On the SB subject... I recently had a Cloudy Bay SB with a couple of years in the cellar and it was showing well enough.

I enjoyed a 2003 Cloudy Bay Te Koko (their oaked SB) last year that was absolutely exceptional.

Aged SBs are a topic that's been on my mind lately. When touring Marlborough, I remember someone fairly knowledgeable telling me that many top-tier (unoaked) SBs have the potential to come-back and peak again after about 6 years in the bottle. This was the first time I'd ever heard of this, and I haven't been able to find anything on it since. Has anyone else heard of this phenomenon?

-FlyerBeek

what about auction experiences?

i found this article very intriguing >
http://www.elite-travelerdigital.com...4/?pg=126&pm=1

im wondering how to find out more about where other auctions that are mainly for drinkers are held..

A friend who works in the central liquor store found 4 bottles of the 2006 Rosemount Trophy winner, of which he sold us two.

You'll have to be more specific than that.

I picked up an IWSC medal winner this weekend, a Punt Road Shiraz 2005.
More details as soon as I write up my notes.

The day after discovering the Gold Medal winning, bargain-priced range from Punt Road, we had a more difficult bargain hunt in the mornington Peninsula region.

I picked up a well-known winery's super special cellar-door deal:
A innumerate baker's dozen (take two bottles now and the dozen is freighted home) for less than $90. That's less than $6 a bottle!

It is a 2004 Mornington Peninsula Pinot (the signature product of the region).
This was due to Red Hill Estate having a March promo:
The main range from this winery is around $250 a case so even though the Pinot isn't overly complex its a fun souvenir!

Last weekend, Mrs. old_vine_zin and I were at our local wine store when she came discovered a bottle of Fisher Vineyards Chardonnay 1991 covered with dust. We wiped off the dust and there was a price sticker on it for $9.98. We added it to our purchase. When we were checking out the clerk scanned the bottle and the machine showed $98.00. However, the clerk said "I am required to charge you the price on the sticker". I stated that I understood that there could have been a mixup but he was insistant that he charge us just short of a ten spot. Wish the same scenario would happen to me when I buy stocks!

Opened a bottle of 1994 Latour yesterday... even though most "experts" say this wine is around its peak, it showed very young and still rather tight/austere, especially on the palate. The nose was amazing, super complex and multidimensional, fully living up to the pedigree of this great wine. While 94 is not a stellar vintage, this wine was still showing much of what makes the Medoc Terroir so famous.... rated 93/100 points.... ^

I found a case of '97 goldwater(nz) SB down in the cellar. have not yet tried one. figured it was dead and would serve it to the unwitting. now i have to try one.

just last weekend my dad found some older bottles in his cellar, a Santenay 1er Cru (forgot the producer) from 1988 that was remarkably fresh and vibrant. we had it with grilled ahi and home made french fries..odd combination but it all went together so well.

'88 burgundy is very inconsistant. some are good, some not so good. my '88 Gros Richebourg frere is pathetic. i still have 5 bottles that were buried somewhere. i sold the rest at chicago auction about 4 years ago.

'88 is very famous, as it it the year Parker was terminated in burgundy. he wrote that the wines shipped to usa were not the ones he was given to taste as barrel samples in the cellars. he also gave '88 low ratings, contrary to all other reviewers.

the best of the lot of the '88's reds that i bought(30 cases) was the red Chassagne-Montrachet. i sold about 25 cases at chicago auction. took them 2 years to clear it all.

Wirelessly posted (Palm TX: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D050; Blazer/4.3) 16;320x448)

Nice gesture from the store... alas, how was the wine showing??

Not to say that some high end whites cant age, of course...

With a tip from a friend, I found a great wine store on Taraval Street in San Francisco that has some amazing stuff, mostly California (of course) but some French as well. They had decent prices on current releases but quite a cellar of older vintages, some at really great prices. I picked up a couple of Montelena Estate cabs from the mid-90's at prices quite a bit under what you'd pay at the boutiques up in Napa. Those were great. A 1989 (so-so year) Spottswoode cab that I picked up for a song was past its full-bodied prime but still drinkable, especially if you like the style of aged Bordeaux. Most recently of theirs, I had a '95 Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain cab that was a little disappointing-- it seems to be in that cocoon phase that many middle-age California cabs go through.

K&L Wines, with 4 stores across California, also has some great old vintage stuff, also at good prices. They buy from collectors, estates, and from one-off releases by the wineries. I got from them a '92 Diamond Creek that was quite good, and a '90 Spottswoode that was really good.

I can give someone who's interested a more robust description of these, but that doesn't seem to be the point of this thread.

old_vine_zin,
I'd be more optimistic with aged Semillons than Chardonnays - please share your tasting experience with this vintage find!

makes sense, you hardly see '88's come up for sale or in discussions anymore. i actually didn't know this but before we drank the Santenay, my dad called an old friend back in Burgundy who manages a property there and asked what he thought, the guy said to go for it, that it very well could be still fresh and vibrant. hopefully the next couple of bottles are just as good but i'm not counting on it.