LeBron James’ incredible taste in wine, explained by 4 experts

LeBron James loves wine. I mean, he loves wine, and anyone who follows him on Instagram knows it. Get you a partner who loves you as much as James loves his red wine. That’s basically what we’re trying to say here.

I wanted to know how much James loves wine, though, and his $1,200 wine weekend felt like the perfect time to do it. Sommeliers and other wine experts will be the first to tell you that expensive wine isn’t necessarily the equivalent to good wine. Does James — or, if you’re a skeptic, the person who buys wine for James — have good taste?

Bleacher Report previously investigated James’ wine habits, and he received mostly high marks. But James has never given us a more complete look at his tastes than this Instagram, featuring six reds and a white that he presumably played a large part in drinking.

In bold is what we’ll refer to the wines as throughout this post.

GRAHM: Some of these wines (like Sassacaia and Quinterelli) are trophy wines, but they are nevertheless really great and perhaps the finest expression of their genre.

DESCRIPTION: While still very young, the ‘04 Quintarelli Amarone shows a complex, velvety palate that scintillates with a kaleidoscopic swirl of plums, chocolate, espresso, earth, and that ineffable Quintarelli terroir. This is a massive, voluptuous wine that never sits still in the glass, and it’s only going to grow more phenomenal with age. The Quintarelli 2004 Amarone is a hedonist’s delight, a wine to be savored and meditated upon, and a fitting tribute to one of the world’s greatest winemakers ever to have lived.

GRAHM: “What is most impressive is that the New World Cabs selected (Corison and Mayacamas) are in fact generally ‘against type’ from the typical over-blown, over-extracted California Cabs and are wines of genuine elegance.”

ROBERTS: “The really telling items here are the two Napa-area stalwarts (Corison and Mayacamas) and the white Burgundy (the Latour Chassagne-Montrachet). Those are absolutely legit, in-the-know choices, the kinds of picks that will give you street cred with the wine cognoscenti, serious collectors, and sommeliers.

GRAHM: By all reckoning, it appears to be a fairly elegant Pinot.

HAN WEN: Even though when comparing with other wines, the Pinot Noir seems lighter, but the one he picked has a long length of finish because of the premium quality of the wine.

MAKER: Cathy Corison’s eponymous Corison Cabernet, grown in her estate Kronos vineyard in St. Helena, and Maggie Harrison’s Pinot Noir (Antikythera) from the project’s holdings in Oregon. America has a paucity of successful women winemakers, but these two are among the most respected winemakers in the country, period.

DESCRIPTION: This precocious and captivating wine exudes profound notes of blackberry, coffee, licorice, and cocoa. Full-bodied and refined, it is deeply layered with delicate nuances of graphite and baking spices. The silky tannins resonate with a lush, balanced finish.

GRAHM: LeBron (or someone who picks out his wines) has really great taste — wines of elegance rather than wines of sheer power and extraction. Bravo, LeBron.

HAN WEN: LeBron has a good taste of wines. The selections featured on his Instagram are all excellent wines, from renowned producers and regions in the world, and most of them have very limited production in those vintages.

ROBERTS: Bottom line is that LeBron seems to be the real deal; I mean, he’s an amazing athlete, he is a pretty good comedic actor, and his taste in wines looks totally legit based on that post.

MAKER: These are wines with compelling narrative backstories, creation myths that make good reading. But as with any good myth, it’s the people in the story that matter most — the winemakers, their families, and the traditions they keep or break. These wines are made by people who are driven by a clear vision about what their wine, from their place, should be. You want to be able to say that about any wine, but with these wines, it’s true.

These wines are exquisite and luxurious, but not ostentatious. These aren’t showy wines. They’re expensive, yes, but that’s because they’re carefully crafted — by people who deserve to prosper.

Like his sometimes wonky jump shot, James is consuming a few of these wines too young.

“The Kronos is going to enter its peak drinking window in eight to ten years, and it has the stuffing to age much longer,” Maker said. “The Brio — I confess I’m not familiar with Brand’s wines, but given the vintage, vineyard, blend, and protocols, this wine also needs some time.”

But hey — James is shooting a career high from the floor and the three-point line this season, and may have even fixed that one weak link to his game. Give him time, and I’m sure he’ll get his wine game shored up, too.