The Friday List - 12/23/2022

Perfect & Near Perfect Wines

Hello Collectors,

Conventional promotions have never really been our thing. So, on a day where you might be stuck in an aluminum tube in the sky, or catching up with friends over a boozy lunch, or at home preparing for festivities, we wanted to reward you for taking a moment to yourself. Hence today’s offer of 100-point wines, and those within quibbling distance.

These wines are some of the brightest stars in the wine collecting world, and easily among the most popular with our clients. From California, we’ve got a who’s who of icons: Screaming Eagle, Realm, Colgin, Schrader, Sine Qua Non, and more. To the north, Quilceda Creek represents Washington with a magnificent 2014 Cabernet that’s elegant by their standards, and in a great drinking window now. On the other side of the equator, Henschke’s 2010 Hill of Grace is settling into the zone as well, with a long life ahead of it. This is an unreal wine, unmistakably Aussie Shiraz, but with the finesse and elegance you probably always feel is missing from the Barossa. For serious Rhône variety drinkers, this is a must-try.

Finally, to the Old World. Of course there’s Burgundy, and of course there’s a magnum of 2005 La Tâche. This is a unicorn wine: legendary vintage, storied terroir, and rare large format. Also on the prestige Burg spectrum, we’ve got two full cases of the 2018 Vogüé Musigny Cuvée VV. Very young still, this will need time, but promises to be a modern classic, and will likely see skyrocketing prices as it begins to mature and inch toward its drinking window. From Bordeaux, we’ve got the powerhouses La Mission Haut-Brion, Pontet-Canet, and Le Dome. Italy’s represented by one of the newest additions to the 100-point club, the magnum-only 2018 Il Caberlot. We recently drank a 2009, which was simply stunning, tempting us to squirrel away a couple of these for ourselves.

There are a lot more perfect and near-perfect wines in today’s offer, so be sure to give it a good look. And from all of us at Cellar Trading, we hope you have a festive and safe holiday season. Now’s the time to open those special bottles, so don’t hesitate to do so. We sure won’t!