I Think I may be Done

[Jay_Miller]

@Markus_S

Good for you Sarah - but please don’t stop posting!

Hopefully the prospect of years of boasting and needling alan on the inventory reduction thread will keep her around

[Al_Kelman]

I have thought about this a long time. I totally respect the concept of ‘enough.’ My issue comes with the various arithmetic many of you are using. So, here is the basis of the struggle: Are you using a ‘top down’ method of counting - that is - How many bottles are in your cellar? It is easy to get to a frightening number. But it may be meaningless. What if you use a ‘bottom up’ approach? If you keep detailed records, how many SBs do you drink in a year? Do you like them with a year or two of age? Now, to things like Barolo - how many do you drink in a year? How old do you like them to be before you open them? Do the multiplication! Oh yes, is every night a special wine night? Or, does the assortment need some everyday wines? Oops, we just added more bottles. I keep records by grape X by country X by year, and replenish as needed to keep each category at an optimal level. Sure, mu tastes have evolved, and my drink records show it. Guess what? There are some categories I stopped buying and am just drinking down. Oh, well. It all fits neatly into my model with one major EXCEPTION - I am a sucker for a great wine from a great year at a close out price. Yes, it happens occassionally. So, how many bottles are in the cellar? It doesn’t matter. I have enough Pinots, but just realized I am down to 2 bottles of Gewurz. Oops…

[Matthew_King]

Y’all are way too rational for me!

[Yao_C]

@Brian_Be

Interesting discussion, and one that I have been thinking about and mulling over. I’m 42 and started buying wine seriously within the last 2 years. As I’ve tasted older wines I’m finding I really prefer stuff with age, BDX and Pinot with 20+ years, really 15-20 seems like it’s just the beginning but really need 30+ to be what I want. With that timeframe, how much new vintage wine can I realistically buy, and how much am I really going to be drinking in my mid-seventies. Starting to think that backfilling is really my best option.

Hi Brian, I started collecting about 7 years ago and, in the beginning, thought very much like you: the wine has to be 20-30+ years old to reach its full potential. The vast majority of my buying back then was backfilling

But over time, I’ve found:
i) my appreciation for young wines has grown, even as my tolerance for tannin/acidity has increased
ii) good storage can make a huge difference for certain types of wine, such as Champagne
iii) I also drink a lot more Champagne/white wines these days, which require less time in the cellar than Bordeaux

All of this has shifted me towards buying on release vs. backfilling. Hope this helps!

[Anton_D]

[Robert_M_yers]

Lots of great thoughts here but one angle I can’t seem to give up (I’m also close to 50).

Some winemakers are a sort of artists or intellectual thinkers to me. I want to continue to taste, hear or read what they have to say going forward. I might have every version of my favorite band but when they produce something new I can’t resist the urge to follow them along.

There are certainly some that I can cut as time goes on but with many it’s been a long term relationship that I don’t want to give up on just because either of us might not see how the production actually ages. That ultimately might be for our next generation to decide, but I will be eternally curious to see what’s current as well.

[Andy_Sc]

@Rodrigo_B

I think there’s certainly something to be said in favour of not buying in large quantities when starting out. Especially if one more budget constrained. There’s only so many 6pks of wines one can buy to try. My main regret looking back at my start into wine and the advise I’d give is: try the wines you buy as soon as possible.

A constraint budget is certainly hindering a “buy as much as you can” strategy. Agree. Thinking about it, I would then rather go and invest all the money into expensive tasting experiences, buying some expensive bottles to enter as many tasting groups as possible and in addition go to as many trade tastings as possible to learn as quickly as possible what you like. That would probably be more efficient then buying (and opening directly) one or two bottles of a lot of different wines.

[Mike_Grammer]

@Sarah_Kirschbaum

Good question. Jonathan buys the whisky, though sometimes it’s for me. Of course, we just bottled our first 4 casks, so if no one buys any, we’ll never have to buy whisky again!

Wow–that’s awesome! Yes, with 4 casks’ worth—if you have any left after everyone clamours for it—I can see that the buying could slow to a trickle or come to a full halt.

[B.Kelly]

@Sarah_Kirschbaum

Of course, we just bottled our first 4 casks, so if no one buys any, we’ll never have to buy whisky again!

That’s awesome! Admittedly, my head is in the sand so I may have missed prior discussion on this. Can you share the background on this? If inappropriate for this forum, I’ll happily withdraw the question.

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

Delighted that you are interested. I probably shouldn’t discuss in this forum since it’s a commercial endeavor, but I will try and put something in Commerce Corner soon.

[Marcus_Goodfellow]

First time on the thread, and I haven’t quit buying but I don’t hunt much anymore. My cellar space is pretty full so I am always seeing a yellow light instead of a green light. If I run into something new that is a step up or simply suits my palate in a new way, I’ll buy bottles(most recently Jay Somer’s Gamay).

Otherwise I keep to the array of producers I like and trust, and only go looking for new wines when one of my regulars sky rockets in price.

Most of the vin de garde red wines I used to love are simply unaffordable or in a row of hot vintages that hold little attraction for me. If that changes I would probably swing back around and start buying again. Just because a wine should be cellared for 20 years doesn’t mean I have to do that. I enjoy seeing what a wine is about before it’s ready almost as much as I do when it’s at peak. But ultimately a lot of the wines I would be buying to cellar have reached pricing that I can’t justify any more (especially with two kids). And grower champagne is still really a value and doesn’t require 20 years of cellaring.

[Marcus_Goodfellow]

The only downside there is that often expensive wines aren’t actually always the best wines, especially when factoring in the individual palate.

I doubt there’s a perfect way to do this, but I was lucky enough to find a great wine shop that steered me in the right direction far more often than not. And often for not a lot of money.

[Mattstolz]

@Marcus_Goodfellow

I doubt there’s a perfect way to do this, but I was lucky enough to find a great wine shop that steered me in the right direction far more often than not. And often for not a lot of money.

a shop you trust thats nearby is probably the difference between most people getting really into wine and people just going to total wine and rose all day-ing. not that there is anything wrong with that either. but a good shop is so important.

[David_Glasser]

I’ve been done multiple times. Three of those times it stuck for a whole year.

My most recent “done” declaration was after purchase of 2019 Bordeaux futures in early 2020, but durn if I wasn’t back in buying mode a year later, refilling the tank with 2020 white Burgs and backfilling 2014 and 2016 Bordeaux.

[Kirk.Grant]

I’ve seriously cut down on wine purchases this past year. I think there’s a realization that has come in a recent weekend getaway with friends in Portland to celebrate a dear friend’s Birthday. We drank amazing wines, J.L. Chave Blanc, Selosse, Musar, Dirty & Rowdy, Fourrier, Jouan, Cedric Bouchard, Grand Siècle, Dönnhoff, Wittmann, and of course a 2000 Bartlett Blueberry Reserve.

As great as all those wines were…what was most important were the amazing people we shared the wines with. I have reached a point where I do have a cellar that if I stop buying for a few years or even reduce my buying for a few years the cellar will still have a wide variety and there are plenty of new wines to buy singles from time to time for fun. So for the first time in a long time…my wine budget is going down 50% this year to allow for stocking up on a few Champagnes to age. I have to imagine I’ll still be buying Champagne throughout my life…my wife likes it too much to stop.

[rsmithjr]

There is some evil spirit in my house that pulls me toward the computer and moves my hand and clicks BUY… If I find that SOB I am going to have ANOTHER chat with him… Saw him briefly in the mirror…

[Dave_H]

Feeling a lot of this. 42 yrs old. Plenty of wine by any reasonable standard. Felt the compulsion to buy with abandon lift recently. The interest in the hobby/sharing wines with friends/scheming wine travel isn’t going anywhere, but I’m going to take my foot off the purchase accelerator for awhile.
For years, my wife and I have had a conversation where she sees the delivery boxes piled up and asks some variation of “Don’t we have enough wine?” And I say some variation of “Rationality left the building a long time ago”.
Lately, I’ve seen the delivery boxes piling up and thought, “Don’t I have enough wine?”

[Josh_Grossman]

If I have room, I’ll keep buying. Whoever gets my collection when I’m gone will be happy. If they sell it, I’m dead and don’t care; good for them.

[David_Baum]

Money is no more useful to me than wine once I’m gone

[Jeff_Sherman]

Thank you @David_Bu3ker . Very encouraging to say the least.

I will say, I have noted that my smell acuity has generally been improving over the past 3 years. I do have a long way to go though.

Here’s to hoping!