I couldn’t agree more. After a few disappointing bottles of wine over the past few weeks, I want to go back to simple Heaven Hill bourbon (Elijah Craig, Heaven Hill 6 year BiB, Henry McKenna Bib), Wild Turkey 101, Buffalo Trace, whatever is around $25-30/btl. Plenty of enjoyment in that bracket!
I go through phases where I am totally drinking wine with dinner, or enjoyment, and totally forget about bourbon. Certainly some of the higher end bourbons offer a deeper flavor profile, etc., but there is good stuff out there.
No, I don’t miss the days of a simple $10 red being my limit. At all.
But I’m not sure that’s what you’re saying. Because I definitely agree it’s important not to forget how good some inexpensive wines can be.
For me, it’s important not to lose track of how much pleasure you can get out of a $12 rose on a hot summer day, or out of an entry level barbera with a spicy pizza. There were a few years where I did lose track of that, but those years are long gone for me, along with the whole concept of must-have wines.
+1, great post. A lot of good reminders in this thread. Particularly as my bottle cost average increases every year (although my cellar is growing, too). I keep a list of sub $30 bottles (used to be $20, then $25) that are really great values to share with my “new to wine” friends. Not all because they are “easy drinkers” but maybe because they typify a region. William Fevre Champs Royeaux for example. Your friends would love some Caymus conundrum and yes it’s friendly to some palates, but that doesn’t mean I want it in my cellar.
I will say that the Coravin has an impact on this topic, as I’m less likely to uncork a bottle (even a cheap one) if I can tap a better glass/pairing with dinner.
More than 20 years ago, about a year after I really got into wine in a big way in my early 20s, there was a wine tasting offered by my K-12 alma mater as part of their annual summer alumni education/social calendar. I won’t drop names, but it was hosted by a fellow alum who is one of the great Bordeaux collectors (he is named more than once in Broadbent’s original wine book.)
It was a small gathering, and ended up being one of the most important wine tastings I have ever attended because of the very first wine presented (and it was presented blind.)
As everyone expected, the dinner included some great Bordeaux and Burgundy names- but this first wine was Domaine de Pouy, a white wine from Gascony which retailed for $6 at the time (these days I think it has “skyrocketed” to around $9 a bottle.)
And it was wonderful. I loved it. And our host launched his presentation with a reminder that there are many great $10 wines in the world, and that they have their proper place at any table- no matter how grand your cellar ever becomes.
Over the years I have served that wine in so very many settings- and always it is appreciated. Once, not long after that event while I was still in grad school, I was working at an art glass and pen store part-time and brought in a case to serve at an evening gallery show we did where the owner did not want to spend $12 on Korbel. Everyone loved the wine- they went nuts over it.
I have never been a daily drinker of wine. I have it occasionally. The reason I have so many TNs is that “occasionally” often involves attending a tasting of anywhere from 10-40 different wines in one setting. But even so, I find a great many uses for the Domaine de Pouys of the world.
Back to your broader question about cellaring- when I got started in wine, and for quite a long time, I only wanted the “best”. The grand crus, the first growths, the TBAs and Auslese GKs etc. I enjoyed that very much, but as I got older and attended more and more tastings- I discovered that those wines, glorious as they are, are actually best presented in a fairly limited number of settings, and given the aging time required and the fact bottles begin to vary after a point- there is a certain inherent variability of experiences. The high points are unforgettable, but there are many other times that are not so. Additionally, the really high end wines can take over a table in a sense. They astonish and amaze, but they do not harmonize with the meal, nor indeed the general flow of the evening.
Food choices inform this as well- to a large degree. And I find now that I spend most of my money on really good 1er crus, or Spatlesen, or in Bordeaux on wines like Chateau Magdelaine. The mid-weights, the steak frites or boeuf bourguignon companions. The wines that mature in 10-15 years before the risks of bottle variation have a chance to really set in. The wines that inspire a smile versus a gasp. I do keep a small stash of the greats for the occasional splurge, and the rarity of the experience seems to enhance the outcome even more (and at those prices, I will take all the enhancement I can get.)
Everyone’s mileage will vary on this line of thinking, but if may say- it speaks to your true connoisseurship that you are considering it.
Know your audience or waste some $$.
I have plenty of non-geek friends who enjoy the likes of Produttori Barbaresco and Sandler Bien Nacido all day long
Mind you, even they are not the same audience, so I compartmentalize even further. I know my audience well and have put much time into doing so while saving the defenders for like-minded to myself. I also believe in pouring any wine at anytime but would not open one of my MACDONALD s for some of these groups.
Getting back to the OP, I don’t see how that scenario keeps the wine geek “honest.”
I know plenty of friends who aren’t big wine drinkers are THRILLED if someone busts out a bottle of Veuve Cliquot yellow label. That doesn’t make me “honest.” I can think of many sparkling wines I’ll enjoy more than VC for less $$.
I am the wine buyer for my offices weekly wine and cheese happy hour. Average wine price budget is 20-25 per. There is often a disconnect between wines I get excited about and wines the crowd really likes. For example I opened a Bierzo the other day and thought it was simple, fruity, and a bit sweet, whereas it was very popular in general as it was “smooth”.
Keeps you honest by reminding you that at the end of the day wine geeks get excited and overpay for basically grape juice. Yes we all claim to know everything that justifies why its $100’s a bottle but the non wine drinker doesnt care, they drink an expensive wine and think it tastes like shit because its dry and tannic
The issue is not $125 vs. $10. It’s cab versus almost everything else. If I break out a bottle of Saxum for the non geeks, which I do often, I regularly get a WOW, this is the best wine I ever had. At dinners at my synagogue, everyone knows to sit at my table if I am bringing wine. I just won’t bring a 2016 vintage cab. I certainly won’t bring a left bank Bordeaux under 10 years old. I don’t buy cellar defenders but I do buy wines that don’t cost a lot that I like. I tend not to serve those to non wine friends because it makes me feel like a cheapskate.
I’ve never seen Bereche, Dosnon, or Suenen in my market, but do buy Roederer Brut Premier more frequently than VC yellow. Henriot is nice. I’ll look out for the rest and have heard good things about Bereche
I regularly share wine with “amateurs” and find that they like the good stuff a LOT better than supermarket wines. Even when they don’t know that it’s the good stuff.
It’s true that I basically can’t drink most typical $15 supermarket reds any more. Maybe that Portugese red was actually pretty good – I find that Douro is a good bargain region and punches above its weight.
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