I want to sample older vintages

[Kirk.Grant]

I just started with wine as a hobby. I am trying a lot of different wines to figure out what I like, to start developing my tasting ability, and mostly out of curiosity.

I want to try some older vintages, just to see what a twenty year old (or so) bottle of wine tastes like versus the more recent vintages I am mostly sampling.

I am in my 50s and don’t want to wait 20 years to age my own.

Question, should I try a 20 year old Napa Cab, a Bordeaux, a Burgundy, a white Burgundy? Any suggestions.

I figured I would spend about 200 to 300 per bottle.

Rare Wine Co. has excellent provenance for older wines, as does Chambers in NYC.

[Brent_C_l_a_y_t_o_n]

If you’re going to buy aged wine, buy from a purveyor who will accept returns if the bottle is off. Where are you? Do you have local stores with these kinds of wines? Otherwise stick to the solid retailers mentioned:
Chambers Street (NYC)
Benchmark (Northern CA)
Crush (NYC)

Some auction houses might also have things of interest, such as Hart Davis Hart (Chicago), Heritage & Winebid.

[Brent_C_l_a_y_t_o_n]

So here’s a question that relates to the OP. Is there such a thing as a pay-to-taste tasting of fine wines? For example, 10-11 customers could pay $50-100 each to taste several different bottles of fine wine, perhaps with a theme?

As a novice who would like to start a small collection, I would sign up for something like that once a month or once a quarter. How else am I going to get to taste, for example, 5 different bottles of burgundy or whatever the theme is. It’s not like I have a friend who is going to go down into his cellar and open up 5 expensive bottles for me.

You’re going to pay closer to $250+ these days for a tasting of older wines, especially if it’s set up by a store or in a dinner format at a restaurant.

[Chr1sLiu]

Is benchmark reputable? That’s always one of the top searches that comes up on winesesrcher but seems to have horror stories for reviews and shipping

If you’re going to buy aged wine, buy from a purveyor who will accept returns if the bottle is off. Where are you? Do you have local stores with these kinds of wines? Otherwise stick to the solid retailers mentioned:
Chambers Street (NYC)
Benchmark (Northern CA)
Crush (NYC)

Some auction houses might also have things of interest, such as Hart Davis Hart (Chicago), Heritage & Winebid.

[Brent_C_l_a_y_t_o_n]

I haven’t had issues, and I believe a few of the staff are active on the board.

[AdrianReyes]

Wow excellent picks.

[K.C0LBURN]

Really appreciate this thread. I’m a younger collector who is just starting out aging things in a deliberate way, and the advice here is top-notch.

[Jeff_Cassetta]

My advice is to bring your wallet and come to Michigan and all your Q’s can be answered…I have too much wine…

[Mark_Golodetz]

Check Wine Searcher. La Louviere 1990 in magnum for $120. Excellent wine and a great example for you to try especially sharing during the holidsys.