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Your 3/5/15 or so "Must Haves"? - Printable Version

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- stevebody - 11-08-2004

Situation: You're stocking a new wine shop and you want to carry some premium CA Cabs ($50+) but not try to do it in obsessive detail. You want to stock maybe 15-20 bottlings and try to keep your CA wine lovers as happy as possible. What are your three...five, fifteen, twenty?...Must Have bottles?


- wondersofwine - 11-08-2004

WW is the one to answer this but he was on his way to the airport. The selection he brought to our offline in August included Markham, Etude, Caymus Special Selection, BV Georges Latour Private Reserve, Hess Collection, Stags Leap Vineyard, Gallo of Sonoma Frei Ranch, Liparita, Robert Craig Affinity. I think I left out a few. He also regularly buys Diamond Creek, Simi and others. He let us vote on whether to bring the Robert Mondavi Reserve or the BV wine but most of us had had more opportunity to taste Mondavi wine so voted for the BV.
My favorites of the '94s at the offline were the Markham, Etude, Hess Collection, Gallo Frei Ranch, and especially the BV Georges Latour Private Reserve (it seemed to me to have the most elegance and finesse). IK and his wife liked the Etude and Markham from the first flight of six. Among the less expensive ones I like (regular bottlings, not the reserves) are Robert Mondavi Napa or Oakville, Simi, ZD and Sequoia Grove. These are not in the $50+ range although the same producers reserve wines are.

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 11-08-2004).]

A disclaimer: these are wines that WW likes and for the most part that I like. They are not necessarily what buyers will want. Silver Oak, Opus One, Dominus, Joseph Phelps Insignia, Dunn Howell Mountain, etc. will probably be in demand. Carolina Wine Company did a tasting where the large majority of participants prefered another wine over the more expensive Silver Oak, but the one that sold out following the tasting was the Silver Oak. Go figure. I think often the buyer is influenced by name recognition and cachet (and maybe some wine critic's ratings) and not by their own taste buds.

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 11-08-2004).]


- stevebody - 11-10-2004

Sorry if I made this sound like I'm actually opening a wine shop. It was a very lively discussion I got into at a trade tasting in Seattle last week. No firm guidelines abour price but whatever would trip your trigger the most seeing it on a shelf. We were only discussing CA but I guess any premium Cab would be fair game. Clos Apalta springs to mind, as does Dunham. Thanks for the input.


- Innkeeper - 11-10-2004

Here are a couple or few rather rare ones. Tobin James, Paso Robles, Estate Private Stash ($35) is a great Meritage. Their James Gang Reserve, Cabernet is also a steady winner. The Galante Cabs from Monterey are also terrific. They go up in $10 increments from around $25.