Caution: This might be Asylum material in more ways than one. . .
I recently came across a reference to the old Maslow psychology theory represented by a hierarchical pyramid of “needs”. By chance I simultaneously had a WB window open showing a few threads related to wine buying, which caused me to ponder a bit about the psychology behind wine buying. Could be a dead end, but any comments, insights or observations?
Maslow’s Hierarchy (from Wikipedia)
Basic needs = cheese
Psychological needs = olives
Self-fulfillment needs = wine
Safety needs: some wine in your house for when guests come over that isn’t embarrassing
Belonging: sign up for various waitlist and wine clubs for popular wines. Focus on points.
Esteem: start collecting Burgundy. Focus on rarity and unicorns.
Self actualization: drinking more broadly, appreciate up and down the quality ladder (using quality as shorthand here). Have more wine than will ever be consumed by oneself. Focus on enjoying.
I would say the Self-actualization begins when you have too much wine you don’t know what to do with, and then,
walk away from it.
If selling, the auction houses are the path to our higher selves. I guess that’s why we let them take 20+%