As I sit here watching the Bordeaux boys battle it out in the 2009 prognostication thread, and speaking with my friend Steve last night on how things are going out there in the real wine buying world got me thinking what habits I have either changed, will change or eliminate going forward.
On the surface, my buying hiatus has not worked too well unless you view my list of things “I would have purchased, but didn’t since started”, it was a great success. I won’t share the number here, but let’s just say north of 1.5 cases of Schrader.
What I find myself buying are more everyday drinkers for ridiculous prices: Twenty-five dollar or less Napa Cabs and Cali Syrah. PAX, Frazier, Hardin, Havens, K Vintners et al.
Buying 2004 Oakville Ranch CS for $35? Sure. The latest K Vintners Milbrandt Syrah for $23? Yes please! Older PAX for $25/30ish? But of course.
What I have been avoiding are many the big number boys. Wines, which were usual sure buys in years gone by, but just not today. Sure, I have my regular buys, that won’t be altered, Maybach comes to mind, but as the 2007s hit, I will stock up on the $35-$50ish ones. Maybe less when a great wine presents itself.
Above $50 these days? Not much.
I want to keep it under my age going forward, even if it’s only 2 dollars less than the number above.
I’m on the same page as you. I’ve vowed not to buy anything over $50 this year. It’s actually easier than I thought, most of my regular buys, Ojai, Sojourn, Stolpman, Rhys have plenty in that range. I bought 2 mixed cases of Cameron Hughes based on my previous experiences, and the positive notes on the 2007 Cabs.
I really don’t want to grow my cellar any bigger than it is now, so I’m really going to just keep up with my consumption at this point and be selective for the rest of the year.
After a pretty aggressive 2008 and 2009 in buying, I am drawing a line in the sand. I think that I need to reel in spending and only purchase wines that I enjoy drinking on a daily basis and at a reasonable price. Sure, it would be nice to continue buying trophy or cult wines for offlines, but I think I have enough of those to cover me for a few get togethers.
What this means is no more automatic club shipments of $100+ wines and being very critical in evaluating what I buy moving forward. Of course I will have a soft spot for some pet favorites (Maybach, Realm, etc.), but I am seeking out value at the $20 to $50 range in CA, up and down the Coast as well as European bargains. Cameron Hughes comes to mind as does the recent Prum offering from Posner. When I look in my wine cabinets and all I see is wines I don’t want to drink as a daily drinker, I think my buying habit needs to change.
Ive loved every 07 cab Ive had so far, so Im buying all cabs up to Scarecrow, then Ill cut down next year. Same for syrah (hopefully I can get some SQN as that and Alban remain my two waiting lists.) I have enough wine, dont get to share it much, so buying based on price alone is not a strategy that works for me. Id end up with cases of wines Id never drink. Id say 85% of my cellar is now stuff that Im thrilled to drink. The rest is stuff that is good but that I bought because it was cheap (for house wines or everyday wines or whatver one calls it) and I rarely have a reason to open. Trying to get that percentage up to 95
He is a guy in Cali that gets really good deals on really good bulk wines and/or vineyard sources. He has a winemaker that makes the wines and he sells them as “Lots” based on appellation and vintage. Some are pedestrian, but some from '07 are stellar even before factoring in the wine’s price.
For example: The 2007 Lot 143 is from Howell Mountain and sold for under $20 a bottle at Costco and $22 online. A little research and you can take a very educated guess at the pedigree of the juice in bottle. I found it outstanding and deserving of a $50 or $75 pricetag.
The good thing with the last couple of years is that I finally managed to streamline my wine buying–thankfully not due to the economy but because I was traveling and didn’t have time nor the opportunity to be tempted. So I went back to the basics: the red Burgs I buy year in and year out, the one Cote-Rotie producer I follow religiously, my champagne favs (at least those whose prices didn’t double) and a few Alsace and CdP producers at very attractive prices (in the 5-20 euros range). Everything else (especially Bordeaux and CdP) simply went poof, more or less overnight. This means my cellar is changing into exactly what I’d like it to be. And any bottle of wine over 25 euros had better seriously rock my boat, because there aren’t going to be many second chances.
There are some wines I buy every year; I have allocations from a few Burgundy and Alsace producers. It took much enthusiastic effort to get these and I feel hilariously fortunate to be able to buy some of my favourite wines year in and year out.
As far as my other wine purchases go I am going to try and buy more stuff for general drinking rather than bottles that have to sit in my cellar forever. The cellar is heavingly full. I’ve just ordered a mixed case of what will be perfectly enjoyable wines in the £10-15 (~$16-24) range that can be popped on any occasion. I normally spend rather more than that, but my quest for drinking wines could well result in this year showing a reduction in my average spend.
I am reducing my mailing lists to 5 or 6 essentials (Copain, Rhys, Anthill, Lato, Peay, Maybach) and trying to purchase more Alsatian and German whites. My cellar contains by far more red than white wine, but I find myself wanting white wine at least as much as red these days. I need to change the balance in my cellar to reflect that.
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