Buy Collectible Wines While The Prices Are Low and Availability Is High

In these hard economic times you should take the view of smart financial folks like Warren Buffett and be looking for good wine investments when the market is off.  Buy low, sell or drink high!  If you take that view, you can take advantage of these opportunistic times in the wine marketplace.  The high end wines (over $50) we recently reviewed at the KWG blind tasting will probably be available at a retailer, maybe even at a discount. Buy them for your cellar. Buy them as a wonderful gift for the wine lover in your life.  Resell or drink them over the next few years. You will not have a better chance to grab these wines that are usually highly allocated to restaurants and mailing list customers. Ask your favorite retailer if they can get you a bottle or two.  You might find out the answer is “Yes!”  You might also find out that the pricing is flexible.

Now that I have given you my glass half full economics pitch, I will tell you who won our first High End blind Cabernet tasting.  We tried 16 wines, all retailing at over $50.  All but one wine scored Very Good or better.  Another wine barely scored Very Good, but the panel did not feel it was worth recommending, given its price tag of $175.  As a result, we are only going to recommend 14 of them.

Our winner was the 2005 Pride Mountain “Napa/Sonoma” Cabernet $66.  This wine was showing perfectly on Friday November 21st.  It’s extremely smooth, silky and elegant with delicious blackberry flavors.  The panel scored this wine 94 points or Excellent.  It defeated the other wines by more than a point.  It was our clear winner.  One reviewer stated that this wine was the “total package.”  As I mentioned in the review, I think Robert Foley is one of the best winemakers out there and this Cabernet backed up that statement with our tasting panel.  Foley and Pride made a “Reserve Cab” in 2005, I can only image how good that bottle is.

We had a tie for second place.  The two wines finished in a dead heat.  I’m not actually sure I have had that happen before.  Or if it did happen, I’m not sure it happened at this level or this high up in the tasting.  Both wines scored 92.8125 or Very Good+.  So what were they?  The first wine was Fritz 2005 “Estate Reserve” Cabernet for $50.  Fritz has had a stellar year and produced many wines that have finished in the Top 5 with our tasting panel this year.  I would say this particular wine was the best one we tried all year.  It’s a full bodied wine that is well balanced and silky with delicious black cherry flavors and a hint of vanilla.

The other 2nd place Cabernet comes from down under.  The 2006 Shirvington Cabernet for $60comes from the McLaren Vale.  Readers who are not familiar with Shirvington should go out of their way to experience their wines.  I have been impressed with every wine I have tried from this producer.  This was another well-balanced, smooth, and elegant wine.  This one displayed a yummy black cherry flavor profile with a hint of raspberry.  All three of these wines are a steal when it comes to quality of the wine for the money.

Our 4th place wine is a wine that everyone expects to finish near the top of the list and it did.  The 2005 Joseph Phelps “Insignia” for $200 scored a Very Good +with 92.38 points.   This wine is full bodied and savory with rich and extracted blackberry flavors.  This is a very big wine and quite impressive.  There is also a lot of it made, so you should be able to get your hands on a bottle or two.

Fifth place was captured by a winery that has made quite an impression on us in the last month or so.  Charles Creek winery is a winery that I discovered for the first time on my trip to Santa Rosa for the wine bloggers conference.  Readers should definitely go out of their way to try some of the wines from this winery.  I have recommended every wine that I have tried from them.  In this tasting, the 2004 Charles Creek “La Vista” for $55 scored an impressive 91.875 points from the panel.  This wine draws 100% for its Cabernet fruit from the Stagecoach Vineyard.  If you are not familiar with the Stagecoach Vineyard, you should make yourself familiar.  I have been very impressed with the Cabs coming out of it.  Charles Creek certainly captured the magic from that vineyard.

The Cabs that finished in 6th and 7th place are from a couple of big names players.  These wines also scored Very Good +.  First up was the Duckhorn 2005 “Estate Grown” Cab for $95.  This wine scored 90.125 points from the panel.  This wine opens with an inviting blackberry like bouquet and continues on to a smooth and concentrated wine that displays tasty blackberry flavors.  Next up was the 2004 Spring Mountain Cab for $55.   This wine scored 90 points and will be remembered for its very attractive clove and menthol like bouquet.  It’s a fruit forward wine, with savory and delicious black cherry flavors.  The panel suggested that you enjoy this very likeable wine with filet mignon, stuffed mushrooms, or steak Diane. 

The last 2 wines in the Very Good + or 90 point range are the 2005 Raymond Cabernet from the “Rutherford” appellation and Swanson 2005 “Alexis”.  The 2005 Raymond “Rutherford” which costs $55 scored 90 points from the panel and was described by one panelist as succulent.  It is medium-bodied and smooth with soft with cherry and current flavors.  It does finish with some tannins that show noteworthy persistence, an impressive trait in my book.  Finally, the 2005 Swanson “Alexis” $75 which also scored 90 points is medium-bodied, soft, and balanced.  One panelist described it as Merlot-like.  The panel also felt that this wine could benefit and most would develop nicely with a little more time in the cellar.

The remaining recommendations all score Very Good from the panel.  We found all these wines to be very likeable and worthy of our recommendation.

#10 Faust 2005 “Napa Valley” $50 (89.25)
#11 Eponymous 2004 “Napa Valley” $59 (89.06)
#12 Jeff Gordon 2004 “Napa Valley” $80 (88.75)
#13 Bergevin Lane 2005 “Intuition” $55 (88.69)
#14 Raymond 2005 “St. Helena” $55 (88.63)

In conclusion, I can assure you that these are all very impressive wines worthy of your consideration and investment.  I can also share that there was not a single drop of any of these wines left over at the end of the evening.  That is not always the case.  If you are looking for a very nice gift to buy for the wine lover in your life, the above wines would each make a great gift.  I know I would love to receive any one of them.  The best news is that based upon my economic analysis in the first paragraph you should be able to find them and maybe even get a deal.  We have one and perhaps two more high end tastings coming up in the next month, so stay tuned for some more gems to look for during this holiday season.

Cheers,
Ken