5 Wines Worth Cellaring

Surprisingly affordable additions for your collection

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Mencia

Many people have compared Spain’s Mencia grape to Cabernet Franc, and for the puroses of this discussion that comparison is pretty fair. I don’t find much similarity between the two grapes, except that there’s much to love in both! A lot of Mencia is made in a very approachable style, so when cellaring it I look to specific appellations where the wines tend to have a leaner, more focused nature that allows them to age well. These tend to be tense, nervous wines in their youth (a quality I tend to adore), but do become more expansive with time in the bottle.

Ribera Sacra

Valdeorras

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608795
608795 oldboz

608795 13

Where's the list so it is printable on one page?

Nov 19, 2010 at 7:35 PM
286861
286861 Budha

286861 8

Had a chance to taste wine with Mr Rosenblum and he brought along a new addition to his collection, a Petite Sirah. His recomendation, in addition to the current one was for the next vintage. He really loves each of his wines and gave us quite an experience to taste numerous versions of his babies. Still look for the Petite Sirah....

Nov 20, 2010 at 1:22 AM
604922
604922 RichardHay-
es32

604922 10

As I have lived in south central Brazil for 46 years, we have been occaisionally enjoying Tannant wines from neighboring Uruguay for some time, never paying more than the equivalent of US$ 10 a bottle.

Good stuff

Nov 20, 2010 at 6:51 AM
628464
628464 swartzd

628464 2

I love your description of these wines as "surprisingly affordable" when they average WELL over $20/bottle!

Nov 20, 2010 at 8:11 AM
247770
247770 schellbe

Hand of Snooth

247770 225

With the exception of Rosenblum and the occasional Chinon, these wines seem quite obscure. Any suggestions for finding these? The Zachys, Premier Cru etc catalogs are full of the popular internationallly styled wines and big names.

Nov 21, 2010 at 12:16 AM
152999
152999 scolaighe

152999 14

I can recommend Saviour's Rock Petit Sirah from down-under (as you might have guessed from "Saviour's"). I picked up a bottle of the 2008 for $15.00 at my local Grocery Outlet. I shared it with friends where it more than held it's own with pricier offerings. Strong, pleasant blackberry at the start and a Pinot-like minty-spice finish. I'm definitely laying down a bottle or two.

Nov 21, 2010 at 2:37 AM
30771
30771 tjcnahant

30771 1

I enjoyed your previous article on wine adjectives. In describing the Mencia wines, you used the descriptors "tense and nervous". What does this mean?

Nov 21, 2010 at 8:53 AM
372258

372258 lmattson1

Hand of Snooth

372258 376

Tannat -- very unexpected choice! Intriguing.

Lisa
http://blog.jordanwinery.com/

Nov 22, 2010 at 9:31 AM
377616
377616 drherbm

377616 22

Agree with your choice of a Lagrein Riserva. It's inky color gives up some wonderful flavors of dark red fruit and minerality.Ages well.
A very good at a nice price is produced by Muri Gries. It gets a Tre Bicchiere rating in GR almost every year.

Nov 22, 2010 at 11:15 AM
296258
296258 StevenBabb

Hand of Snooth

296258 483

i believe "tense and nervous" is used to describe a wine as being young, and able to mature into a beautiful wine... picture and awkward pubescent teen... than look at the man he has become at 30....

as far as the mencia grape, i'm a big fan of guimara, out of ribera sacra... one of my favs....

once again, a great write up GDP!

Nov 22, 2010 at 4:32 PM
343567
343567 BG422

343567 19

Three years ago, I bought 8 bottles of Montus Bouscasse Chateau Montus 2003. It cost $19/btl vs. a $23 suggested retail. I see that the 2006 was released at $38. It's gotten a bit more expensive. I will have to look into this Uruguay situation. Joseph Swan in Sonoma also produces a pretty good Tannat if you're looking for something in the U.S. The 2003 Montus is drinking excellently now. I personally don't think that these are as rugged as they used to be in their youth, but like I said, I'm drinking a 2003.

Nov 22, 2010 at 9:34 PM