I’m getting up there in years, and my cellar is full. I truly don’t need any more wine. I stocked up heavily on the 2023 vintage, and that should more than see me through.
Still, it’s a strange feeling to pass on allocations that, not that long ago, I would have bought without hesitation. The emails come in, the clock starts ticking, and the old reflex is still there. I feel the urge to buy—out of habit, out of loyalty, out of fear of missing out—but reason wins.
At some point, collecting has to give way to enjoying. The real luxury now isn’t acquiring more bottles; it’s opening the ones I already have, sharing them with friends, and appreciating the fact that I was fortunate enough to build the cellar in the first place.
Yep. More and more offers go by the wayside. I feel bad, as I know the wIneries are struggling, but at some point the consumption has to outpace the acquisition, and I can only drink so much.
I’ve heard that some British families have an enduring tradition - the older generation hands down the family cellar they have accumulated to the next generation with the proviso that they drink what they want but add back knowing they too shall pass it along. ‘Struck me as quite civilized.
So I am trying to do that, albeit I am the first generation to initiate the idea.
My daughter, while not as interested in wine as I, is making strides in learning, appreciating and sharing/enjoying. So hopefully, I’ll leave her the beginnings of our own family tradition.
Or maybe this is the tale I tell myself to rationalize that case of Briords I bought today.
This should be carved in stone… Just these last few weeks I have been actually mildly struggling as I haven’t bought any wine since mid December - passing on mailers I would have normally been all over the last decade or so. I have more or less a lifetime supply based on current consumption - time to focus on actually drinking the damn things.
I have found that the FOMO dopamine rush fades the longer I am in this hobby.
Couple this with the fact that my cellar is basically full, I am drinking a bit less than I used to, and I can usually find these “highly allocated“ wines at auction for the same or less compared to what they were originally sold for…
I can count on one hand the number of “lists“ that I even care about being on at this point.
Agreed 100%. Im pretty much down to 6 to 7 lists that I really want to support/buy from and enjoy. The rush does truly fade the longer you have been in lol.
I do think DTC will become more and more a fad as time goes on unless the wineries develop a consortium of like-minded wineries where you can compile your DTC purchases from multiple wineries. I recall hearing Tablas or some other wines were gonna try out that model. I think most wine lovers don’t want a whole cellar of three labels. It’s not practical as a hedge against changing tastes in one’s life.
I realize I say this as for a lot of wineries that I love it is their lifeline. I think there’s a middle ground of wine drinkers that find a few labels through tasting rooms and maybe they only buy a couple lists and don’t care. But for the serious drinker and collector, it doesn’t make a lot of sense unless you have money to waste and don’t care about having to sell off parts of your collection to auction. I’m grateful those people are out there because it has allowed me to buy wines and taste a mature version of this or that rather than commit to a mailing list I won’t be interested in a few years down the line.
I could not disagree more. Having the good fortune of making Wine country trips over the last three decades and more visits then I can count (outside of the restaurant market) the life blood of the wine market above $25 is the direct consumer market and the relationships they build over years with customers. There are those of us who support multiple wineries and deep dive down the rabbit hole that is this forum. At the same time I have encountered hundreds of people in my life that appreciate and enjoy better wine without going down that rabbit hole.
The vast majority of them began that journey in a tasting room. They join a wine club and collect wines from a producer they feel connection to. Sometimes they go back to visit, but sometimes they just buy the wine. And overtime they add a few more. It is not just us fanatics. It is nearly every single person I’ve ever met who drinks better Wine who has gotten there starting in a wine tasting room.
I am in something of a similar situation with my daughter. She’s been into wine for almost 20 years now. She and her husband have a much nicer/newer/bigger house than mine, with an unfinished basement that is about the square footage of my house. She’s been talking lately about having a passive cellar (works well here in SE Wyoming and is what I’ve had for decades) built when they finish the basement. And, as she’s an “only child” she not only inherits my house when I croak, but all the contents - including my modest wine cellar. I reminded her of this the other day and she seemed to have a positive reaction. I am going to tell her about that British tradition.
Yeah this is exactly what my family does. My kids will be the 4th generation and just turned 19 and 21. My son’s first purchase of wine was the recent MOWE release. Super proud papa
I’m not sure that’s what Tablas is doing - they have formed a ‘consortium’ with other like minded wineries and are ‘sharing’ wine club benefits with each other.
The challenge of shipping multiple wineries’ wines together is truly monumental.
I am in the same boat, full cellar, drinking less and retired so I have gotten off many lists or buy selectively if I still get the mailers. Add to that the endless prices increases over the past decade and whisky becomes a much more interesting option. When I think about sitting down to a normal dinner at home and the bottle of wine is (name the price for your poison $50-$200) it seems totally out of kilter. I still enjoy wine but drink substantially less now.
