Novice with questions on what to store

[pdxrealtor]

Like the title says, I am a novice who just took his first wine educational class which has given me an entire new outlook on wine.

Right now I am focused on Cabs from Nappa as this is what I really like. As I learn how to taste and differenciate the different cabs, I will experiment with others. For now though, I would like to know some good wines to store.

I have the place to store them, I just need to know what ones are good right now, and maybe a little on how to tell a good wine for storage. I really like the Robert Mondavi 2003 and was told it was good for storing and should mature well in 10 years. However, I was told this at the Mondavi Vineyard so it might be biased. Any opinions?

I hear that the reserves store the best to store, and I don't mind splurging once or twice a year on a bottle or two, the thing with that is I like to taste one and store one for comparison.... this can get expensive for the reserve bottles.

What about Louis Martini 2001 cab? Regular not reserve. I like it along with Sterling 2002, although the 2002 is almost too smooth for me.... not enough bite.

Any help for what cabs in the 30-40 dollar range are good for storing let me know.

Also, good vineyards to try out when it comes to cabs.

I live in Oregon so if anyone ever needs help getting some good pinots, let me know.

[wondersofwine]

Winoweenie is our resident expert on Cabernet Sauvignon and he usually ages them for 8-10 years before opening them (currently drinking 1996 wines) and goes in for the higher end but not cult wines (Robert Mondavi, Beaulieu Vineyards Georges de la Tour Private Reserve, Markham, Etude, Caymus Special Selection, the Hess Collection, etc. Most of these cost more than your target but Markham C.S. costs as little as $25 at some wine retailers and was one of my favorites at an offline tasting Winoweenie put on. The Hess Collection Cabernet Sauvignon is $40 from the winery. I also generally like Simi Cabernet Sauvignon (from Sonoma County) which is not that expensive for the regular wine. (The reserve gets pricy). And I like Sequoia Grove which is a Napa winery. You are correct that usually the "reserve" denotes a wine which will hold up to more aging although in the USA reserve labeling does not have any real requirements so can be arbitrarily placed on a product that is aged with more time in oak barrels, etc. Simi winemaker told me they are managing the tannins in the wine to make the wine approachable with food at a younger age so that may be a brand to enjoy now rather than cellaring for a decade.

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 11-26-2005).]

[winoweenie]

Hi pdx and welcome to the board. I've found many of the regular cabs from the top producers in Napa age extremely well. The B.V. Rutherford, Mondavi Napa, Whitehall Lane Napa, the Sterling you mentioned along with the Martini, Clos du Val, Markham Napa along with many others all make very age-wothy bottlings. If you go to the cab thread and go back a year you will get a load of ideas about these plus others that mite fit your taste profile. Have fun and good drinking. WW