Anniversary Wine Help

My one year anniversary is coming up and I'd like to get a case or two of decent wine as a reminder of the year. Does anyone have any advice on what would age well. I'm looking to spend between $10-20 a bottle and we usually like lighter reds. Thanks!

Since you were married last year, you might want to look into 2006 Bordeaux futures, which are out now. Reportedly it's not a great vintage, so if you look for lesser-known wines, especially from the Haut Medoc, you should be able to find cases in your price range, and they should age reasonably well (reducing tannins, and making them seem lighter). And even a nicely-aged Bordeaux from a lesser year can be a good time.

I found a nice 2006 Oregon Pinot Noir that is $18/375ml bottle and being released now. It's by Sineann of Newberg, OR and they sell direct from the winery. Or, for local purchase, I believe Cream Wine Distributing in Chicago places Sineann wines. I liked it so much I joined their club!

In that price range for a full-sized bottle I have enjoyed Chateau Greysac.

Davooda

Another part of France to go looking for long-lived wines at reasonable prices is the Cotes du Rhone. I bought Chateauneuf du Papes for my kids' birth years and got 20-30-year-aging-potential wines, Wine Spectator top 100, for as little as $30/bottle in some cases. (I have no idea offhand if '06 was a good year for Rhones, though.)

Of course, all this assumes that you have the ability to store them reasonably well.

A few random thoughts:

* $10-20 per bottle may not get you very far in the current state of the market, at least as far as age-worthy wines are concerned. Some regions to look for (relative) bargains:

- Bandol, Langeudoc and ditto to Chateauneuf-du-Pape from France (Binny's has been having some great sales on C-d-P lately);
- Chilean syrah/cab/merlot and Argentinian malbec. Lapostolle's "Cuvée Alexandre" reds from Chile are usually stupidly good deals, as is the Errazuriz "Max Reserva" lineup.
- Spanish grenache and tempranillo. Rioja can have some good deals if you select well, as can grenache-based regions like Montsant.
- Good Italian Barbera or affordable nebbiolo. Sam's and Binny's both carry nebbiolo from lesser Piedmont areas like Ghemme, as well as respected Barbera producers like Vietti.
- Pinot Noir from New Zealand, or from selected US producers like Argyle, Fritz or Russian Hill.
- American Rhone-based wines can be decent deals and some have good aging potential. Try Beckmen's grenache or anything by Edmunds St. John. Sam's has a good selection, and Binny's and Wine Discount Center have had great deals lately.

* Not all of these are necessarily ageworthy, but then again it sucks to have two cases of wine in the basement that require 5+ years of aging before you can touch them. Best to buy "stages" of wine that will be ready to drink as you want. A good wine salesperson will be able to help sort out what's good for early consumption versus what you'll be drinking on your 10th anniversary.

* Most important, buy wine that means something to you and your partner. My wife and I have been doing the same thing as you for a while now, and the wines we like best are the ones that speak to experiences we've shared - wines or regions we discovered with each other or with friends, places we've visited, etc. Somehow, the wines don't taste as good when we buy them as an intellectual exercise or because some schmo (like me) told us to.

Hell, I would say forget buying cases on spec and spend the money shopping together for a good Sunday dinner wine every week. If you like it, explore others from the same maker or region or vintage, and squirrel away a bottle or two to try somewhere down the road. Before you know it you'll have a cellar and you'll be the one writing long-winded diatribes on LTH...

And hey - share the love and report back what you drink!!

Fillay

How long are you hoping to age it? If you are hoping to have some for your 50th anniversary that is a much different beast than one that will be drunk over the next 10-20 years. You might consider splurging on a more expensive wine and buy 1 case instead of 2, and drink a bottle at every 5th anniversary. Vintage Port would be ideal, though I dont know whether 2006 was a declared year. My son was born in 1994, which was a great port year, and I have a couple of cases waiting for him, and in theory it will still be decent when he is 90. Obviously port is not a "lighter red," but you may have a tough time finding anything that will last more than 10 years that fits that description.

-Will

Let me start by saying that I do not think buying a couple of cases of wine unless you have sampled it is such a great idea. Nor a great way to celebrate an anniversary - buy one bottle of exquisite vintage champagne and have a good time.

Still, if you want to go this way, here are some ideas. Do not even think about the 2006 vintage if it is about the wine. Not that there will not be good wines from 2006, just that they are not going to be easy to find yet, and it will be particularly hard to find ageworthy ones since they generally will not be released for at least another year.

If you want something that will age, and be drinkable on say your 20th anniversary, I suggest a vintage port. Buy a couple of bottles and drink one on your tenth and one on your 20th. It will be more forgiving in storage and age well. 2003 is a nice vintage and you should be able to find some very good Graham, Fonseca or Taylor at a nice price.

If you really, really want a light red, the suggestion about Bandol is good, but I think a Beuajolais Cru, say something from Julienas, Morgon or Moulin-a-Vent might fill the bill. Interesting today, would age for some years, and the 2005 vintage, currently for sale, is pretty good. This one - Duboeuf Julienas Chateau des Capitans 2005 - is available at wine.com for example and is pretty good for $16. Sam's has some interesting ones, too. But please sample them before you splurge for a case. For the most part you will find them light to intermediate in weight, with decent fruit and acid and some complexity.

A good approach might be to sample a few of those, and then buy a case or two of a 2006 when released to commemorate the marriage, though I think the 2005's are likely to be quite a bit better, on average. In fact, I think I need to go out and buy a bunch of 2005 Beaujolais Cru.

I suppose I could disagree with some of the other suggestions above, but see there is this conflict - "light red," $15 and "ageworthy" do not go together so well, so one pretty much has to compromise on at least one of these.

One other possibility is to go to the Chicago Wine Company and buy one or more very nice older bottles, either in a normal sale or at their live auction (next one is August 29) and enjoy that. Unless you have good storage available, and even if you do, it can be a lot more fun to buy an older wine, ready to drink and enjoy it now. And you will be pleasantly surprised to find that a 1995 Bordeaux, all aged and ready to drink, can be a lot less expensive than a 2003, for instance, even though the 2003 is a lesser wine, and needs to age for a few more years. It makes no sense in a way, but it works out well. TCWC also has an interesting selection of Bordeaux in half bottles that would meet your requirements, as well as a good selection of 2006 futures.