Interestingly enough Clare doesn’t get the press that Barossa (all boobs no ass) and McLaren get. Yet one of my favorite reds comes from there.

As far as value and excellent wine from Oz, I think you’d be hard pressed to beat Kay Brothers. As a plus you can get that in SoCal pretty easily.

Given that Tyler’s blog is one of the best read wine blogs in the world, I’m going to suggest that no matter what recommendations are posted here, many readers are going to be disappointed that such wines will be unavailable in their region (or to them as clients. Wendouree has a mailing list that’s difficult to get onto. An even more challenging example would be Aubert, where you need to be invited to buy their wines). However, I’m also going to add that Tyler’s blog is not exclusively designed for posting buying recommendations.

I’ve only ever tasted a Wendouree wine once, and the experience was memorable because someone passionate conveyed to me how difficult this wine is to get hold of. Without his recommendation, I’d have just thought that Wendouree was a well priced, and powerful wine. However, the passion and enthusiasm of a knowledgable wine lover was instrumental in committing the desirability of Wendouree into my (at the time, young and impressionable) mind.

Although Wendouree is all but unavailable for most wine-drinking mortals, it’s my hope that if even one person sees the comment and wants to try the wine, then when the opportunity presents itself, that same person may be so compelled to do so.

In the meantime, the other suggestions of wines from Tim Adams, Jeffrey Grosset, Mitchell, or even Taylor’s (NB. Wine branded as Wakefield in export markets due to Taylor’s being an existing port brand) represent wines from the same region with much better availability.

In any event, consumers sourcing wines from any of these producers can confidently cellar a number of their reds for many years.

If anyone else feels as similarly inspired as Barnaby to go out and search for any of these wines, feel free to contact me through Tyler’s blog and I’ll be happy to help out!

Cheers.

Elena Fucci “Titolo” Aglianico del Vulture

Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese

Jean Louis Chave Hermitage

I don’t know what the current vintages are, but based on past performance, all three of these wines have potential cellar lives measured in decades.

Hey, throw in a Domaine Huet demi-sec Vouvray, too.

Just wanted to follow-up on the topic. Although Australia is better known for making early-drinking fruit-bombs, reds from the Clare Valley have an excellent pedigree. Wendouree Shiraz blends are legendary for their longevity, and a bottle of Tim Adams’ 94 Shiraz still looks stunning. His premium wine, the Aberfeldy will no doubt go longer still… This is the region of Jeffrey Grosset, Mitchell and Leasingham, so there’s evidence that goes back decades… Frankly, I struggle to find reasons these days to drink Bordeaux at all!

Excellent post – we all need to let people know how many wonderful values there are in the market, whether from California, Italy, France or Spain.

Two first-rate choices on your part for Italy. The ’06 from Produttori del Barbaresco is an especially ageworthy wine, as the wine contains the best fruit from their growers that would have normally been bottled as cru wines. 2006 was an excellent vintage for Barbaresco- the only reason why the winery didn’t bottle the cru wines from that year was they believed they had too many of these wines on the market in a short time. So the ’06 Barbaresco from Produttori is a real bonus!

The Cepparello is always an excellent wine- 2006 is especially notable. Another brilliant Sangiovese is the Flaccianello from Fontodi. The 2007 is especially well-structured for a good 12-15 years of cellaring. It’s pricier than the Cepparello (about $70), but it’s a gorgeous wine.