Wine Buying Vintage Recommendations for 2025
by Ken Gargett
This is surely one of those ‘do as I say, not as I do’ pieces. My own cellar would be infinitely less chaotic if I had entered every year with a plan, rather than getting over-excited every time someone offers a new wine. Mine has been a bit like the kid in a candy store, besotted with every shiny new toy.
Cellars should be established with a degree of forethought and cohesion, not just a mishmash of whatever is suddenly available. I promise to do better.

Luxury dedicated wine cellar by Cranville Wine Racks UL
When we talk about cellar requirements, I am not looking at the daily drinking needs, but rather the pointy end stuff. Daily drinking is very much a budget/quality/preference equation and you should always ensure you have more than sufficient of these everyday wines available.
Pointy end wines are those for special occasions, for sharing with like-minded friends or appropriate friends and family events. These are the wines you want to be good.

Yoshi and Kyoko Sato picking grapes
When we do come to the pointy end, everyone will have some wines that they buy every year. I have been buying Rockford and Giaconda for several decades and consider it a monumental tragedy if I ever miss out. Bell Hill and, more recently, Sato have joined my regular must-haves.

Bell Hill Pinot Noir 2019
As loyal customers (beginners need to be aware that they will have to establish a track record with some retailers, wines, and wineries, something that can take years), whether with the winery or your favorite retailer, you should have access to these wines.

1971 DRC Romanée-Conti (photo courtesy Christies)
Whether it is a case of Lafite, a single bottle of DRC’s Romanee-Conti (because very, very few people on the planet even get that), or an allocation of the latest Penfolds Grange, it is a wonderful thing to have a run of vintages in your cellar and allows you to do amazing things with tastings, if that is your thing.

Penfolds Grange Bin 95
Of course, a cellar needs to be much more if it is to be a rounded and useful one. Your friends are likely to get a smidge sick of you turning up with the same old wine.

DMC La Tache 1978 (photo courtesy Sotheby’s)
I will never forget one of my friends, when we turned up for a tasting with another of the usual group – “not the ’78 again. Can we please have something other than the La Tache.”
I am not making it up, and yes it comes from a time when great wines were much cheaper and easier to access, but trust me, it is still too soon to joke about it.
So, unless you have someone filling your cellar for you – and where is the fun in that – an eye needs to be kept on what you should be buying. Obviously, if you are, for example, a lover of Burgundy then that should be your focus, but don’t neglect other styles.
And remember, often the wines you really want will only be briefly available. Miss them and then it is off to auction to try and chase them,if you really must have them.
Champagne
We are in a golden age for champagne lovers for so many reasons. Whether you love the standard NVs and vintage releases from the large Houses, or their prestige cuvees, or the best from some of the top growers, your options are almost endless.

Champagne Lallier grape picking
So, which vintages are worth chasing? 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008 (especially – one of the all time greatest) and 2012 (another superstar) are all worth grabbing should you encounter them – this is also a useful guide for choosing from a wine list when dining out – but most houses will now have moved on. 2013 and 2014 both exceeded expectations and 2015 is solid.
There are plenty of advocates for 2016, but I am not one of them. I find the wines a little too simple. 2017? You can do better, but there are some excellent wines at the very top.
2018 and 2019, early days yet but they are both looking like stellar vintages. Put simply, you cannot have enough of these two vintages in your cellar.

Pol Roger Rose 2018 champagne
A Pol Roger Rose 2018 the other day showed just how special these wines are. It will take the best part of a decade for all the wines to be released, so there are exciting times ahead.
2020 will also, eventually, provide some great drinking, but 2021 seems likely to fall short.
As for specific purchases, we have seen the price of Salon escalate beyond sense in recent years, so those who love that scintillating blanc de blancs style, turn your attention to Taittinger’s Comte. It will never let you down.

Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Grands Crus Blanc de Blancs 2013
Krug, Bollinger, Louis Roederer, Laurent Perrier, Pol Roger, Billecart-Salmon – yes, all the usual suspects – but this category demands exploration.
Bordeaux
Those who insist that their cellars contain a significant proportion of Bordeaux, and that describes a great many collectors of fine wine, recent vintages to load up upon are 2020 and 2022. 2022 is likely to be the pick in time. 2019, 2021 and 2023 will all provide decent wines and some stars.
With 2022, purchases currently will be through retailers offering pre-arrival facilities. You won’t get your hands on the wines for a while, but if you leave it too long, you’ll miss out.
In days gone by, purchasing Bordeaux was rather simple. Jump on the better vintages pre-arrival or you’d miss the good stuff. If your funds allowed, you’d buy top down. In other words, you’d be buying the First Growths – Latour, Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild, Lafite and Haut Brion – first. Then a supply of Seconds, perhaps some Thirds and so on.
Recent years have seen this flipped on its head, to a degree. There is the ever-increasing importance of wines from the Right Bank to include, but we have seen a number of the lesser growths releasing some truly stunning wines.

Château Pontet-Canet in Bordeaux
As an example, Pontet-Canet, a Fifth Growth, yet the quality in recent years has been sublime. There are others.

Chateau Pichon Longueville, Lalande, Pauillac
Some of these wines are referred to as Super Seconds, such as Pichon Lalande, Pichon Baron, and Leoville Las Cases. Others are not even actual Second Growths, such as Palmer and La Mission Haut Brion.
Burgundy
One almost feels like one should be tossing around quotes from the Bard when we get to Burgundy, but there’s the rub. Burgundy has gone from what was almost a niche category, beloved by a small but solid coterie of devoted fans and, unless we were talking DRC, Leroy, Jayer and a few others, often excellent value, even if the wines were sometimes variable, to wines for oligarchs, no matter from where they hail.
These days, it is surely easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the likes of normal wine lovers building a cellar full of top Burgundy. So it is, for most of us, stick to base camp and the lower slopes of Mt Burgundy or look elsewhere.
California, Germany, New Zealand, and Australia are all making some superb Pinots that are bargains in comparison.
For those determined, we are seeing more and more vintages characterized by hot conditions, but fortunately winemakers can handle them. As a generalisation, as Burgundy does seem to rely more on the winemakers than the vintage conditions than most regions, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 and, although it is very early days, perhaps especially 2023 when the wines arrive, have all made some superb wines. Quantities can be a real issue and we have said more than enough about pricing.
Makers such as DRC, Leroy, Roumier, Rousseau, Mugneret-Gibourg, de Vogue and more would be welcome in any cellar. Coche-Dury, Leflaive, and Lafon for whites.

Trimbach Estate wines from the Alsace
Alsace and Rhone
Looking more briefly at some other regions in Europe, 2021 looks the pick for Alsace from recent years. For fans of the Rhone, look to 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020 – a wonderful run.
Germany and Spain
For Germany, 2016, 2017, and 2019 excelled, though there are many great wines from other years. As a very broad generalization, 2019 is probably the pick for Spain (yes, the country is simply far too big to allow for such a simple declaration).
Vintage Port
Lovers of vintage port will be looking to older wines for drinking, but if you are looking to stock the cellar, the years lately have been wonderfully impressive – 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 will all offer some exceptional ports.

A selection of 2016 vintage port wines
If you are a fan, jump on these. 2016 will remind some of the superb and more elegant 1977s, while 2017 is more reminiscent of the power and brilliance of 2011.

Montalcino, Tuscany
Italy
Italy has also enjoyed some cracking years. For Tuscany, 2018, 2019, and 2021 probably lead the pack. Brunello has truly enjoyed some top years. I love the elegance of the 2018s, but 2019 will likely outlast it. For Piedmont, add the legendary 2016 to that trio.

Cavallotto Barola-Riserva Piedmont, Italy, 2016
Many superb wines are hitting the market from top makers in both regions and compared to the pricing of certain other districts, many are putting their money here. You can’t go wrong.
For wines from the New World, that is another story again.
Hopefully, this will give you a basic guide to the regions and vintages that should find a home in your cellar over the next year, and which will provide great drinking for many years to come.
You might also enjoy:
Bell Hill: Sensational Wines from the South Island of New Zealand
The World’s Best Wine? No Contest: Romanée-Conti by Domaine De La Romanée-Conti
Sato Wines from New Zealand: Japanese Bankers turned Serious Winemakers
The Joy Of Port, Especially Vintage Port (With Tasting Notes)
Non-Vintage Champagnes: They are Getting Better and Better!
Soldera Wines: Sensational Super Tuscans With A Hollywood-Worthy Backstory
Trimbach Clos Sainte Hune from Alsace: The World’s Best Dry Riesling
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