Being a wine enthusiast is enjoyable and generally relaxing. However, there’s an unsavory side, in which enthusiastic enthusiasts clash with serious collectors. At these times, wine can be ugly.
Imagine that you’re having the backyard barbecue, sipping the glass Accendo Cellars’ ultra-rare Laurea red, which a collector with an enormous wine cellar poured for you. It’s all rosy. However, when you declare the desire to purchase the bottle for yourself, the collector stiffens up, says, “You won’t be able to get this,” and gives you the tiniest hamburger you can get on the grill.
Then you ask other guests at the event where you can purchase the wine, but you realize that everyone must get back to someone on Slack. Wait until you can invite them to your private BBQ and open the Laurea or Newtown, Goldeneye, Faust Cor, Nell, and many others you weren’t aware of until you saw this list.
It’s time to get aware. Many of these wines are costly. Some aren’t; however, they are all fantastic wines that are great now and will continue to age beautifully in an enormous cellar for many decades in the future. Here are 12 wines serious collectors want you not to purchase.
2017 Kings Carey Wines Grenache Sta. Rita Hills Santa Barbara County ($34)
If you’ve been to the cult-favorite Liquid Farm, James Sparks, his day job, then you have a sense of the talent to create utterly fresh, fruit-free Pinot Noir or Chardonnay. The year 2014 saw him introduce the Kings Carey label. Kings Carey Label and added his Midas flavor to Grenache grapes sourced from Spear Vineyards, an organically managed farm in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA. Sparks’ Grenache bottle is sure to be a cult favorite after taking the very first sip. People who collect it are enthralled because it’s an absolute delight to drink. However, it should cost more than twice as much. The 2017 is incredibly complex, with a gorgeous bright, lucid, and glistening ruby red and showing bright cherry and scorched wild herb aromas and a hint of coffee beans citrus, apricots, and juicy, freshly picked wild strawberries that lead to a lengthy mineral finish.
2017 Boich Family Cellar NVS Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley ($125)
Boich’s founder John Boich, has amassed an impressive John Boich has compiled an envious portfolio of wines that are offered via an allocation-based model from the best Napa leading vineyards, including To Kalon, Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper, as well as Beckstoffer Georges III. The winemaker at Boich, Jeff Ames, is familiar to many of the fans who are taking bottles of Tor and Rudius among his other ventures. The 2017 NVS has pitted collectors against collectors in a competition to get an allocation. If any bottles remain after the official release, they are offered to those who aren’t on the list — first come, first served until they’re sold out. A smoky aroma of cream and cookies, black cherry and blackberry Liquor with subtle hints of creme de cassis and graphite and purple florals. It’s big and a mouth-filler with satiny French oak tannins so perfectly combined that it’s easy to think this was the French first Growth.
2016 Newton Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District Napa Valley ($210)
The company was founded in 1977 with the help of Peter Newton and Su Hua; Newton is unquestionably the most essential winery in Napa’s Spring Mountain District. California’s best winemakers- including Ric Forman, John Kongsgaard, Andy Erickson, Aaron Pott, and Jean Hoefliger- have made the wines. Today, Alberto Bianchi is at the directorship. The grounds and the winery were devastated by the Glass fire. The estate’s director, Jean-Baptiste Rivail, has said that Newton owners LVMH strongly support the redevelopment of the property. Best of all, the winery’s previous vintages are safe in temperature-controlled storage on the valley floor. The 2016 Cabernet, If you can obtain it, provides a stunning illustration of why Newton Cabernet Sauvignon can be described as a landmark wine that can stand right next to the best. The smoky aroma of mountain-grown blackberries and herbs rises above the wine before transforming on the palate, with layers of dry mountain tannins, mint, crushed graphite, cinnamon spices, and a lingering, lasting finish lingering into the next drink.
2018 Goldeneye Ten Degrees Pinot Noir ($130)
If the year-old Anderson Valley winery isn’t on your list of places to visit, there’s a reason. The people who travel to Goldeneye through twisting Northern California roads, often without cell phone service, for a stroll through the estate gardens prefer to keep the winery a secret. With this bottle from Ten Degrees, its winemaker, Katey Larwood, has conquered the rough, profoundly structured,, smoky-spice-driven quality in Anderson Valley Pinot Noir. Blue and black fruits have earthy and rustic notes, complemented by a vibrant, crisp acidity. This leads to a flurry of dry tea leaves in the long, smooth end, which is capped by cherry brandy and cedar spice aroma.
2018 Faust The Pact Cabernet Sauvignon Coombsville Napa Valley ($125)
Indeed, $125 might not sound like a great deal at first, but considering that the winemaker David Jelinek has produced Harlan ($ 1,400 plus) and Joseph Phelps ($220+), it Is an absolute bargain. The best spot to enjoy it is at the recently restored Faust Haus in St. Helena (home of the former St. Clement winery). The glass of the 2018 Pact shows an intense red color, stained by a drink with scents of boysenberry, candied cherries, and raspberries. A soaring purple floral note emerges from the tense texture of the palate, which unfolds with black-fruited waves on top of the elongated tannins, which sway towards the salted dark chocolate final. It’s clearly why Faust lovers are determined to keep the entire bottle to themselves. A tip: Contact the winery and ask them to purchase library bottles of the 2011 vintage because it’s awe-inspiring.