wine recommendations

[hollywood]

Craig,

In her Q & A, Jancis Robinson sketched some recommendations for various wines but was vague about specifics. I wonder if you (and other members) could back & fill on her responses, e.g., my query about starting a cellar, MatthewB's about summer reds & whites, etc.? Thanks for any ideas.

[Craig Camp]

Question 1 - starting a cellar

I started my cellar with the purchase of two bottles of Bordeaux in 1978. I proudly took them home from the store and placed them in my new rack in the basement. I checked on them once a day. From there it just started to grow as I tasted things I liked. To me this is the best way to build a cellar because you tastes change over time. Certainly you want to act when certain great vintages come around, but even here there is always another great vintage and the current hyped vintage of the moment may not be the best value or the best one for aging. Rule number one is always the same - team up with a good local wine merchant who can turn you on to deals when they hit the market. It does not take a genius to jump on bandwagons like 2000 Bordeaux, but there is a lot of great wine out there in the world and a little homework can build you a cellar of interesting wines that won't break you or require you to cough up the money 2 years in advance.

So some specific recommendations for now:

1996 Barolo and Barbaresco - there are great deals on these outstanding wines popping up at retailers everywhere.

1995,6, 7, 8 and 9 Bordeaux - The market is backed up on these and there are some top wines from each vintage available at a fraction of the cost of the mega-hyped 2000's

Rhones from 'other' appellation like Crozes-Hermitage, St. Joseph, Cornas, Lirac, Rasteau, Sablet and others.

Top single vineyard Montepulciano wines from Marche and Abruzzo. Look for wines like Inama's Binomio, Valentina's Spelt or Saladini Pilastri's Monteprandone.

Ribera del Duero wines from Spain including wines just outside the DO like Mauro.

Napa and Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - scour your merchants ads and shelves for deals. Top wines are dropping their prices left and right. Avoid over-hyped wines like Opus, Silver Oak and releases selling for big bucks with less than a 5 year track record of excellence. You can never go wrong with Chateau Montelena or Spottswoode.

1999 Monsanto Chianti Classico Reserva and Riserva Il Poggio - Classic sangiovese that will more than reward your patience.

1999 Riecine Chianti Classico Reserva - incredible value, quality and age-ability.

For Burgundy just check out Claude Kolm's excellent recommendations on the Who is Drinking Burgundy thread.

For whites avoid most. Just buy what you can drink in the short term. I will never again age a California chardonnay. Top choices for aging:

-Loire chenin blanc - check out the Louis/Dressner website for some great choices.

-White Burgundy - see Claude's posts again.

-Rheingau riesling

-Austrian gruner veltliner

Vintage Ports from interesting new producers like Cristiano Van Zeller (Van Zaeller label)

[Craig Camp]

question 2 - summer reds and whites

Don't forget lissome's thread on summer whites Click here

see the new thread on summer reds

[hollywood]

Thanks for the recos. And thanks for fixing the subhead.

[carpet bagger]

Craig I agree with you totally. I respect your tremendous knowledge. I wish I had half as much. Can I share an experience I had in 1993. I don't mean this in any way as disagreement. I bought some 1971 Hanzel chardonay which I expected to be gone. I was assured that it was not. It was obviously not a spring chicken, but it was complex, intense and had a long long finish. I was amazed. I ran back to the shop that I bought it from and to my surprise there were still some left. I bought the last 8 bottles. One of them I shared with a customer of mine that I was working with at the time. I gave him the bottle which he opened on a Sunday night. The following Tuesday was my next trip to him. He told me how excited he was with the wine. I said that I was glad to which his response was would you like to taste it? Taste it I said? Yes he said he only drank half and put the rest in the fridge. Well! he opened the half opened bottle and it tasted even more alive and more complex and intense that the other bottles I had had.Again Craig I am not telling this in opposition to you but as an interesting side bar.

[Craig Camp]

I don't disagree with you on Hanzell - they age well. So does Kalin. They are special cases when in comes to California chardonnay. However I would not put them high on my list to grab if I was just starting a cellar. There are so many other choices.