More or less in terms of total bottles purchased: much less
More or less in terms of value of said bottles purchased: much less
Age of person answering: 63
Average cost of bottle purchased: $70? Dunno
How long have you been ‘into wine’: 25+ years
Really ramped up purchase 2017-2018 then binge bought 2020-2021.
Just like many have said, enough wine to exceed my life expectancy. Dropped most lists and just buy a few favorite producers. And Champagne.
Really sunk in when my offsite filled up. Not just my locker. Not just my 11 lockers, the whole place. Can’t just get another locker every few months anymore.
I’ll keep on buying Bordeaux when the deal is there, but it’s because I can, and I will continue buying the lesser labels that can be enjoyed within 5-10 years. Most of my purchases are from the Tuscan region and from Oregon with the regular summer whites thrown in. Over all, I’m down 50%
More or less in terms of total bottles purchased: More
More or less in terms of value of said bottles purchased: More
Age of person answering: 33
Average cost of bottle purchased: 40€. It was 20€ when I started, and probably 50-60€ in 5 years.
How long have you been ‘into wine’: 6 years
Gonna be the opposite in terms of increasing numbers and age, but I think to a certain extent I’m aligning with the habits of the rest of you guys in terms of what it’s ‘becoming’ in terms of bottle worth and rotation of cellar stock.
A lot of purchases in the past 4 years have led to receiving allocations, so I think I will replace many names this year. At the same time, many of these ‘shopping-bag’ fillers that I haven’t gotten to drink will be sold before they get too much age. Will sell roughly 200 bottles in April.
Looking ahead, I feel like the bottle price average could increase slightly but the amount of bottles bought will become less.
My purchasing is pretty much gone to zero. My last bottles purchased were in April of last year. Mainly due to age (71) and declining wine consumption. Plus, the current pricing of the types of wine I now drink are crazy stupid. My tasting group is made up with people still buying, so I get to try lots of top tier producers from recent vintages, while I tend to bring older wines. But when I hear what current prices are for the red and white burgs we drink are, I can’t mentally justify it. Admittedly, we drink very well, mostly GC and 1er crus from the who’s who of Burgundy, but $400-1,000 a bottle for a current release? I’m out, even though I can afford it.
More or less in terms of total bottles purchased: About the same
More or less in terms of value of said bottles purchased: Slightly more
Age of person answering: 60
How long have you been ‘into wine’: 39 years, but with a 15+ year break in the middle that ended in 2016.
I drank my original cellar down and then restarted collecting again in 2016. It was at a moderate pace since I was also way into beer and did a ton of homebrewing, but then in the pandemic, I discovered I was allergic to hops (only took me 40 years to figure that out). So when I could no longer drink beer, the pace of rebuilding my cellar increased.
At this point, I’m trying to figure out the longer term plan for when I need to stop buying wines that need 15-20 years. I know I don’t want to be buying those when I’m 70, but I’m not sure how much sooner I should realistically stop buying them. So I’m trying to develop a cellar plan that also takes into account my own mortality.
To you and everyone else who thinks they’re an old fart - you just never know how long you might live. Here is my 104 year old mom drinking a little wine a few weeks ago (note - I tend not to cheap out for her). So at 78 - you can probably stock up on some 2022s and 23s and unless you think all wine needs 40 years of cellar time like some of our board members you may be good. Truth is, you never know when your time is up. Now granted, my mother is not buying any new vintages!
waaaaay more at auction, way less winery direct (domestic). With Napa, especially, being so much more expensive on release than at auction, there’s no reason to do it the old way. Also so many great international wines at a relative discount to the covid years to entice. Hoping I’ll be happy with the decision in a couple years……
I want to be buying less but it’s not happening. Like many here; my age, full cellar, funds should go elsewhere, prices going up, club memberships, verticals, fear of missing out, BD, clearances all contribute to what I should and should not be buying.
I anticipate WAY less this year. When I had to take on a 5th offsite locker because I realized that I had purchased 40 cases last year at ~$100+/bottle, I had to take a step back.
Combine that with dramatically cutting back consumption (probably 70-80% less than 2023), and I feel like I have to cut off the vast majority of buying since consumption of daily drinkers is over with for me. (Down 70 pounds since Jan 1 last year).
When I buy, I’m buying the bottles that I now know we love (likely on the more expensive end). Hoping to enjoy our collection over the next decades.
I’m 45 years old.
Have been drinking wine for 18 years, and accumulating wine for over a decade (with a significant increase in purchases the last 3 years).
Chablis aside I haven’t tasted any yet. I’m basing this statement on what Alan Meadows wrote in his last newsletter. According to him, it seems like a varied vintage, but with some very good wines out there, which should be enjoyable at a young age. Like in 22 volumes are high, giving you a better shot at obtaining some top-class wines. So from a buyer’s perspective it seems like a decent/good vintage (especially when compared to what 24 might offer). But as usual, I won’t be putting in any orders until I’ve had the opportunity to taste some of the vintage…so I might have to revise my (premature?) judgement.
Even though I have enough wine to last multiple lifetimes I am still buying quite a bit. I have come to the realization that the constant learning, exploring, sourcing wine not to mention supporting producers is a major part of my enjoyment of this hobby / passion.
More or less in terms of total bottles purchased: Less More or less in terms of value of said bottles purchased: More Age of person answering: 38 Average cost of bottle purchased: $62, likely to go up How long have you been ‘into wine’: 10 years
