Where can I find a good wine from 1986?

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Andrew Dougherty) asks....

white, to celebrate his son's birthyear?<

If the only criteria is vintage, drop in to one or two of the bigger wine shops in your area. If totally clueless, respond back with where you live and someone will be glad to point you in the right direction. Oh and if it's Crooked Neck, ND or Butasimo, Rep. of Skulandia, be sure to let someone know which metro that's nearest to....

Always here for my fellow syngraphist or oenophile.

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1986 was a good vintage in Australia; Penfolds Grange 86 is legendary.

Tiggrr

1986 was a very good year in Bordeaux and almost as good in California. The Bordeaux wines will be just entering their prime now if stored well since release. As you're near the DC area, you have a number of good wine stores at your disposal (Calvert-Woodley, MacArthur). Some good choices at various price points: under $100: Chx. Meyney, Clerc-Milon, Beychevelle, Grand-Puy-Lacoste around $100: Chx. Gruaud Larose, Pichon Baron, Leoville-Barton, Montrose, Ducru-Beaucaillou around $150: Pichon Lalande, Cos D'Estournel, Leoville Barton $200 and above: Leoville Las Cases and the First Growths (Lafite, Latour, Margaux, Mouton)

In California, I'd only seek out long lived Cabernets. My choices there would be: Chateau Montelena, Dunn, Caymus Special Select, Ridge Monte Bello, Phelps Backus and Insignia and Mondavi Reserve.

For white wines, your choices are more limited. 1986 was a great year for White Burgundy, but not being a millionaire I have little experience there ;-) Grand Cru Chablis from Ravenau or Dauvissat would be still alive at this point. 1986 was also a very strong year in Sauternes and Barsac, and sweet white wines tend to live longest of all. Some sure choices there would be Yquem ($$$$), Climens, Suduiraut and Coutet. The sweet white wines of the Loire (Coulee de Serrant and Quarts de Chaume) would also be quite alive, but much harder to locate than the other choices. And, finally, 1986 was also a good vintage for Champagne, but storage of aged Champagne is of critical importance, so be a wary consumer.

Your best option is to seek out a highly reputable retailer and get their advice. Aside from Bordeaux, most '86s will be hard to find in the marketplace now and good storage conditions are critical. Sometimes, private wine cellars come on to the market, and often they are a good source of older wines.

HTH Mark Lipton

Mark, you missed my personal favorite of 1986 from Bordeaux---1986 Rausan Segla.

It really is a great wine. Bought 1 case years ago and still have 7 bottles. They are my treasure. I think it to be better than Chateau Margaux in 1986.

Dick

I still have 3 - just starting to think about drinking it. I'm not sure I'd go as far as to say it surpassed Margaux, but it was certainly the finest wine from RS in more than a decade.

Mark Lipton snipped-for-privacy@purdue.edu sez....

When and where did he say he was near DC? Or is this somehow extracted from his header? I hope not as we've already seen how accurate that is with the last couple trolls. I've been wondering how a poster on another group is physically posting from south central Maine, out of an upstate western NY RR server. Happens all the time and we all know Maine and NY aren't close enough to share a wine shoppe.

A dropped post?

Always here for my fellow syngraphist or oenophile.

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In my experience, Coulee de Serrant has always been a dry wine (as are most Savenierres). Also, 86 was decent but not great for Loire dessert wines, while it was excellent for Sauternes. Having said that, I've had good luck with off-vintage Quarts de Chaume from Baumard, and if you luck into any it may be relatively cheap.

Peter Masters

My bad! I was thinking Bonnezaux, but ended up with Coulee de Serrant. Just another case of typing without thinking...

Agreed. My main point was that they would still have some life left, although they would probably not achieve the same heights as '86 Sauternes.

Yes, that's the other side of the equation: white wines from the Loire are still undervalued in the US (largely out of consumer ignorance), so even a top Coteaux du Layon is unlikely to cost you an arm and a leg.

Mark Lipton