We Asked 17 Wine Professionals: What’s Your One Bucket-List Bottle?
From bottles produced from grapes grown on some of the world’s oldest vines to those made from fruit hand-harvested in minuscule grand cru plots, there is a lot of special wine out there. And if there’s one group of people lucky enough to try these bottles, it’s wine professionals. As these pros learn the trade and hone their skills, they taste through what likely amounts to thousands of amazing wines that are sure to leave an impression.
Many of these wine pros spend their lives trying to track down some of the world’s most sought-after bottles. To determine what some of these bucket-list bottles are, we asked somms and other professionals from across the country to share which wines they’re hoping to try in their lifetimes.
From rare vintages from one of the world’s most coveted producers to aged Provence rosés, keep reading to check out 17 wine professionals’ bucket-list bottles of wine.
Bucket-list bottles of wine, according to wine pros:
Château Le Pin 1982
1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
Great Western Champagne from Pleasant Valley Wine Company
Domaine des Miroirs ‘Mon Rythme Son Rythme Les Saugettes’ 2016
1992 Château d’Yquem
Château Simone Rosé (Aged at least 5 years)
Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Rouge
Renaud Bruyère and Adeline Houillon “Les Tourillons”
1840’s Shipwrecked Veuve Clicquot
Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve Blanc
1971 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Monfortino
Magnum of 1961 Dom Pérignon with special Insignia for Prince Charles & Lady Diana Spencer’s Wedding
Thierry Allemand Cornas Sans Soufre
Unreleased traditional-method sparkling wine from Stranger Wine Company
Chkhaveri Rosé
1928 Krug
“Le Pin 1982. A legendary vintage from a legendary estate in Pomerol, less than 15 miles away from where I grew up in the Bordeaux region. Being able to create wines with 100 percent Merlot is as unique as Rayas with 100 percent Grenache in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The production is so small, and apparently so special, that this would definitely be on my bucket list.” —Ronan Duchêne Le May, co-owner & beverage director, Le Chêne, New York City
“A bucket-list wine for me would be 1945 Romanée-Conti, the last vintage before the vines were uprooted and replanted on grafted rootstock after phylloxera ravaged the vineyard.” —Jordan Salcito, sommelier, founder of RAMONA, and author of forthcoming book “Smart Mouth: Wine Essentials for You, Me, and Everyone We Know”
“If I could wave a magic wand, the one wine I’d give anything to taste would be an impeccably stored bottle of Great Western Champagne from Pleasant Valley Wine Company in the Finger Lakes — the one that won a gold medal at the Vienna Exposition in 1873. It was likely a blend of Catawba, Delaware, and possibly other labrusca varieties like Isabella or Elvira, though almost nothing is documented. I’ve spoken with legacy winemakers and families in the region, but record-keeping back then was sparse. Still, this wine was pivotal — it helped put New York on the international map. Shoutout to my friends Nathan Kendall and Pascaline Lepeltier, who were the first to really open my eyes to the potential of these grapes in a dry, sparkling style. Plenty of folks have been working with these historic varieties for years and making good wines, but their efforts sparked my curiosity about what those early bottles might have tasted like. These grapes never really went away, but now they’re having a real moment, and it’s exciting to see.” —Paul Brady, owner, Paul Brady Wine, Beacon, N.Y.
“Domaine des Miroirs ‘Mon Rythme Son Rythme Les Saugettes’ 2016. This legendary winemaker rarely makes this cuvée and it’s super hard to find. There’s something about the story of Kenjiro Kagami leaving his tech job to pursue wine that deeply resonates with my own personal story. Let alone his career change, his story of traveling to a completely foreign country and making a magical life, this is the story of mine and all immigrant families here in the U.S. I just imagine drinking in all of this history and story with each sip.” —Ren Peir, wine educator/co-founder, BABE Wine Bar, NYC
“For many collectors and wine drinkers, there is a certain prestige of searching for birth-year wines — wines that were made in the year that they were born. Being born in 1992, the one bottle that is my personal white whale would be 1992 Château d’Yquem, one of the most sought after sweet wine producers in the world. This choice is more of a metaphor since this wine doesn’t exist. Their standards are so high and rigorous that they won’t make wines if the year wasn’t perfect. There are rumors that they made some sweet wine solely for their staff, but aside from that, this sweet wine doesn’t exist. The idea of trying this wine to me is more to say that I want to do what is not possible in this world.” —Eitan Spivak, beverage director, Kabawa, NYC
“Château Simone Rosé (Palette AOC, Provence) with at least five-plus years of age. I had this for the first time about 15 years ago, not knowing what I was about to taste, and it completely rewired how I think about rosé. With age, it sheds the fruit and leans into this dried floral, herbal depth that drinks more like a light red. It ages like a structured white Burgundy but with the soul of the waters of Provence. I’m always chasing another bottle and just found a shop selling six bottles online — I snagged them all.” —Amy Racine, beverage director and partner, JF Restaurants
“I’ve had a long and amazing career filled with once-in-a-lifetime bottles — among them the ’78 DRC Montrachet, ’39 Unico, and ’71 Chambertin to name a few. But one wine I have not tasted, and most likely never will, is the 1945 Romanée-Conti. I’ve had the ’52 — the first post-replanting vintage — and the ’37, but to taste the ’45 would be incredible. That’s my bucket list, 1945 Romanée-Conti. Only 600 bottles were made, so the chances of one still being out there is very limited, but if there was one wine I could have, that would be it!” —Cedric Nicaise, sommelier / co-owner, The Noortwyck, NYC
“There are of course endless wines out there that I would kill to get a taste of, most of which I will probably never lay my eyes on let alone drink. Leaving aside the bottles that would require me to take out a small loan in order to enjoy, I’ll take ‘bucket-list bottle’ to mean ‘a wine I’ve never tried that I would be willing to spend my own money on.’ Right now, that wine is Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Rouge, ideally from the mid-‘90s, but I think I could get talked into putting some cash down on anything up to 2006 (but not 2002). Syrah was my first love in wine and the Northern Rhône will always have my heart. The history of Hermitage wines being used by both Burgundy and Bordeaux producers to beef up their wimpy vintages before finally being recognized as premier wines in their own right is just so much fun to me. I’ve been able to have the J-L Chave Selection Hermitage both red and white, and while those were perfectly delicious, they really just left me even more ravenous for the real thing.” —Leo Bayless-Hall, beverage director, Rolo’s, NYC
“I’m constantly on the lookout for a wine from Renaud Bruyère and Adeline Houillon, two young winemakers from Arbois in the Jura. At one time Renaud worked for Pierre Overnoy, arguably the Jura’s most iconic winemaker, and they made some of the most sought-after bottles from the Jura region. The ‘Les Tourillons’ is a blend of Chardonnay and Savagnin, and is known for its minerality and salinity, along with being a wine of incredible energy. One day I’ll find it. Until then, it stays at the top of my list.” —Jeff Cleveland, general manager and sommelier, Birch, Milwaukee
“1840s shipwrecked Veuve Clicquot. The ultimate Champagne dream: uncorking a bottle perfectly preserved at the bottom of the Baltic Sea for 170 years. Incredibly, about 15 years ago, divers discovered shipwrecked bottles of Veuve Clicquot that had aged remarkably well, defying all expectations. These bottles are genuine time capsules back to the 1840s; imagine the thrill of getting to experience such a piece of history!” —Anthony Gochal, restaurant director & sommelier, The Yacht Club, NYC
“My bucket-list bottle would be something that encourages guests to try something unfamiliar, like a beautifully aged Aglianico or a rare vintage Madeira. I love watching someone discover a new favorite wine in an unexpected grape. Personally, I would love to open a bottle of white from the Rhône Valley with a little bit of age, such as Château Rayas Reserve Blanc. These wines are expressive, underrated, and certainly worthy of a bucket list.” —Drea Boulanger, executive wine director, Spiegelworld, Las Vegas/Atlantic City/Nipton, Calif.
“I’m always down to try any kind of wine, but one bottle that’s been on my mind is a 1971 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Monfortino. I’ve heard nothing but legendary things about that vintage. There’s just something really special about opening a wine that’s been sitting and evolving for over 50 years. It would feel like I’ll be drinking a piece of history.” —Danir Rincon, general manager & owner, dell’anima, NYC
“I am a Champagne and Princess Diana lover. In 1981, Dom Pérignon was selected for the wedding of the century, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on July 29. Magnums of 1961 Dom Pérignon were served at the ceremony with a special insignia commemorating the occasion. 1961 was not only a superior vintage in France, but also Diana’s birth year. It would be amazing to taste a piece of history from a great vintage served to one of the most inspirational women in the world in my birth year, 1981.” —Lindsey Geddes, wine director and master sommelier, Carver Road Hospitality
“Thierry Allemand Cornas Sans Soufre, which is only produced in the best vintages (I actually don’t know which, aside from 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, and 2011, and I have no preference). It’s hard to get your hands on, totally mythical, and Allemand is a legend — and self made! Nothing inherited. Cornas tends to be my favorite expression of Syrah, and drinking a good one was the first time I suddenly got this understanding of different layers and nuances to a wine. I could go on and on. It’s on my bucket list, and will be ticked on my next visit to London, shared with the best company in my favorite restaurant (Planque).” —Gabriella Borg Costanzi, service & wine director, Wythe Hotel, NYC
“My bucket-list bottle is the unreleased traditional-method sparkling wine from Stranger Wine Company in Buchanan, Mich. Maxx and Sidney are such talented winemakers doing incredible things with estate grown fruit. Plus, they have a great sense of what’s coming, and I know it will make a great vermouth-Champagne cocktail with the newly released Granor Farm’s vermouth.” —Anna Rafalski, beverage director, Granor Farm, Three Oaks, Mich.
“Chkhaveri Rosé. It’s a rare western Georgian grape, showing an elegant, honest rosé with coastal character. Or Ojaleshi, one of Georgia’s most unique indigenous reds, whose name in Megrelian means ‘vine climbing up a tree,’ echoing the ancient local tradition of training vines high among trees. Georgia is considered the world’s oldest winemaking country with 8,000 years of continuous tradition — it’s the birthplace of qvevri winemaking and the origin of the first amber wines. These bottles represent exactly what Laliko stands for: authentic, handcrafted natural Georgian wine, rooted in the oldest wine culture in the world, that every wine lover should experience at least once.” —Soso Bokuchava, sommelier, Laliko, NYC
“The 1928 Krug from the Krug Collection is a wine collector’s dream. With only two releases of the bottle to date, and with over 40 years in between the releases, there are very few of these bottles generally available, if any. Enjoying Krug is a celebration no matter what bottle is being opened, but to share one that was centered around a lauded vintage and with the original release experiencing delays because of World War II, there is so much history and legacy to appreciate in this one bottle.” —Aaron Benjamin, wine director, Emeril’s, New Orleans
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