Noah - You might consider shopping the wines at Mt Carmel in Hamden if you do not know them. Here’s their website http://mtcarmelwine.com/ . One thing you can check locally is the condition of an older bottle.
The Haut Brion suggestions!
He didn’t say no mature bottles…its no mature bottles that might be oxidized. So, for my money, I’d go with 58 Barolo (or 47 if I could afford it, or one of the several good 60s vintages) from a top notch source (couple in NYC, Rare wine, Courtier). I’d go for the bottle in the best condition first, as long as it’s a good/excellent producer, rather than picking producer first…“great bottles, not great wines”. Stand the bottle up forever to let 100% of the sediment settle!
Agree with Yquem. The 2015 is fantastic. A few Bordeaux I would consider:
1989 Lynch Bages or Pichon Baron
1996 Pichon Lalande or Ducru
1998 Haut Brion or La Mission Haut Brion (maybe outside your price range)
And, there are many back vintages of Ridge Monte Bello that are on the refined side, at least to me. Enjoy the hunt!
Ed
1 Like
The question is, will he experience 'Greatness" with bottles of so called “Great wines”, but from an OFF vintage? Or would he simply be left with the impression of “well that was a pretty good bottle from a purportedly great producer, but it didn’t blow my socks off. I don’t get the hype.”
I don’t know that something like 2001 or 1996 Haut Brion is an “off vintage.” And one of the many things that makes Haut Brion legendary is how good of a wine and consistent of a style they reveal almost every year.
If you were talking about buying a 1993 Lafite Rothschild because it’s the only one under $500 just so you can say you’ve had Lafite, I’d agree with you. But I don’t think anyone was proposing a “just so you can say you’ve had the label” bottle in this thread; people were suggesting very good wines, even if there are ones for considerably more money which are regarded still higher.
Of course, there are many other good options besides Haut Brion, too, so it certainly doesn’t have to be that.
It’s always been an interesting question in Bordeaux, which matters more, the producer or the vintage? At a similar price point, would you rather have 2000 Palmer or 2001 Haut Brion? Would you rather have 2001 Palmer or 2000 Cos? Would make for an awesome blind tasting.
Vega Sicilia Reserva Especial. Very little like it and often a real wow wine, at a discount to comparable vintage Unico.
Soldera has been mentioned as well, pretty compelling wines, though selection under $500 is even slimmer than with the Vega.
Just had a 94 Montebello that would fit the bill. A wow wine at a decent price, other vintages would also qualify.
1999 in Barolo is just starting to hit that sweet spot, Monprivato, Cascina Francia, and Bartolo can all be had for $500.
Best suggestion is to find someone to drink with who can offer some of these wines with guaranteed provenance. Would be a shame to pony up only to be let down by someone elses storage issues.
2 Likes
I was thinking 1989 Lynch Bages or Pichon Baron. I’d add 1989 Angelus. In my experience these are quite a step up from the ‘96 PLL or Ducru.
Piedmont Nebbiolo is a lot trickier. The really special older wines are hard to find and a real crap shoot on storage. But the one I’d recommend for availability and better storage track record (in my experience) is Gaja Barbaresco. The 1989, 1990, or 1996 are all in a great drinkability zone. The 1978 is magical but harder to find. The ‘Classico’ is excellent but if you an find the Sori Tildin, Sori San Lorenzo, or Costa Russi they would be good too! If it has to be Barolo, Giacosa Red Label/Riservas from 2000 and 2001 should be good now, though perhaps out of the price range.
Rayas or Chave Hermitage would be my choices, Chave at min. 15y old, better 20. Rayas what you get…
Off years Bx 1ers is no good idea.
Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone! It’s much much appreciated.
To clarify a few of the questions that you raised. First, I am not opposed to older wines at all. I just want to make sure the bottle has a reasonable chance of showing well. I know that certain wines have higher failure rates than others (ahem…White Burgundy) and it would be a big disappointment to drop what is for me a lot of money and be left disappointed.
Second, regarding the types of wines I’m looking for. The preferences of my friend and I are quite in line with one another. We prefer wines that lean more refined than powerful. Red, white, sparkling are all fine to consider. Favorite regions include Bordeaux, Piedmont, Brunello/Chianti, Alsace, Burgundy, cooler W Coast American wines like N Cali and Oregon. I’m excluding any regions, but I provide this list just so you can all get a sense of our preferences.
@Robert Sand, I would LOVE to get Rayas. Open to suggestions about how to get a bottle in my price range!
Personally, if you’re going to get Rayas, I very strongly suggest you get it off a restaurant list. A couple friends just opened two older bottles with supposedly pristine provenance and sent both back. Rayas has, imho, a crazy amount of bottle variation and recent vintages are nowhere near ready.
While you’ve gotten a lot of great suggestions (I especially like the one for Haut Brion) I’ll throw out another category you might not have considered:
I see the 1995 Taittinger Comte de Champagne available for $295 from Rare Wine Company. That is one of my all time favorite Champagnes and is drinking magnificently now.
1 Like
Another idea for singular wine – the 1986 Castillo Ygay Blanco Gran Reserva Especial. Haven’t had it yet, and waiting for the right occasion to pop mine. But check out the CT reviews.
That’s not my experience, Greg. Of course, with older wines, there are no great wines, just great bottles. I have had the ‘88, ‘89 and ‘90 Rayas a total of at least 30 times, and while I had one cooked and two corked bottles, it has been amazingly consistent. As to recent vintages, not sure how you define that, but I just opened a 2006 Rayas CdP and a 2006 Fonsalette Cuvee Syrah tonight that were singing. I sure as hell wouldn’t pay a restaurant 2-3 times current market pricing for the privilege of returning a bad bottle. But if you can find Rayas at a good price (approximately market rate) at a restaurant, by all means, buy it. But good luck finding a bottle at a restaurant at market pricing.
You can in New York; there are restaurants where you can get Rayas without paying 2x, let alone 3x current market pricing.
I think I’ve had 6 bottles of Rayas over the past year that were older than 2000 and none of them were in great shape (all from different sources, too). The Fonsalette 2008 was far and away the best Rayas bottle I had in the past year, but I don’t think that’s what the OP is looking for. Personally, I think the 06 Rayas is way too young, but YMMV. Palates can be very different 
For another data point, of the last four bottles of 1990 Rayas, I’ve had, three were corked.
Noah - I did this exercise with friends about 5 years ago with mixed success (2001 Vogue Musigny was far too young), but it was nonetheless a good experience.
One suggestion to mitigate the risk is to buy from retailers with a provenance guarantee - Benchmark and Chambers Street are the two I know of. The fact that Chambers has honored their policy for me on old Barolo has made me a loyal and more frequent customer, and their advice about handling the bottles they’ve sold me has always been spot on.
That said I’d second the suggestion of '98 Chave - I opened a bottle last year and it was astoundingly beautiful and drinking better than the '99 right now.
For Piedmont, I opened a bottle of '05 Bartol last weekend that, while clearly having lots left in the tank, showed all the elegant Langhe character one could ask for, coupled with the charm and seductive character for which the cantina is known.
PS Also consider '01 Arnoux VR Suchots. Mature and showing very well in the last few years. Not the absolute pinnacle of Burgundy greatness, but nonetheless a great wine within your price range.
If you’re looking for a transformational experience with a subtle wine, I’d agree modern Napa is going to be too bold (right now), but 70’s Napa could be right in your wheelhouse and $500 is going to be enough to get most anything but a real legend (69 Chappellet, 74 Heitz MV etc). Look at Mayacamas, Diamond Creek, Heitz Martha’s, BV, Mondavi, Phelps, etc.
Kent, I agree that the search for “greatness” is at the very least a two-sided coin, and for some us the slightly disappointing side comes up more than it share of times. I like the way that you shared that perspective, while also providing specific suggestions. Helpful yet world-wise. Good wine perspective and good perspective in general. Cheers.
Re: Chave, I would go for 1988 or 1995 over the younger ones.
Re: Rayas, not sure where people see it for $500. I think those days have passed at least in the USA.
On Commerce Corner Donn H has 1985 Chevillon Vaucrains for sale. You could do a lot worse than that in Burgundy.