Wine cooling,Help! I desperately want to find a quality wine (red or sweet white) from 1998, but have no idea where to start. I am buying it as a gift for my husband. 1998 is the year our son was born, so I do not want to deviate from that year. I also need it to be a quality wine that will last in a wine cooler for another ten years. Can anyone give me some suggestions? There is a very special gift so I want to get something good. Thanks in advance got any help!
plumdumplings // May 13, 2011 at 2:14 am
Barolo – no doubt. 1998 was a good year. All Barolos need lots of age, some years more than others and the 98 is one of those years (this is a good thing). I’d think 22 years on it would be great. It’s not going to be easy to find, but worth the effort. Italian Wine Merchants http://www.italianwinemerchants.com/Default.asp might be a good place to start – check out their website and/or give them a call. They are very helpful.
chefgrille // May 13, 2011 at 2:14 am
Opus One was very good then. Actually it was one of the last years it was good. Be prepared to shell out a couple hundred bucks at least.
Matt B // May 13, 2011 at 2:14 am
your best bet it to talk to a sommelier or someone at a high-end wine shop. the problem is most wines aren’t going to last that long
Here’s a chart to get you started:
http://www.bottlebargains.com/main.asp?request=RPCHART
zotdirector // May 13, 2011 at 2:14 am
I’d say a good idea to start with is to search for a quality vintage port from Portugal. This is a fortified red wine that is sweet and can be aged for a very long time (the best can go for over a century) and Ports are often aged for a very long time before they’re even released. So these should be a bit easier to find and won’t be so rare that they cost in the hundreds of dollars. I recently purchased a bottle of an American port style wine from 1996 (Quady’s Vintage Starboard).
Your best bet is to find a small privately owned wine boutique in your area. They specialize in hard to find wines and can usually get a specific wine for you if they don’t have it.