April Wine Focus: QPR - what is it & how to find it

[Tim York]

Most of the wines I buy nowadays hopefully fall in the good QPR category for short/medium term drinking. I have a reasonable selection of more emblematic age-worthy wine maturing or already mature in my cellar and don't feel the need to buy pricey young examples of the same but will pick interesting bin-ends if the opportunity arises, e.g. some fine mature Gattinara, Valtellina, Fontodi Syrah and Serenelli R. Conero at €5 & 10/bottle last year.

At €25 or less, I can find wines that give almost as much pleasure as Bordeaux crus classés, Burgundy Grands & 1ers crus from Côte d'Or, Côte Rôtie, Hermitage, CndP and Barolo costing twice or three times as much. Examples include Bandol, best Loire Cabernet franc and dry/medium chenin (except Joly?!), Crozes-Hermitage, CDRV Rasteau & Cairanne, a lot from Alsace, Languedoc and Rousillon, Côte Chalonnaise reds and whites, Fèlsina basic Chianti Classico and even Rancia, a lot of Mosel Kabinett and Spâtlese, not to mention perhaps more frivolous and definitely cheaper beauties from Beaujolais, Mâcon, Switzerland's Valais, Jurançon, Dolcetto and so on.

Let's see what this month's drinking turns up.

[Bob Parsons Alberta]

Found this QPR piece on the Gang of Pour website. These guys are always fun and enjoy their tasting sessions!

http://www.gangofpour.com/underground/2 ... ve_up.html

Being up here in Canada, I always have to grin when I see the prices down south of us. $15 Cdn will not buy much these days here in Alberta.

[MichaelB]

Interesting topic, but perilous. As an example I offer Clerc-Milon. Once it was an underperforming 5th growth, cheap and not worth laying down. Then came new owners and the wine became excellent. People on top of the curve got some great deals, but now the wine is selling at a much higher—and deserved—price. I couched this in terms of price, but the ’04 we drank tonight really is excellent wine.

But I can no longer afford it! If one boasts of his QPR savvy, others will catch on and the price will rise. That’s capitalism. OK, in the spirit of altruism I offer (as in sacrifice) every decent vintage of Tayac Premieres Cotes de Blayes. It’s no longer quite the $9 I paid at Trader Joe’s in 2005 for 2000 vintage but still an outstanding bargain for merlot-based, quality Bordeaux.

I’m just a cellar rat here, so my rec doesn’t mean much, and I’ve got a good stash of Chateau Tayac.

[David M. Bueker]

Michael,

We'll happily take your recommendations. If I see a bottle of Tayac I will pick it up & give it a whirl.

[Bob Henrick]

Michael,

We'll happily take your recommendations. If I see a bottle of Tayac I will pick it up & give it a whirl.

Tayac is an HPS import and is one of Dan's finest. I believe there are any number of QPR wines in the Hand Picked Selections. However like everything else the prices have risen. I am not involved with HPS in any way except as a satisfied customer, but if any one would like to see what labels Dan imports click the link below.
http://www.winemerchant.net/pdfs/HPS_Ca ... 08_SRP.pdf

[David M. Bueker]

Dan Kravitz once explained (on eBob) his currency hedging, but that sooner or later it's impossible to overcome the discrepancies. The Euro eventually caught up to him.