I also thought about '86 Mouton which is one of my bucket list wines, but stories I’ve heard about bottle variation make it less desirable to me than the '90 Margaux. Cellaraiders has a bottle of the Margaux right now for just under a grand I think.
I prefer relatively young vintage champagne to older stuff. 1988 is about as young as I would like to go. Which means that I can get many bottles for my $1000 instead of just one. And not just many bottles of lower end products. I could get 6 2008 Dom P. I could play a fun game and go 2002 Dom P, 2002 Dom Ruinart BdB, 2–2 BS Nicky Francois, and 2002 Cristal. I could go bigger and play a 2002 Dom P2 against a 2002 Cristal “Late Release”. I could run a 3 bottle vertical of Winston Churchill. I can compare 1996 Krug and 1995 Krug and see which is holding up best. If I was patient, I could probably do 1966 Dom against 1990 Dom.
I answered 1st growth, only as I want something older and GC burg is too spotty to buy older vintages vs. older Brdx.
BTW - Can I at least share with wife, or are the rules that you must drink it all alone?
It’s the “just for myself” part I’m struggling with. Great wine is awesome…but I got into wine because there was a generosity and shared passion I recognized in others. I would go with bubbles too…if I’m alone.