Need Advice

[Innkeeper]

Hi Pauline, and welcome to the Wine Board. You sort of backed into some luck. The 1998 vintage of California Cabernet Sauvignon has taken a bad rap. It did not come on like gangbusters like the '97s and to some degree the '99s. There is a respectable school of critics who think this means the '98s may age better than any of the other two.

Because of all this, you should be able to swing a good deal. Recommend gettin a couple if possible of the same wine, because the second one may be even better later than five years from now. Go to a reputable retailer with a large inventory, and asked if he has any '98s from a consistantly reliable producer. Cakebread Napa Valley, for example, is such a one. Their '99 is selling for $50. I'll bet you can get the '98 for less. A personage with the initials WW will probably be along shortly to shed his light on the subject.