink the wine than to age it. I wouldn’t say any are past its prime but I wouldn’t bother aging a few of those wines as they are usually made as drink now sort of wine. I wouldn’t expect to get anything special out of aging sub $20-30 bottles unless you know specifically it was intended to be aged.
Idk if this is what you’re looking for but here are some of my favorites from some of the styles I see here and roughly around the same price point:
Chianti:
Felsina Berardenga.
Monsanto.
Pinot noir:
Au Bon Climat Santa Barbara County.
Ken Wright.
Division ‘Un’.
Malbec:
El Enemigo.
Altos Las Hormigas.
Chardonnay:
Au Bon Climat Santa Barbara County.
El Enemigo.
Stag’s Leap Karia (depends where you find it, I’ve seen as low as $28).
Rioja:
Lopez de Heredia Viña Cubillo Crianza.
La Rioja Alta Viña Alberdi.
Faustino I.
Champagne:
Andre Clouet Grande Reserve Brut.
Voirin-Jumel Blanc de Blanc.
GSM/Rhone:
If you have a Costco, basically any of their Rhone appellations: CdP, CdR, Gigondas, Vacqueyras. I’m pretty sure all of them are made by Guillaume Gonet and are great value for their quality.
St. Cosme CdR is also great value and fairly easy to find.
Barolo/Nebbiolo:
Langhe nebbiolo from any of these producers: GD Vajra, Vietti, Produttori del Barbaresco.
Kirkland Barolo.
Other sparkling:
Raventos Blanc de Blanc.
Col Fondo (this is a style not a producer) if you can find it.
Schramsburg.
Any type of Cremant you can find is generally good value.
Cab Sauv:
Wente Cabernet Sauvignon Wetmore Reserve.
Black Stallion.
Substance Cabernet Sauvignon.
Gail Wines ‘Doris’ Cabernet Sauvignon.
To be honest, the term “collection” is pretty grandiose for what you have. These are mostly bottles meant to be consumed fairly immediately after release and are of middling to low quality, for the most part.
This isn’t meant to be an insult to you or the wines you have. It’s just not really a collection except in the literal definition of the word, like “a group of things”.
With that said, the easiest things to do are to identify the wine styles you vibe with the most, identify a vendor that you can form a relationship with and be willing to try wines with the understanding that you’re not always going to love every bottle you get. Identifying what you like and where to buy wines are the easiest steps on your journey. Once you start there it’ll get a lot simpler for you to find what you like, more often than not.