Rare & Collectible

Rare doesn't have to mean famous. Many of the hardest wines to find come from small family estates, older vintages and large bottles, as well as from the great names of Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Rhône, Italy, Spain and California. Below are questions buyers often ask, each with a selection of what we offer; our Price List shows everything. If you are looking for a wine we don't list, contact us.

Your questions answered

What makes a wine rare?

Mostly how little is made. Château Clos St. Martin, the smallest of Saint-Émilion's officially ranked estates, farms about 1.3 hectares, less than two football pitches. Some of the world's most famous wines are just as small: Burgundy's Romanée-Conti comes from 1.8 hectares. Age adds rarity too: every older bottle opened leaves fewer behind.

A selection we offer:

• Chris Ringland, Barossa: Shiraz from vines planted in 1910, made in tiny volumes
• Gianfranco Fino, Puglia: Primitivo from 1.3 hectares of old bush vines
• Mathilde et Yves Gangloff, northern Rhône: tiny production from steep plots around Condrieu
• Modus Operandi, Napa: began with 200 cases made in a grower's garage
• K Vintners, Washington: began with 330 cases sold from the back of a van
• Domaine Bizot, Burgundy: a tiny Vosne-Romanée estate, allocated to a handful of buyers
• Denis Bachelet, Burgundy: a tiny Gevrey-Chambertin domaine with minuscule production
• Georges Roumier, Burgundy: its Musigny comes from about a tenth of a hectare
• Dominio Pingus, Ribera del Duero: under 500 cases in a normal year, and none in poor ones
• Salon, Champagne: made only in the finest years, a little over 40 vintages in more than a century

Can I find an older vintage, such as my birth year?

Often, yes. Our cellar holds vintages back to 1975, with around 100 wines aged 20 years or more. If your year isn't here, contact us. Mature Napa has its own answer below.

A selection we carry, by decade:

• 1970s and 1980s: Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, Château Cos d'Estournel, Château La Conseillante
• 1990s: Château de la Gardine, Wolf Blass, Penfolds, Château Pontet-Canet, Château Lynch-Bages, Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Dal Forno Romano, Quintarelli, Cappellano
• 2000s: Errazuriz, Kaesler, Château Figeac, Domaine de la Grange des Pères, Emidio Pepe

Why do collectors prize magnums?

For how they age. A magnum holds 1.5 litres, two standard bottles, and pours 10 to 12 glasses. Each drop meets less oxygen and the larger volume resists temperature swings, so the wine ages more slowly. We carry more than 30 large bottles, three of them 3 litres.

A selection we carry:

• Roagna, Barbaresco
• Artadi and La Rioja Alta, Rioja
• Luce, Montalcino
• Montevertine Le Pergole Torte, Tuscany: magnum and 3 litre
• Bartolo Mascarello, Barolo
• Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, Hermitage
• Realm Cellars, Napa Valley
• Château Troplong Mondot, Saint-Émilion: 3 litre
• Sassicaia, Bolgheri: 3 litre

Is mature Napa Cabernet collectible?

The best is, because it lasts. In 1976, judges tasting blind in Paris picked a California red over Bordeaux. When the same reds were tasted again in 2006, California took the top five places, among them Mayacamas 1971 and Heitz Martha's Vineyard 1970. Our mature Napa goes back to 1984.

A selection we carry:

• Spottswoode: a family estate in St. Helena, farmed organically since 1985
• Lokoya: Cabernet from Napa's mountain vineyards, each bottle from a single mountain
• Pahlmeyer: one of Napa's first cult names, in the 1990s
• Dunn Vineyards: Howell Mountain Cabernet built to age for decades
• Mayacamas: mountain Cabernet from Mount Veeder, famous for how long it lasts
• Heitz Cellar: Martha's Vineyard, the first Napa Cabernet named after its vineyard
• Robert Mondavi: the winery that did as much as any to put Napa on the world map
• Joseph Phelps: Insignia, from 1974 the first California red blended like a Bordeaux and sold under its own name
• Dominus: the Napa estate of Christian Moueix, for decades the man behind Pétrus

Are natural wines collectible?

Some are among the most sought after wines in France. Natural wine is made with as little added as possible, often no sulphur at all. Pierre Overnoy, the godfather of natural wine in the Jura, made his first wine without added sulphur in 1984, and the Wine Advocate gave his 2000 Vin Jaune, the Jura's long aged yellow wine, 100 points.

A selection we offer:

• Renaud Bruyère and Adeline Houillon, Jura: tiny quantities from the village of Pupillin
• Azienda Agricola Serragghia: tiny quantities from the volcanic island of Pantelleria
• Domaine des Miroirs, Jura: about 10,000 bottles a year
• Gravner, Friuli: white wine aged in clay jars buried in the ground
• Prieuré Roch, Burgundy: natural Burgundy made long before it was fashionable
• Pierre Overnoy and Emmanuel Houillon, Jura

Which great names can I find here?

The names collectors look for, region by region.

A selection we offer:

• Burgundy: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Armand Rousseau, Dujac, Comte Georges de Vogüé, Domaine Leroy, Coche-Dury, Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier, François Raveneau
• Rhône: Château Rayas, Henri Bonneau
• Bordeaux: Pétrus, Le Pin, Lafleur, Château Margaux, Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Haut-Brion, Château Latour
• Italy and Spain: Soldera, Giacomo Conterno, Vega Sicilia
• California: Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate, BOND, Schrader, Colgin
• Champagne: Krug, Jacques Selosse