Highlights of NIST report on comparison of optical media
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Here are some highlights of the NIST report Stability Comparison of Recordable Optical Discs - A Study of Error Rates in Harsh Conditions (local copy). Please note that this summary is by no means a substitute for reading the entire guide.

The tests subjected recorded CD-Rs and DVD-Rs to harsh light and temperature/humidity cycling. The dye layer used in recordable optical media is considered crucial to disks stability. The testing found that strong direct light can be very harmful to recordable disks (damage in as little as a few weeks in some cases).

For CD-Rs, they found

... phthalocyanine combined with a gold-silver alloy as a reflective layer was consistently more stable than all other types of CD-R media.

The Mitsui company makes CD-Rs with phthalocyanine dye, available under the "MAM-A" name. Not suprisingly, these disks are more expensive than mass-market CD-Rs (a box of 100 of the MAM-A Gold disks costs $160 while a spindle of 100 mass-market CD-Rs costs well under $50).

Conclusion: if you use CD-Rs to record data for archival purposes, use disks with a phthalocyanine dye and a gold alloy reflective layer.