Acquisition vs Consumption

[Anton_D]

I woke up this AM to news about the first-ever photograph of a black hole. Got me thinking a bit about a black hole model of wine acquisition. I have not developed this model beyond stealing this simplified graphic as a starting point:

wine hole.gif

My preliminary hypotheses are that (1) many of us are being drawn in the direction of the “event horizon” beyond which there is “no return”, and (2) that some of us may indeed already be beyond reach and incapable of escape. Quoting an expert: “The event horizon – a.k.a. the point-of-no-return – is not a physical barrier, you couldn’t stand on it. If you’re on the inside of it, you can’t escape because you would need infinite energy. And if you are on the other side, you can – in principle.”
Some of us who are still on the other side of this “event horizon” may want to develop a strategy that will convert this possible escape ( i.e. “in principle”) to an actual escape before it is too late.
Just thinking . . .

Holy cow, you just described several of my lifelong friends’ love lives, as well!

[Anton_D]

Are we " Wine Hoarders Anonymous " ??

WHA???

[mdavis]

1. I’ve gone to great lengths to rationalize the size. You can calculate your “ideal” or “steady state” cellar size…I have about 50 appellations that I buy from…Look at how much of each you drink per year…assuming your purchases equals your consumption per year (good for pre-retirement), …steady state = - SUM( # of wine bottles drank per year/appellation * typical age of wines at peak (in years)). Yes, some vary, but you can take averages and separate the Cote d’Or by village/1er/GC/whatever…It is pretty easy to rationalize fairly large cellars with this equation. If you plan to retire and pull back on your purchases (ie. no longer support steady state where purchases and consumption are equalized per year), you need to increase the cellar size for that as well. There are a bunch of threads on this topics from years ago.

2. A large amount of the wine I buy is very difficult to get. I don’t have the time I used to have to chase every unicorn wine, but I do have some really good relationships with a few retailers. Basically, you have to recognize that NYC Somms have won the game and you, no matter who you are, likely don’t have the access that they have. I find that a lot of my favorite wines are also wines that NYC Somms are in love with - you may be more lucky. Acquisition was a lot more fun when I wasn’t competing against NYC Somms.

-mark

[Markus_S]

… The current count (not including roses and everyday whites) is a measly ~35 cases, with probably another ~10 off-site. When I die, someone else is gonna drink them. Because I’m pretty good at not letting them go over the hill, they’re gonna enjoy them.

Piker. You’ll get through those. I hear wine importers live long lives because of the wine circulating in their blood.

[Markus_S]

… Acquisition was a lot more fun when I wasn’t competing against NYC Somms.

Or the internet. Wine buying was much more fun and full of discovery before people (yes YOU guilty WB!) Instagramed their precious and you actually had to have some knowledge for the hunt. Now everything is already known and discussed ad nauseam it is so boring…and frustrating.

[mdavis]

… Acquisition was a lot more fun when I wasn’t competing against NYC Somms.

Or the internet. Wine buying was much more fun and full of discovery before people (yes YOU guilty WB!) Instagramed their precious and you actually had to have some knowledge for the hunt. Now everything is already known and discussed ad nauseam it is so boring…and frustrating.

Right. The wine market is closer to being efficient now. Until recently, I was usually a few years ahead of the masses and most geeks. Oh well.

-mark

[R0_M_0_R_R_1_0_N]

Are we " Wine Hoarders Anonymous " ??

Yes. Continually running out of storage space. My pace of consumption has slowed a bit, but acquisition has always outpaced consumption. My collection/hoard is sufficient to provide ample selection for many years, but acquisition hasn’t really slowed to reflect that. Over time my palate has evolved as well, so I’ve started culling those I can live without. Storage issues persist though. ‘Wine hoarders’ definitely fits. However, spending time with other wine hoarders in the wine hoarders support group only seems to result in more wine…and so it goes. Must step up the cellar diminishment support group dinner meetings…

[Robert_Grenley]

Fortunately I at this point only chase Burgundy. Unfortunately at this point I only chase Burgundy.
My focus is narrow, which is good. The subject of my focus is expensive, which is bad.
At 64 and with a large cellar of Burgundy, I told myself that I am done with new vintages, and after only succumbing to a few mixed cases of 15’s, I think I am indeed resolved to stop buying new vintages.
I backfill if I find excellent wine at excellent prices, so needless to say, that is by nature limiting.
I selectively buy house drinkers, and a few select OR pinots and a couple of CA pinots, so that keeps my hands off the Burgs.
But if I don’t start drinking some of those Burgundies more frequently, I may be leaving a lot of wine to my family…which is not necessarily a bad thing.
I just hope I get the chance to drink those special bottles from those special vintages before I kick…it would be a shame to save those for years and miss out when you get hit by a bus.

[Dan_Kravitz]

to Marcus S:

Of course I’ll get through the 35 + 10 cases. As an importer, I’ve already lived a long life (72). Have no particular plans to head to the checkout counter any time soon, but I will some day… guaranteed! And when I do, I will have 25 - 50 cases in the basement, probably another 5 - 20 offsite, and somebody will drink them.

Dan Kravitz

[Scott_E1]

I’m static. I confess I don’t really get the collecting side of this wine hobby, but I do like to drink them, so I am just continuously replacing what I consume. Perhaps it is because I can’t really acquire the highly sought “collectible” wines anyway… Cheers!