I struggle with the same thing. I tend to buy twos and threes, and then I’m way more comfortable opening a wine that isn’t my last of something, which causes my cellar to constantly migrate toward lots of ones that I’m reluctant to open. It’s stupid, I know.
One solution in the earlier phase of collecting is to backfill mature vintages on winebid or something. That helps you to keep your paws off the six year old Barolo and Bordeaux you bought on release that isn’t close to being ready yet, and it lets you start learning what ages you enjoy wines at without having to spend 20 years experimenting first.
And if you aren’t trying to chase the hot collector wines, often you can be drinking good older vintage at very reasonable prices, especially after you consider the true cost of buying and holding wines yourself (storage, space, time value of money).
I also struggle with this. But I struggle more with drinking windows for California wines than I do Old World. I have no idea whether I should wait 10+ years to open any of my 21st Century Napa Cabs. Lately I’ve really enjoyed some RRV Pinot coming up on 10 years but have no idea if they’d fall apart, get better, or end up someplace completely different if I waited another 10.
That said, my personal solution to the struggle is pretty simplistic: I ignore drinking windows entirely for my California wines and tend to wait until 15+ years from vintage to open most of my higher-end Old World reds. My main goals are to open something that seems like it will go well with dinner and to open something that isn’t my last bottle, since I’m still holding out hope that I’ll emerge someday from the fog of war associated with having 3 kids under 5 and a really intense work life that has characterized the last year or so. Most nights we enjoy our wine. Sometimes we don’t. But I’ve got too much on my plate these days to put a lot of individualized energy into figuring out which bottle to open every night.
I believe that your problem will cure itself as your cellar grows and ages. It sounds like you appreciate the benefits of mature wines but are relatively new to the hobby and are buying your wines on release. You might want to check out some auction sites to try to pick up some aged bottles to drink while waiting on your wines to mature. Or buy some wines that are approachable earlier.
I do use cellar tracker for a macro view of how a wine is drinking. If you look at the scores through time you can get an idea of how the consensus is changing. I have been using CT since 2004 and it has evolved into one of my most important sources of information. To get the full benefit of this information you need to learn the “dynamics and limitations” of CT scoring.
Don’t fear the Reaper! No need to overthink this stuff, but unlike some of the earlier comments, some wines really do have a “shut-down” period, but most do not.
You need to try some bottles to see what you like when you like it. Yes, it’s like catching a moment of light: it changes while you are with it. not a bad thing but something to keep in mind.
1st of all, to all who said “don’t overthink it”, yes, that is definitely what I should do! Easier said than done.
@BrianMarshall, yes, making a timeline of what to drink and when would probably set me at ease a bit more. Sometimes seeing it visually laid out helps.
@John Morris, it would probably be best to “kill a few babies” in order to really hone in on what I like.
@GregT, you’re right, I really shouldn’t be buying SO much wine off allocations and waiting 3 years to find out I don’t like it. I do try to find older vintages before I get in over my head, and I’ve done so with Rivers-Marie (backfilled 2012 Occidental and 2009 R-M Napa cab), Myriad (2008 GIII), Carlisle (a bunch), Bedrock (a bunch).
It sounds like I’m not alone in buying shallow and wide in efforts to try as many things as possible. I’ve only been into wine for a few years, so I thought the best thing would be to buy in this style to hone in on what I like. I’m realizing that I need to take a risk and go deeper on fewer wines in order to track development, as this would probably yield a more satisfying long term experience. 1) I wouldn’t feel guilty about popping a bottle early in the name of science and 2) I would learn a LOT more about wine’s development and my own preferences.
My biggest “fear” is opening and drinking a wine that is the over the hill. Since I buy/drink wines from CA mostly, and not the top tier ones, and don’t have a wine cellar, it hasn’t been a problem yet!!!
The oldest wines I have these days are 2010 Napa Cabs/Blends.
Me, too. Except that I have a hard time opening the first of the three!
In the last six months, I’ve switched into inventory reduction mode from accumulation (I think of it kind of like burning off unwanted fat). In the last couple of months I’ve opened a couple of '99 Burgundies that weren’t really singing yet (including an Arnoux - Nuits - Corvees Pagets last week), but I have one more bottle of each, so no great regrets. You can’t learn unless you sample. Those experiences will lead me to pop something other than a '99 Burgundy next. A '98 or '99 or '01 Barolo, perhaps? Or maybe a '96 if I feel like living dangerously. It’s time to test my hypotheses about how these are doing.
I also opened a 2013 Unti Vineyards Dry Creek “Segromino,” which is mostly sangiovese with some montepulciano. This wine gave so much fruity pleasure last year. Now the bloom is off. I doubt it will get more interesting. The lesson I draw: That’s a wine to be drunk young for its boisterous personality. (On the other hand, I might keep my last bottle for a couple more years just in case it goes tertiary in a nice way.)
It feels nice to let go and just try somethings I’d been hoarding, even if they aren’t at their optimal moments.
Like Ian said: “buy a case or two of mature wines either from a specialist merchant, or via auction (or indeed from someone selling their overspend on this site). If you go through them quickly, then re-stock with another case. Doing so will defend your cellar against early drinking.”
I have been buying 1995 - 2007 wines to drink now (more of the mid-priced wines), and I also have a very respectable cellar of higher priced 2009-2014 cali cabs I am saving for future consumption.
In the age of screw caps, I find well stored bottles keep 5-10 years at a minimum even for the quite commercial, entry-level wine that I bought when I was new to wine. The best wines should keep decades without sweat.
With corks, I try bowing at the gods of TCA, premox, bottle varition, etc., several times a day in order to ensure healthy wines. What else is there to do?
If you don’t sample, you will never come to know your sweet spot. As others have suggested, buy 2-3 bottles and check in on a bottle depending on what you have experienced previously. In time you will figure out the “magic age” for the wines you like. I have a relatively modest cellar of 650 bottles and over the last 15-20 years, I have made several adjustments in my preferred age depending upon the varietal. Not everyone (including me) likes 20-year old wine. It ain’t rocket science and you shouldn’t be afraid to open a few bottles to along the way to figure things out. Cheers!
Another cellar defending technique is to ensure that not everything in the cellar demands age. Get some reasonably interesting wines that are good to drink 0-5 years from release. This has been a hard thing for me to do in practice, because part of the joy of the hobby,is in buying wines that will cellar well and provide rewards in greater complexity by doing so. I’m trying, but this one goes against the grain of my interest in cellaring wines.
Last year I went through my cellar holdings on CT and changed the drinking windows for each of my wines based on my current preferences for age. The early drink date is for the first bottle and the end date is when I expect to drink the last one. Of course, drinking that first one could easily change the date for the last one… gotta buy enough to sample a few times in the wine’s lifetime. That’s why I try to buy at least 3 bottles of most things (exceptions made for wines I struggle to afford).
Ian’s last comment resonates with me. It has taken me many years to streamline my cellar to the point where I can schedule a dinner party and have little issue picking 5 or 6 wines to open and drink. One of my keys is that (contrary to the evidence in too many TNs I post here!) I actually don’t drink wine that often—other than vacations, it’s maybe once every 2 weeks or so. That helps. But I have also moved a little bit into buying 6 or 12 bottles of something inexpensive but pleasing that I can just pull whenever I feel like it and not worry too much, knowing it’s drink-now stuff. Good question and thread!
