Cellaring, Backfilling, and the Panic Button

The thread on the Top 5 Producers had me checking out my Port situation:

20 x 1985 Graham’s VP - [dance-clap.gif]

9 x 2007 Taylor Fladgate LBV - [basic-smile.gif]

1 x 1977 Dow’s VP - [scratch.gif]

1 x 1966 Graham’s VP - [swoon.gif]

0 x 1970 Graham’s VP - [shock.gif]

1 x 1966 Krohn’s Colheita - [cry.gif]

1 x 2003 Graham’s VP - blush

What happened to my stock of '70? ( [drinkers.gif] ) Where did that lone bottle of Dow’s come from? I’m embarrassed to see I don’t have some younger bottles laying down.

Anyway, what I’m getting at is your outlook on filling your cellar. Do you search for aged bottles to replace favorites that evaporate as fast as mine? What stock level do you let these get down to before you press the panic button and scour the web for more? Or when that stash is depleted, do you move on to other bottles and be happy you had the few that you did?

How about picking the bottles you do select? I use the heroin / methadone system. Graham’s is the heroin while Taylor Fladgate LBV is the methadone. Lokoya Diamond Mtn is the heroin while Hill Family Estate Atlas Peak is the methadone. JC Pichot Les Larmes de Bacchus = heroin; Arrowood Late Harvest Riesling = methadone. I’m sure others use different terms (i.e. special occasion versus daily drinker), and some are completely random based on a good deal on whatever they like.

Dessert/port wines are probably one of the few categories where it doesn’t seem to cost much to get older wines, and in some cases they might even be less then current releases. But because of that it makes it more questionable on how much one should cellar themselves, especially if space/storage are issues.

Nope, I take it like a man and move on, there’s tremendous $hitloads of wine out there, always new favorites.

I would not say I have hit a panic mode, but it has hit me this past year that my cellar is perfect for me . . . in ten or more years! About 90% of my cellar is post-2000 vintage. And I have over ten cases of more new stuff coming in next week. I really need to stop hitting the crack pipe and minimize new release purchases, and going back to more selective backfilling.

I have a few wines I am always on the lookout for at a reasonable price. However, more often than not…I just look to move on to a new vintage or producer. Some key wines I’m always looking to back-fill:

PG - Etzel Block
Musar
Cru Bojo
2001 Germany
2002 Red Burgs

I just keep buying lots of the sticky purple (or brown) stuff.

And I hope your '77 Dow’s isn’t corked. But have a backup ready when you do open it as the odds are against you.

Was pulling my bottles for tomorrow and was going to pull a '70 Fladgate, CT shows 2, but I only have 1. Partial panic, just need to source more. Settled on a '63 Graham’s