One of my favorites is Unti Vineyards.

 

What varietal?
Where do you find them?

I am going through an exploration process on Old Vine Zins right now. My exploration process takes a few years, tho...

 

They are in Healdsburg on Dry Creek. My favorite is their Barbera. They also make a great Syrah and Sangiovesse. Super nice people who run the place. One of my buddies who is a big time wine drinker drinks this as his daily. Goes for 25-30 a bottle

 

OK, speaking of Healdsburg, have you heard of Hafner? They are very small, mailing list orders only.

Since you didn't tell me where I can get one, I'll trade you 1 Hafner for 1Barbera+1 Sangiovese.

BTW, have you ever been to Joseph George in San Ho? It's a wine store, VERY expensive collection there.

 

Have not heard of Hafner, but there are so many good ones uo there. Not sure where else to pick up Unti besides at the vineyard. Their Barbera is sometimes on the menu at Gary Danko. Next time you head up north give them a try.

 

For a reasonably accessible wines:
Dominus
Pahlmeyer Merlot
Paul Hobbs Chardonnay
Williams Selyem Pinot Noir

 

I keep my list from my cooler on an excel sheet so I can easily track and replace what I need. In the cooler today is:

4 Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon 1995
1 Colgin Cabernet Sauvignon Herb Lamb Vineyard 2000
6 Stanton Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Nappa Valley 2001
1 Caymus 1994
3 Noon Reserve Shiraz 2005
6 Concha Y Toro Carmenere Carmin de Peumo 2003
4 Chateau La Lagune 1985
3 Diamond Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Volcanic Hill 2000
3 Chateau Grand Mayne 1990
3 Kistler Pinot Noir 2005
3 kistler Chardonay les nois 2005
1 Joseph Phelps Insignia 2004
1 Joseph Phelps Insignia 2005
3 Silver Oak 2005

All mid range stuff but I drink it all.

 

I like trying various reds from Spain...

 

2 buck Chuck from Trader Joe's.

 

You have 41 bottles of the 04 Insignia? Wow!

Among many others, (I have a spread sheet like you, but have not kept up since I drink the wines faster than updating the ss) I have a full vertical of Insignias from 1992, and Opus 1's from 1992 as well.

 

The 2 buck chuck that is now 4 buck?

 

wow, that sucks for you, bought 3 bottles yesterday - still only 2 bucks here. hard to imagine anything in the OC being a bargain but this wine is definitely drinkable for 200 pennies.

 

No sir, it says 1 in my post.

 

Had the last bottle of my case of 1974 Insignia last weekend along with rack of lamb that we marinated for three days. It will be missed.

I have one bottle left of '74 Heitz Martha's Vineyard from 1/2 case I got when it was released. We had just bought our first house and couldn't afford a full case because it was $21/bottle. I will say that the last bottle we had a year ago was already a shadow of its peak. The Insignia held up better.

Three bottle left of BV Reserve round out the '74 cabs.

Two wines I'm saving for a major event are a magnum of '82 Petrus and the last bottle from 1/2 case of '67 d'Yquem. Either that or the kid will be drinking them from paper cups after I'm gone. The Petrus magnum will probably be ready in 2015 and the d'Yquem will peak in 2100. The 1899 d'Yquem is drinking well know according to Serena Sutcliffe.

 

Two weekends ago I had a Monticello '84 Corely Reserve Cab that I paid $16 for in 1986. We had that with a braise of lamb shanks and prunes. It was incredible. The depth of fruit still (just?) evident was a shocker. I wasn't expecting this to be a knockout. The moral of the story: stick some decent wines away for 20 years and they turn to gold. There is no other way.

 

Mad Dog 20/20 anyone?

On a more serious note- how much do the above mentioned wines cost? I am a C-Class wine drinker I have a wine cooler than holds 18 bottles. It's usually close to full and I go through a fair amount of it. However- the stuff I buy is in the $15-$30/bottle range. I am guessing the above bottles are much more than that?

Another thing that drives me insane is when I see one of the $20 bottles of wine that I like, in a resturant, going for ~$75. And, because of their wholesaler, they most likely get that bottle of wine even cheaper than I do at the store.

 

Nice!

I was able to enjoy a bottle of 37 d'Yquem when celebrating my fathers 70th birthday.

How long have you been in possession of that 82 Petrus?

 

The '37 is incredible. Twenty years ago, I got in on a vertical tasting of '37, '45, '59, '67 and '75 d'Yquem. It was over five weeks, and because these wines are so distinctive, it was no problem to compare them across the weeks. In fact, I still have vivid taste memories of all of them.

My wife got me the Petrus magnum as a birthday present shortly after release, 1986 I think. It turned out to be the best investment either of us ever made.

 

Was the Heitz still enjoyable?

 

Chateau Grand Traverse. My friends Dad owns the vineyard.

Also the wines grown and processed at the Biltmore Estate are quite nice. Their Christmas Wine offering is always a favorite at our household. The Biltmore Sangiovese is my personal favorite.

 

Absolutely. It was still a very good cab. It's just that the unique bouquet and flavors (minty bordering on eucalyptus) had faded and the regular fruit (cassis and plum) had dried significantly from three years earlier. It's possible that it was bottle variation and the last bottle will knock my socks off once more, but I'm not counting on it. I did get to drink four incredible bottles over 15 years so I'm not complaining. Those were up there with a '47 Cheval Blanc and a '53 Petrus as the three Bordeaux type wines that left me with a vivid aroma memory, hopefully for the rest of my life.

 

What kind of wine man?...Be specific please...

 

I think the Hess Collection Mount Veeder is one of the best cabs out there. Runs about $60 a bottle but well worth it IMO. Have had a few other cabs grown on Mt Veeder and all are excellent (and similar in pricerange)

 

My favorites from that valley are Hart and Cougar.

 

Mouton Cadet by Baron Philippe De Rothschild.
Very affordable and smooth Bordeaux.