Hi everyone- Would like your opinion on how much to spend on older bottles at my local shop. They have excellent current and near-current vintage stuff, which I buy all the time. But I’m curious what you think about back-vintage stuff. I’ll leave the shop nameless, for reasons that will become clear.
They have truly remarkable back vintage wines, especially Bordeaux and Burgundy, for good prices; plenty of First Growths, and top producer Cote d’Or Grand Cru including Rousseau, Liger-Belair, DRC, as well as a smattering of nice Chablis, Guigal Lala’s, Mosel wines that go back to the 70s, beautiful Napa Cabs, etc etc.
My concern is storage. The bottles are on racks, at room temperature, warm in the summer/cool in the winter, under fluorescent lights and sun from a big window. I peruse the shelves regularly, and occasionally old wines appear from their basement *, but most of these sit on the racks for years, maybe decades.
So would you buy these back vintage wines? Their prices are typically lower than most only retailers, the staff is so nice and knowledgeable; I’d love to support their business, but worry that their older stuff just won’t show well. They’ll take back a bottle that is totally cooked, I’m sure, but I’m more worried about spending a bunch on bottles that are simply in mediocre condition. Then again, how do these bottles compare to back vintages on Benchmark, or WineBid, or WineAccess?
I asked some staff once what they thought about storage, and basically got a “ehhh, I’m not that worried,” type response. Curious what you think, and what you’d do. Would you buy back vintages from them? If so, how old would you go? Would you put a spending cap on older bottles that come off their rack? Other thoughts? Any guidance appreciated.
*Side note: I recently bought a 1982 Drouhin Meursault from them for $10 the they found in the basement! That’s the type of place this is. I’m expecting vinegar, though fill and color look promising. I’ll post TN when I open it up. It’ll at least be an adventure!