Is wine cellar diversity all it is cracked up to be

[David_Bu3ker]

So my cellar being 92% USA is okay?

Not to Howard. 92% Burgundy would be OK.

[Pau1_M3nk3s]

I first got interested in wine when I was in my late 20s. Started with Bordeaux, moved to include Calif Cabs. In my 30s, I expanded widely to all kinds of regions, thank goodness one of those regions was Burgundy, and another one called Barolo. By my 50s, I’d found that when given a choice, I generally always choose Burg or Barolo or Northern Rhone. And so for the last 5-10 years I’ve been getting down to what I really like. Calif Chard from 1-2 producers Chard from the Margaret River (a new discovery),Chard and Pinot from Burg, Nebbiolo from Barolo, Syrah and maybe a little Viognier from Northern Rhone.

I love new discoveries! My cellar additions tend to change direction the way a supertanker moves, but I still am capable of rapid adaptation. For instance, back when we could travel, my last two trips to Germany (Rheinhessen) were focused on Riesling and Spätburgunder. My companions and the vintners we visited compelled me and my taste buds to consider other things as well, such as Silvaner, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Frühburgunder, not to mention skin-contact wines. Glad I did.

[JulianD]

This has really elevated taking offense to a fine art. I mean, taking offense to an entire thread by starting a new thread about it, and then pre-emptively taking offense to the anticipated replies… it’s masterful stuff.

+1

[Howard_Cooper]

So my cellar being 92% USA is okay?

If that is what you want to drink, why not?

[JDavisRoby]

So my cellar being 92% USA is okay?

If that is what you want to drink, why not?

I tend to buy what is readily available at retail and tastings locally. And, without a tasting group that has the experience and cellars to assist in tasting on old world wines it has been hard to push the budget in that direction. For example, the local TJ’s (only one in state) received one case of Sociando Mallet. My understanding is it may be only case in whole state. I got one bottle by happenstance.

With my personal wine budget it’s hard to buy a bottle of wine blindly. Especially when that bottle has to be shipped in and those costs make it more cost prohibitive.

Ironically, there is a growing retail presence for smaller, family-owned US wineries in Oklahoma which has helped my cellar in that regard. I do really enjoy smaller, family owned wineries. If I could find a way to procure those types of wineries in France (for example, who is a Goodfellow parallel in France) I would love to buy them.

[Howard_Cooper]

So my cellar being 92% USA is okay?

If that is what you want to drink, why not?

I tend to buy what is readily available at retail and tastings locally. And, without a tasting group that has the experience and cellars to assist in tasting on old world wines it has been hard to push the budget in that direction. For example, the local TJ’s (only one in state) received one case of Sociando Mallet. My understanding is it may be only case in whole state. I got one bottle by happenstance.

With my personal wine budget it’s hard to buy a bottle of wine blindly. Especially when that bottle has to be shipped in and those costs make it more cost prohibitive.

Ironically, there is a growing retail presence for smaller, family-owned US wineries in Oklahoma which has helped my cellar in that regard. I do really enjoy smaller, family owned wineries. If I could find a way to procure those types of wineries in France (for example, who is a Goodfellow parallel in France) I would love to buy them.

Everyone has a different approach to buying wine. I think it is safest to buy wines you know best and love. Over time, expand your knowledge of wine by getting to know wine retailers who will give you tastes of wines, getting into wine tasting groups, visiting wine regions when you travel, etc. For example, my initial knowledge of German wines came from my father. When I came to the DC area for work, after a few years I stumbled upon probably the best guy working at retail at the time on German wines, David Schildknecht, who taught me a lot more about German wines (and Burgundy, Loire wines, etc.). From that, I went to tastings led by Terry Theise and started going some to German Wine Society tastings. Eventually, I became part of a wine tasting group that has a number of German wine lovers and so often get to taste wines others have bought (and bring to the tastings wines for friends to try). I have gone to NYC for Rieslingfeier tastings. I have not gone to Germany to taste there, but still hope to do that someday.

Not all of this can be replicated by everyone depending on where you live and the types of wines you buy. But, you seem to be on the path to doing this with respect to US wines by finding good retailers and learning about smaller family owned wineries. There are small family-owned wineries of very high quality all over the world. Many of them have been in the same family for generations. For example, Thibaud Clerget (who is in his 20s) in Pommard and Volnay in Burgundy is the 28th generation to lead Domaine Yvon Clerget. I first learned his name from emails from Envoyer. Then a friend brought a bottle of one of his wines to one of my wine group’s tastings and I liked it. So, in 2018 when I went to Burgundy I contacted him and asked if I could taste there. He said yes and I liked what I tasted and now buy his wines. You can do the same in the US. I first started drinking Stony Hill in a somewhat similar way. For years, I had heard of their Chardonnays but had not tasted them. When I was in the Napa Valley a number of years ago for work, I contacted them to see if I could taste there. Liked the wines, bought the wines. The next winery I want to do this with is Mount Eden where I have tasted only a few of their wines but like what I have tasted. I have seen that they are located about a half hour or so from where my son lives so that the next time I go visit my son (probably about as soon as I get a vaccine), I hope to try to visit there.

If you want to find well priced wines from family owned wineries in France, my suggestion would be to try wines from the Loire. They are some of the best values in wine in the world. A whole bunch of people on this board know these wines better than I do and I suggest you do a search for threads on these wines on this board as a starting point.

Even though I am now retired and travel a lot more than I used to do when I was working (at least I did until Covid), I can only do this with a limited number of regions. There is only so much time I want to devote to wine, only so much wine I can buy and only so much wine that I can drink - I don’t drink wine everyday as a lot of people here do.

[Jonathan_Loesberg]

A exceptionally-wise man once asked me, “How many times do you need to try a wine before you know you don’t like it?”

Indecisive as I am, sometimes five or ten times. You can never be sure.

[Robert_Sand]

I try everything I can.
I buy what I love.
Best, jim

+1

I have tasted from almost all major wine regions and close to all types of wine worldwide, incl. Chinese, Bulgarian, Croatian, Canadian, Maroque … but when I’m buying I concentrate on what I like, Germany, France, Austria, a bit Italy and Spain … and some Port, that’ s perfect for me.

[Marshall_Manning]

Treading into this thread with a great deal of trepidation, but I don’t think of diversity as an end. It’s an end to a means. I eat quite diversely, so diverse wines are needed. I enjoy different tastes, which leads to diverse choices in the cellar.

When I first started with serious wine collecting I was very focused. Later I spread my wings and tried different wines. A lot of that had to do with joining tasting groups, and experiencing different stuff, then buying what I liked (a la Jim Cowan). I then went into a very focused phase, building up a significant cellar of my favorites. Now I buy quite widely, because I enjoy experiencing new things alongside my tried and true favorites. This has led to a very diverse cellar that suits my diverse (except Sauvignon Blanc) tastes.

So at least in my case, diversity is all it’s cracked up to be.

Thanks, David…this is very similar to my thoughts. I like trying new things, finding new wines that I love, and enjoy different flavors, textures and states of maturity. I don’t do it just for the sake of being diverse…I do it because I like wines of different types for different moods, meals, settings, etc.

[Marshall_Manning]

So my cellar being 92% USA is okay?

Only if you have wines from every state !

[JDavisRoby]

So my cellar being 92% USA is okay?

Only if you have wines from every state !

CA - 66%
WA - 13%
OR - 12%

Oregon is trending up as I drink thru but don’t replace CA Pinot Noir and buy Oregon Pinot Noir.

Syrah - 26%
Pinot Noir - 19%
Cabernet Sauvignon - 17%

Pretty clear what we drink!

[Jeff_M1]

So my cellar being 92% USA is okay?

Beats my 89.7% USA cellar.

[Mel_Knox]

I think you have to look at what you eat and have wine for each type of meal.
If all you eat is fish etc then a lot of red wines don’t make sense.

When I was a wine merchant I bought whatever I got excited about so I had a cellar full of Mascarello, Guigal, Burgundy, Sauternes, German wines, California wines etc.
Once I started selling barrels, it was mostly wines my customers made, and the Burgundies I bought from Becky Wasserman. That worked out well, but I forgot how much I loved Italian and German wines. I am working to diversify my cellar.

[A1ex_H]

I think you have to look at what you eat and have wine for each type of meal.
If all you eat is fish etc then a lot of red wines don’t make sense.

Mel’s point here is spot on - I want a cellar that is diverse enough to match what I eat. My cellar is not the most diverse (60%+ Burgundy, almost 90% from France overall) and has definitely narrowed over time as I hone in one what I like. I’m also more likely to pair a dish with Burgundy even if a Northern Rhone or Brunello would work better because I’d generally prefer to drink Burgundy. However, I am also grateful to sometimes have a nice Barolo, Riesling or even Californian red when the situation calls for it or I’m in the mood. There’s value to that. I am certainly not buying wine I don’t like to just have it or because having a wide/ diverse cellar is somehow a better thing to do.

The other diversity I have learnt to admire is diversity across the quality spectrum. When I started off, I was guilty of focusing on the very best of a producer’s portfolio and viewed the village wines almost as part of the bundle that perhaps I wouldn’t buy if I could buy freely. How wrong I was. I’ve had so much delight opening up nice village wines or lesser premier crus that often drink earlier and feel like less of an event. Sure you can’t bring them to some impressive tasting next to Mugnier Musigny, Cathiard RSV and Le Pin. However, they are terrific in their own right.

[R_Frankel]

… I don’t think of diversity as an end. It’s an end to a means. I eat quite diversely, so diverse wines are needed. I enjoy different tastes, which leads to diverse choices in the cellar.

I like how David said this - it expresses a lot of how I feel about diversity. My cellar’s diversity reflects my own desire to drink diverse things. If I only loved one kind of wine, well I’d just buy that. Instead I love many! Yes, Red Burg and Piedmont Nebbiolo each make up about a quarter of my cellar and I’m delighted to drink them regularly. But the rest is all over the place and reflects yummy things I like drinking sometimes.

Tastings and other discovery opportunities aren’t about the pursuit of diversity - they’re just about experiences and fun! Sometimes I find no new discoveries that tempt me to add them to my cellar. But usually my cellar grows. There are too many excellent wines out there.

[Mike_Francisco]

I try everything I can.
I buy what I love.
Best, jim

+1
Jim, you can drop the Mic, enough said!

[Joseph_Grassa]

I think the main reasons for diversity are

guests preferences
pairings
experimentation
preference change over time
cultural dives into a region… (one of the closest things to a traveling during covid.)

and maybe most of all. Your expectations are guided by what you have been drinking. Whenever I drink too well for a few weeks, the next few weeks are always tough. Water taste better in the desert than in a pool.

at the same time 8.8% of my wines are Brunello, less than .4% are Primitivo from Puglia.

[Anton_D]

Sometimes, different is better.

[James_Billy]

Another word is eclecticism.

Great discussion. I appreciate the likes of Howard and Robert with their fantastic in-depth knowledge of a handful of great regions. I just couldn’t gain such expertise in many particular regions as I like so many regions, grapes and styles. I like all those regions, so it’s great to have these knowledgeable guides.

I also appreciate Otto’s knowledge of so many regions, grapes and styles and he also manages to have a good depth of knowledge of many of them. Quite a feat.

Personally, I aspire to be like Otto*

Likewise, I could never restrict myself to 5 bands/singers. Or 10. Or 20. Or 50. Or even 100. And so on.

I don’t know how you can limit yourself in any area of life. Different strokes I guess.

*In terms of wine knowledge

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

I don’t know how you can limit yourself in any area of life.

I’m pretty content having just one husband!