A friend/coworker of mine will be receiving a huge tax refund in the coming weeks. He wants to spend a portion of it on a bottle of 1997 Bryant Family. (Ever since I mentioned Bryant's reputation as the leader in CA cabernet that isn't Screagle, he's talked about getting a bottle).

Can anyone recommend:

1) a safe place to buy the bottle? (I always hesitate to buy from auction). He's willing to pay current auction rates of course.

2) another bottle (in lieu of the '97 Bryant) that could be equally earth-shattering?

3) a safe time to open the bottle once consumed? I'm petrified that many '97s are closed and it'd be wasted...

Any input/advice is welcome!

Try winebank.us All of the California wines for sale there come straight from the mailing list and are perfectly temperature controlled. If he wants to drink a Bryant now he should buy a 92, 93, 94, 98 or 2000 rather than a 97.

Thanks - will do. (Maybe he'll be buying one of yours!)

I forgot to mention that he's a big fan of CA cabs (hence the Bryant) and plans on cellaring the bottle until it's ready for consumption.

Would you consider this 'the bottle' to have and cellar from CA during the 1990's? (again, not including Screaming Eagle)

As for pricing, www.wine-searcher.com is your friend. It looks like this will set him back a minimum of $600. I've not had the 97 but had the 92 and it was pretty darn good. The 97 really gets alot of hype because it got a 100 from parker and because of the vintage. Thus the price is significantly higher. I think the 94 was also rated 100 (or close to it) and it prices out at $400 and up. For something which he wants to drink soon I'd suggest an earlier vintage, probably a 94 or 92. Actually for that kind of dough I'd suggest a nice 85 or 89 red Burgundy. You can get DRC's for that kind of cash.

short,

i actually e-mailed my brother one of these specific auctions, the one with the '92-'99 vertical, fromwinecommune this morning at about 3:30 am (couldn't sleep). funny you should ask

it also seems to be available atgrapes the wine company in rye, ny for $650 &midland liquors on staten island for $695 & some other places in the ny area for $850-$999 & definitely don't go to park avenue liquor where they want $1295 per bottle.

I don't have any more 97s for sale (I sold all of the 97 Bryants I was going to sell sometime ago). The 99s at winebank are mine. I will put up some of the 2000 Bryants for sale through winebank soon.

The 97 is a phenomenol bottle of wine and tasting it will recalibrate most palates. I have always preferred the 94 myself. Neither tastes like Cabernet Sauvignon just WINE.

Both of these vintages should be near or at the top of most people's lists for 90s California Cabernet. I prefer Bryant to all other cults. Melka making the wine may cause their reputation to suffer in the coming years.

Course, if one is just looking for the single bottle of California wine from the 90s then it would be SQN's The Queen of Spades Syrah 1994 imo.

Short, I have two bottles of the 1993 Bryant that I bought upon release. It's a 97+ Parker wine. I'd be willing to sell one, but I'm not looking to do anybody a favor. If your friend is interested, I'd expect the going price. The wine has been in my cellar since it was released.

Thank you all for the recommendations. Thanks to you Board-O for the offer as well.

I'll tell him about it and will drop you a note if he's interested. I have a feeling though that he's gunning for a 100 pointer...and most likely a '97.

Hey, I'm getting a big refund, too. The problem is that I'm really enjoying the $18-40 wines that I have been buying so much that I rather buy a case of those instead of one bottle. I guess I'm being too practical.

No GATC, we need to get you interested in Burgundy. Then you'll be spending the big bucks.

Gatc,
I'll bet that if you have a '93 or '94 Bryant, the memories will stay with you a lot longer than the whole case of the alternative.Absolutely worth having at least once.

Bressler was kind enough to share the '93 Bryant with me and I must say it is one of the top 3 Cabs I have ever tasted. Quite a great experience.

jb

Since I have not had the pleasure of having a Bryant, I don't know what that experience is. I guess I should try it sometime, but I have trouble doing it. This may sound strange, but I just can't buy an expensive bottle of wine and drink it. It is not a matter of whether I can afford it or not. It just seems like I should be doing something to help others with my money rather than drinking an expensive bottle of wine.

GATC, I'm sure you do way more than most to help others. Pop open a Bryant cork someday and enjoy. You deserve it.

jb

Thanks jb. I re-read what I wrote. I didn't mean to come across as a do gooder. It has more to do with my upbringing, or a better way of saying it is that I'm too cheap.