It's vintage Napa

BEAULIEU VINEYARD, Inglenook, Chateau Montelena, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Heitz Wine Cellars: The online auction catalog reads like a who's who of Napa Valley pioneers, vintners who made the first world-class wines in California. The list includes bottles from the region's legendary vintages of 1974, 1978 and 1985. The surprise? Most of these storied Cabernet Sauvignon wines are priced to sell for a relative pittance.

In a world where a case of old Bordeaux can fetch $100,000 at auction, wines with the benefit of a couple of decades in the bottle appear to be beyond the reach of most wine lovers. The average price of a bottle of 1982 Chateau Petrus at auction has doubled to $4,375 since 2005 on top of stratospheric increases in gavel prices earlier in the decade, according to statistics compiled by Wine Market Journal, a website that tracks wine auctions.

In this overheated atmosphere with collectors from all over the world vying for the big names in old wine, one corner of the wine market -- California Cabernet Sauvignon vintage 1985 and older -- remains stocked with affordable treasures, according to experts on rare wine.

A handful of savvy connoisseurs collects these wines -- not to fill their cellars with bragging rights, but to drink. Bidding on these older California wines in online auctions offers novice enthusiasts an avenue for exploring the pleasures of mature fine wine.

"It's the last undiscovered top-quality wine in the market," says David Parker, president of online wine auction house Brentwood Wine Co.

No bells, no whistles

THESE Cabs have proved to be among the longest-lived California wines made. Yet, they were produced with little fanfare, originally selling for $5 to $20 a bottle at a time when few Americans understood how to properly store wine. So the risk of damage from poor storage is higher than with more celebrated wines. And they are unlikely to increase in value, so they're not for investors.

Major auction houses, including Sotheby's and Christie's, rarely feature these wines. When it comes to California, their clients prefer Screaming Eagle, Harlan, Colgin and the other cult Cabs from Napa Valley. But smaller houses such as Acker Merrall & Condit have developed online auctions that feature less expensive wines, including what Acker owner John Kapon calls "classic" California wines. Hart Davis Hart Wine Co. and Zachys Wine Auctions have established online retail outlets for the same purpose.