I have decided until the end of 2024, I am going to help people build up a wine cellar by providing a cellar selection each month. Each bottle I will choose will be over $100 and will have aging potential I have done this for many friends and clients and with the multitude of misinformation (even to do with wines!), I am going to give you my views on wine. I think if you follow my recommendations for the next 2.5-3 years, you will build a pretty nice cellar of wines. Many of my friends and clients have thanked me for wines I recommended in the past that I don’t even remember or I have drunk all of my bottles!
Caveat: this is for people who are interested in building up a long term cellar of wines that they can drink for many years. These selections may need some aging so you will need patience and although some of them will drink nicely right away, many will need the 2.5- 3 years of ageing or longer. But if you follow my recommendations, you will build a very well balanced, nice drinking cellar for not that much money.
My Trophy Wine Cellar Pick for December 2023 is the Clos Apalta 2019. This one of the premier Trophy Chilean red wines from the Marnier Lapostolle family, founders of the Grand Marnier liqueur, who established Casa Lapostolle in 1994. Along with Michel Rolland, they decided to create Clos Apalta, the flagship of the winery, starting with the 1997 vintage. This is a blend of 70% Carmenere, 18% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot. It is aged 24 months in French oak barrels, 90% new, 10% second use. Chile in my opinion is making the best Carmenere based wines and this is a truly distinctive wine. It has a 95 pts Wine Spectator rating and will drink until 2035. It is priced at BC Liquor Stores at $189.99 I would recommend buying 1 bottle for your cellar.
Trophy Wine Cellar Picks to Date
Aurelio Settimo 2016 Rocche Dell Annunziata Barolo Riserva (95 pts Wine Spec) – 2 bottles x 116
Chateau Beaucastel 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape (96 pts Wine Spec) – 2 bottles x $106
Chateau Leoville Poyferre 2020 (95 pts Wine Spec) – 2 bottles x $225
Chateau De Saint Cosme 2021 Gigondas Le Claux (95 pts Wine Spec) -1 bottte x $182
Clos Apalta 2019 (95 pts Wine Spec) 1 bottle x $190
Total spent to date: $1266 (before tax)