Top 100 Cellar Selections Of 2016

Aristotle was almost certainly talking about wine when he wrote, “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” While cellaring wine may, at times, feel like an agonizing guessing game, when you finally do open that cherished bottle at its optimal drinking age, it’s nirvana. Or close to it.

The reward of a well-aged wine erases any doubt or anxiety that came with its maturation, and the thrill of the experience can become surprisingly addictive. If only it were easier to know those optimal aging windows.

Our Top 100 Cellar Selections list takes the guesswork out of sitting on your hands. Culled from the nearly 1,000 wines reviewed throughout the past year that were designated Cellar Selections by our tasting panel, this lineup will guide you when undertaking the tricky yet gratifying task of starting a cellar, or just help you expand your existing collection.

#21 Wayfarer 2014 Golden Mean Pinot Noir 97 points

Dark, brooding cinnamon and fleshy black plum provide an exciting, complex counterpoint to the rakish earthiness and exotic Asian spice going on in this full-bodied, explosively compelling wine, its minerality lingering. It's young and still tightly coiled, with lingering minerality; let it open to enjoy now, but it would show best after some time, so cellar through 2024.