Twenty-two years after the publication of the first edition, the sixth edition of Andrew Caillard’s The Rewards of Patience has just been released. For those who might not know, this book is a complete chronicle of the various Penfolds wines, generated out of a vast retrospective tasting by a panel of experts. Caillard is a Master of Wine who’s also co-founder of Langton’s auction house, Australia’s leading auctioneer of fine wines. As an aside, his company’s Web site has some great information on the top Australian wines.

To celebrate the new edition, Penfolds has been sending a group of the tasters around the world, including Chief Winemaker Peter Gago, Senior Red Winemaker Steve Lienert, Caillard, Singapore-based wine critic Ch’ng Poh Tiong, English wine writer Anthony Rose and American (wine editor of Condé Nast Traveller) Joseph Ward. Last week they were in New York, along with more than a dozen selections from the Penfolds library.

However tempting it might be to regale you with detailed notes on some of the top wines–Grange from 1990 and 1991 and the legendary 1962 Bin 60A–what really struck me about the tasting was how nicely some of the lesser wines had matured. The 1986 Koonunga Hill Shiraz-Cabernet was fading, but still showed some chocolaty richness (86 points), while the 1996 version was still holding well. It shows enough fruit to suggest it may last another five years (88 points). Both of these would have sold for under $10 on release.

A step up from those wines in quality were the impressive pair of 1998 Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon and 1976 Bin 389 Cabernet-Shiraz. The Bin 407 retains a youthfully dark color and beautiful cassis fruit, tinged with mint and chocolate. It’s impressively structured and will continue to drink well for another 10 years (90 points). I drank a ’96 Bin 407 a few months back from my own cellar that was strikingly similar, perhaps only a touch more minty-herbal. The Bin 389 rightfully earned its nickname “Baby Grange.” For having only 12.2% alcohol, it showed a remarkable fleshiness and suppleness in the mouth, with crisp red plum flavors accented by complex notes of game, leather and spice (92 points, and seemingly in no danger of going downhill anytime soon).

In a world of financial uncertainty and ever-increasing prices for the top wines ($2,000-plus for 2005 Château Latour, anyone?), I find it reassuring to think that it’s possible to spend less than $50 and still get wines that will mature gracefully for 10 or more years. Here are a few candidates fitting that description:

Whites

Domaine de l’Ecu 2006 Expression du Gneiss (Muscadet Sèvre et Maine); $20. 

Jean-Marc Brocard 2006 Fourchaume Premier Cru (Chablis); $30.

Poonawatta 2006 Riesling (Eden Valley); $35.

Tegernseerhof 2006 Höhereck Grüner Veltliner (Wachau); $35.

Reds

CARM 2004 Quinta da Côa Reserva (Douro); $23.

Château Poujeaux 2005 Moulis; $40.

Penfolds 2005 Bin 389 Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz (South Australia); $35.

Penfolds 2005 Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon (South Australia); $31.

These are emblematic of the sort of wines I cellared when I first started collecting. I remember spending $55 for six bottles of 1988 Ch. Poujeaux on futures–bottles that in retrospect I drank far too young. I still have a few 1986 Ch. Meyney and Ch. Chasse-Spleen that cost me between $11 and 14, respectively, back in 1989. Although pricing has changed over the years, these wines still cost much less than the classified growths and cult wines that make all the headlines, and they’re still the sort of wines that make collecting–even on a budget–worthwhile. What are some of your affordable favorites for cellaring?

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