To Share or Not to Share...That is the Question...

I’ve been around internet wine boards for many years and it’s always been enjoyable for me to turn people on to new/weird/local/different wines or to make recommendations that I think people will like. But with the way the wine market is now it seems like some people find a wine they like and then buy everything they can, and hoard wines in quantities far beyond what they will actually drink, either for bragging rights or to try to turn a profit if something becomes popular or scarce. It’s part of the hobby that I’ve never liked, nor understood. Wine should be about sharing and I’ve always shared new discoveries, shared sources for wine with other geeks, tried turning people on to bargains, etc. But if something is already scarce I find myself not wanting to post about it here because then it might disappear even faster. And I don’t like feeling that way. But I also don’t like people hoarding wine and not spreading the wealth around. I wish people could just be happy buying 6 bottles of something rare and interesting and leaving the rest for other people instead of trying to buy everything they can find. It just seems selfish to me. Does anyone else have this conundrum? If something is already hard to find do you just not post on it? Interested in hearing how others deal with this issue…or if they even care.

My first thought is that I agree with you in theory, but the internet has made it the Wild West Unfortunately. I always make habit Though of not taking all of a local score that I stumble upon. I’ll Always leave some for the next guy/gal to find too, we all know that feeling and it just feels wrong to be selfish when there is ultimately plenty to share.

Always share.

There will always be another, we are talking about “it” now, we just don’t know it yet.

I do feel this conundrum. One consideration for me. It’s not like most of these wine makers are getting rich off of what they are doing.

I like making money and I like it when my current clients give me a reference. Why wouldn’t I do the same for the producers that matter to me?

I find these segmentation of wine consumers to be mostly true:

https://www.bauerhaus.com/the-6-different-wine-consumers/

I honestly deplore the ‘image seekers’ category. Wine as a Veblen good/conspicuous consumption is something to sneer at.

That said, it’s pretty rare to have a Gonon. For every Gonon there is still a Guillaume Gilles, Nicolas Serrette, and Christophe Billon. I will always share when I’m one of the few singing its praises, but once there is a chorus, seems my voice isn’t needed (e.g. Franck Balthazar). Much of why I am here is to find great new wines–and have I ever. Without Wineberserkers, I wouldn’t know about Envoyer, Lopa, Panzer. I’m comparatively a greenhorn and here mostly to learn. Lopa just offered a PYCM, and knowledge is power. I know if I try to buy that locally (which I probably can’t find outside of driving an hour south to another state) the Pernand-Vergelesses ‘Les Belles Filles’ is going to be $70.00. I also now know many other producers that are killing it, and am going to pass on the PYCM. It’s going to be a while before Bernard Moreau catches the hype of PYCM.

Former Congressman Dennis Eckart taught me that I’m not big enough to make the wave, but I can surf the wave.

This post reminded me of the Yogi Berra quote: “nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded.” Not in a negative way. There’s definitely something nice about finding a little out of the way restaurant where you can always get a table and they know your name. Once others discover it the vibe can change.

For some years now all the cool new wines have already been discovered and have shot up in price or disappeared from the normal distribution channels by the time I find out about them, so this is not a dilemma I have to face. No doubt a consequence of the phenomenon you describe, Marshall. Probably a good thing. I already have too much wine.

Before that, I loved to share the latest/greatest finds with friends.

I hear you but I don’t feel the same way at all. I’ve found out about many great wines and producers here on WB and I would feel like an a$$ if I didn’t share my good finds here. Of course I have close to zero influence so it does not matter very much at all if I happen to praise some young turk from the Northern Rhône that could very well be the next Gonon (although my Elio Sandri post a while back definitely received a few “shushh” comments).

I’m too old to be selfish. Giving is my new normal! I only buy affordable wines now and look for opportunities to gift or share the better stuff.

Yup. Sharing the stuff that is in the cellar is one of the greatest joys of this hobby. Really missing the in-person aspects of it that Zoom can’t satisfy. We’re planning a socially distanced fix for that next week.

This.

And post away! That’s sharing as well. I personally never liked the notion of holding back on notes from the wine community because you fear the wine selling out. Luckily for me, my notes only compel people to run!

Yea, I’m all in in sharing as well. Like many, I’m here to learn and share experiences. Discovering new things to try is a huge part of the value of this board. So you have to give back as well, no? And I figure that we’re still a pretty small part of the market.

If you can’t buy at least six bottles, can you really afford it?

/s (from another thread)

I love sharing wine. When we first got into wine we were lucky enough to attend a tasting with some wines well above our price point at that time. It was a life changing experience. Partly because of the wine, but more because of the generosity of others. Now we have dinner parties and we open our cellar. I have told friends to open whatever they want (with only one exception, it really needs time). Some do, some hold back. But all is enjoyed.

I’m driving myself nuts drinking bottles that I want to share with other geeks. With like Lurker Ira ™. To the heart of your question, if I stumble upon a “cherry” the most I buy is a couple. There have been past instances where I bought it all but only to share out with friend geeks who would be grateful for the access. I remember driving hours to buy Mordorée CdP RdB in Maryland and shipping some to Greg Ellis in North Carolina to share. To me this method was slightly better than leaving it to the vagaries of fate and the next guy taking it all to hoard. At least I had some marginal control over the fairness of the outcome.

Just to be clear, I wasn’t talking about sharing wines in person. I love doing that, and always will. We have a regular group we often drink with, and I have a couple of cases of wines that I intend to open with them when we can. I’m talking about posting TNs on geeky, limited wines that may have very limited availability (4 or 5 retailers in the country on WS), and my guess is those retailers don’t have a lot. Is it better to post and risk those wines just being gone, or to let people discover them on their own so they don’t get snapped up by one or two people?

I have been attacked for revealing stuff which others wanted to stay secret. So my WineHunting has been in silence.

+1. Lots of us share on this board and elsewhere. I’ve noticed the opposite from the OP.

Sharing and the idea that I could reciprocate the generosity that was shown to me later in life was part of what really drew me into wine. One of the real “problems” I have is often if we’re gathered at my house I’ll open 6+ bottles just because I want people to get a chance to try a wine. I think it would be less likely if I had more regular gatherings, but we only got together every 3-4 months. So I may have 12 new wines I want to share since I saw them last.

Everything changes and there is a lot of very good wine being made.
I’m happy to share knowing full well that I’ll find something new and delicious if I try.
Best, jim

Not sure I get the inference here Alan? I’ve shared notes on literally thousands of wines over the years. I was just wondering if anyone else thought about the balance between sharing notes on something that’s already rare and hard to find and whether the benefit of doing so for those who may not know about a wine is worth the possibility of that wine disappearing.