It is hard to disagree with Saul’s thoughtful comments. But, I wanted to take this opportunity to embellish on them a little. If there is anything missing from his perspective, it is stating the obvious: not only do wines age, but so do wine collectors. It was a lot easier to be acquisitive in my early years as a wine lover. Like many of you I struggled to build a cellar that was aligned with our eating habits. For us, wine is an essential component of our dinners. My ambition was to have something (or two) for every meal we would prepare or BYOB we would visit. At the same time, I struggled to have something a ‘little nicer’ for many of those same menus for more special occasions. I kept records of our consumption patterns – by grape and by country, so that the assortment was more aligned with our eating habits than with my chasing every shiny object that came along. Over time, our eating habits have evolved and we consume no red meat anymore, making it harder to drink some of the lovely reds I have accumulated, resulting in some ‘overstocking.’ Like many of you, I was susceptible to great opportunities to buy special wines at special prices. You all know the routine.
Well, here I am many years older with a substantial cellar. And at the same time, new and wonderful wine keep coming along. So, now what do I do? In thinking about this dilemma, I found myself thinking about a quote that I encountered a long time ago that seems to reflect elements of my personality: paraphrasing St. Augustine, sometimes abstinence is easier than moderation. Two years ago, I stopped buying red wine unless it filled a hole in the cellar and was meant for near-term consumption. It is just easier than the agony of deciding and parsimony. I still buy white wines, but most are meant for near-term consumption. My record keeping affords me insight into what should be reasonable quantities. Again, here too the assortment is tied to our menus.
I miss the thrill of the chase for the latest and greatest of the new red wine coming to market, but it is just easier to skip the whole category and focus on drinking what has been quietly resting in the cellar.
About ten years ago, I stopped buying any wine that needed to age 10 years or longer–in other words, almost all new releases of red wine. I was too old to think about aging it. I still bought older bordeaux and wine for early drinking. I was also quite consciously buying less than I drank in order to decrease my cellar with slow, but fair success. Since this past fall, I have stopped buying anything but things for near term drinking, some whites, fewer reds, probably about 6 bottles a month on average. I might still look for old bordeaux (a weakness in my cellar), but if I can’t drink it now, I’m not interested.
I replied before reading Saul’s thoughtful advice. His plan I am sure makes a world of sense for many people, if not most in this circumstance.
It makes no sense for me.
First, forecasting and committing now to what you might want or need then is more difficult than it sounds, at least for me. I think it underestimates, at least for me, the difficulty of predicting your wine consumption patterns–or more accurately, the wine consumption pattern of all wine drinkers in your household who drink from the same cellar–years in advance. In our household, both the quantity of wine consumed and the type has changed multiple times, for me and for my bride, in varying ways over the years, so while I can see that the exercise Saul describes might be of some value, the mathematical precision it suggests is, at least in my case, is (or would have been) illusory.
Second, the minute someone uses the word “spreadsheet” in connection with something I consider to be a joyful leisure time activity I recoil. Just no. Again, for me.
Finally, I may be an outlier but I did not find the cold turkey approach all that difficult. Throughout my life, I have given up many activities I loved because the time for them had passed. I once had a “local” where the barkeep knew my name and what to pour before my ass hit the stool. Those days are long, long (long) over. I used to enjoy nothing more than a cigarette after a delicious meal, but I thankfully gave that up decades ago. When I married, my wife suggested strongly that I should give up seeing other women; I agreed that this would be a sensible approach.
I know some people have more difficulty giving up enjoyable but unnecessary/destructive habits, but I don’t think it is correct to say that “cold turkey” isn’t a plan.
We were planning on slowing down this year but we keep getting some offers from various place that make them hard to pass up. Based on what I’ve read here and other source I expect the deals to keep coming.
I don’t have a spreadsheet, but I do create an annual buy list each year. I have paired down my lists and will skip an offer if I do overbuy from one winery. My storage is basically 99% capacity and I can’t continue to add more lockers.
The deals comment is so true. Go find the Last Bottle thread and see how many cases of Elivette people bought. Yes this was a great deal, but there will always be other deals to come along.
Whenever I buy a deal like that, I need to be able to drink the wine immediately and not cellar something for years. My collection is full of wine that is aging.
I use this approach and it helps a lot. This is why (assuming I can stick to the plan) I’m comfortable taking a reduction approach that doesn’t involve going cold turkey. I will be buying none, a lot less than before, or a little less than before of each category based on current holdings and longevity. Some I have a lifetime supply of and I’m done. Others I need to maintain equilibrium for a few more years before calling what I have a “lifetime supply.” Others I need to keep buying, but fewer bottles each year than I drink.
The plan was a disaster in several recent years becuase of deal fever (covid, wine dot com coupon craziness, auction lowballs, whatever). Generally I’m very happy with the deals I got, but not the overall quantity. So if the deals keep coming during this booze downturn, the willpower to resist them will be key. So far so good in 2026, but there’s a long way to go.
I used to buy Chateau Rieussec Sauternes. Then watched as they turned very dark very fast. Except for a half bottle of 2014, I haven’t bought one since. Yes, missed the 2001, but I prefer them young and not oxidized.
A little over 20 years ago, I was very active on multiple online wine forums, was a part of a few tasting groups one of which met every Saturday for extensive tastings, and was buying way more wine than I could comfortably afford. Wine had gone from a fun hobby to an obsession. Thankfully the only aspect of wine I wasn’t addicted to was the drinking part.
I realized that I had a problem and the only solution was a clean break. I went on an almost total separation from wine to preserve my mental health and avoid bankruptcy. I stopped visiting wine forums, stopped going to wine stores, canceled my subscriptions to wine publications, dropped all of my tasting groups except for one that met once a month, and worked to pay off the credit card debt I’d accumulated.
After several years away from wine, I thought I’d reached a point where I could engage with it again in a healthier way and I think I’ve largely succeeded. I still sometimes buy more wine than I should, but not more than I can afford. It’s become a fun hobby and wonderful source of great friendships again. I’ve found that the more offers I consider and then pass on, the easier it gets.
Not at all blasphemous. I fully agree. So many times I was suckered into a ‘deal’ on a wine that I didn’t end up enjoying, and often since it is a deal I bought multiples, so I’m stuck with them.
Last year I made only 3 wine purchases, by intent. My allocations of Gonon and MacDonald, and one auction item of some old CA Cabs for the ‘Mountain Jamboree 3.0’ event with my Berserker buddies. My wife is drinking almost no wine lately, so the only time I move through bottles is, ironically, when the kids are home, as they love wine (particularly with food pairings) and can’t afford most of what I have anyway. When they come home, they drink well thanks to dad!
I rediscovered my love for nice wine four or five years back, when I first discovered the Oregon Pinot Noir being made by great folks. In all my wine drinking and cellaring years prior to that I’d tasted exactly one bottle of Pinot Noir, from either Sonoma or Napa (don’t remember), and it didn’t appeal to me, at all. So with my rediscovery I’ve been on something of a buying binge. Today my cellar is essentially at capacity, while I also have cut back some on my monthly consumption. So I really don’t have much choice but to at least slow down my purchasing. It’s the practical thing to do . . . and I just know I can succeed . . . .
I am currently in a Cold Turkey Quit moment, and it is proving to be my most successful foray of this type since I got into wine. I’ve made exceptions for: drink Today/Tomorrow purchases while on vacation; the two winery mailing lists I’m on; one Berserkerday offer that felt like it could have been a Now-or-Never situation, and one other purchase that was done under highly unusual circumstances and felt like the right thing to do.
Taking delivery of multiple pending cases has helped in this endeavor, but it won’t be long until we have a whites and Champagne problem; exceptions will be made for those, too, but I will be trying to keep things reigned-in.
What have I done to help achieve this nascent success?
– Found happiness in emptying cases being held in passive storage.
– Constantly remind myself that – for some categories of wine – I truly do not need more, and any money spent on that category is ultimately just going to lead to waste – both monetarily, and (cellar) space-wise.
– Found happiness in having $0 months displayed in my Purchase Report
Look, it’s tough. Buying wine, Having wine, and Drinking wine are three different things, and they scratch different itches. The Buying itch is the easiest, and - in some ways - the one most fun to scratch; so it’s tough. It’s quite easy to un-do a month or two of cellar reduction progress in a matter of minutes. Sometimes filling online carts but then not going through with the purchase is helpful — I tell myself this is “developing a future plan”. I don’t even open email offers “out of curiosity” — just straight delete; I haven’t felt the need to actually unsubscribe, but that’s a good idea, too, if you find yourself unable to delete without opening.
I probably should. My cellar is too top heavy right now. I’ve got so many special occasion wines that I’ll be in a great place for at least a few years.
I had several months of missing wines that I wanted (including some where they were sniped from my cart lol) that I set up a few too many WS alerts and doubled down / went a little overboard with trying to get them. I also was beyond lucky to try some amazing wines last year that - unfortunately for my wallet - amplified my love of wine.
With a wedding to also juggle, some of the purchasing decisions I’d made were probably not the smartest. But I now have an insane collection as a result which I’m proud of.
My plan going forward is to:
Narrow it down further to a couple of producers. I don’t need every single Burgundy deal that comes across my inbox. I’ve stopped looking at Bordeaux and have already cut at least 1 Napa list. But if Cedric Bouchard or Cecile Tremblay offers start to show up… I can be swayed.
Share more wine. Whether it’s with other WineBerserkers or having people over, I’ve got to make some room SOMEHOW. I have a few older bottles just staring at me that I need to pop open. I don’t mind selling a few as well.
Focus a little bit more on daily drinkers. Need to stop buying everything in the special occasion tier and get a few more $20 or less wines.
Try to focus purchases on one store where I have credit built up - I really need to be responsible and use that credit there as opposed to jumping on other stuff.
Agreed. You need to hold cellar decompression events to free up more space, and don’t be reluctant to share great wines with wine novices. For people like us who buy more than we drink, this is the only enjoyable solution.
??!!! Really? Do you find this to be the case for other products as well. Do you find it fun to buy in general?
I used to find it quite enjoyable to buy wine in retail stores, when there was a whole social/community element involved. Online shopping is much less enjoyable, although it is obviously more efficient, and sometimes the research element is fun.
