What red wine is relatively affordable and will benefit from a few years' aging?
April 27, 2010 by MrAuthor
Filed under Food & Drink
I am turning 21 this November, and while this means I don’t have a long history with or knowledge of wine consumption and storage, I have greatly enjoyed the few glasses I’ve had with family friends and relatives over the past few years. Because I am not a huge partier, I’d like to commemorate my turning 21 by purchasing a bottle of wine (preferably red) on that day, then save it for a few years to finally open on another birthday. I have no specific plan, I just like the idea of buying a bottle of wine on my 21st and drinking it on some future birthday, as soon as the next year or as late as 50.
Being only 20 I obviously don’t have the grandest budget for this, but I was hoping someone would have a few bottles or vintages I should look into–or just a particular type of wine that is always likely to improve with moderate aging.
Thanks so much!

First you must find a type of red wine you enjoy drinking. There are so many varietials out there. What kinds of foods do you enjoy?
For Steak, you may want a merlot or cabernet
For Lamb, you may want a cebernet or zinfandel
For BBQ, you may want a zinfandel
For grilled chicken and/or pork perhaps a pinot
There’s no right or wrong choice, wine is about preference.
There are a couple great wines out in the market place which are under $40 and have had great reviews and are good to drink now or celler for while. 2003 Whitehall Lane Cabernet has had several great reviews. But there are also sooo many others. Hartford Court also has some wonderful Zinfandels and Pinot’s.
Wine tasting a big thing now… you may want to check out a site called localwineevents.com to see if there is a wine tasting event in your area to gather the information you need to make an informed selection.