I was just reading the “Cellar is Full…” thread below and was struck by the focus by many on what do you do when you reach a certain age. That was interesting to me (as a 68 year old). Unfortunately, there were many other threads woven into that topic which made it hard to follow.
Therefore, I’m starting an “Old Man’s Thread” to discuss how we’re handling this stage in our lives. And don’t worry, women are invited as well.
FWIW, I have about 1500 bottles and have found in the last couple years my tastes have migrated from cabs to pinots as my main choices, with zin and syrah/rhone blends filling in about 20%. I drink about 150 bottles a year (3 per week pretty reliably) and hope to continue drinking about this level until I die. My wife drinks a little, but mostly prefers gin and tonic. I love the idea of continuing to buy and passing what’s left to my kids (all in late 20s/early 30s). They’ve shown some interest, but really they’re not yet worthy of the quality of wine I buy. So do I drink down or keep it going?
I went very heavy on 2023 pinots (around 130 bottles from mostly cult cal pinot producers) and am thinking I should go light on 2024 offers coming in now, but hate missing good vintages. Hardly buying any cabs at all any more (although still have over 500 long lived cabs/blends). Not sure where my tastes will change to next.
Anyway, sorry to ramble on about me (although I am, after all, my favorite subject), but thought there might be interest in a thread for us seniors. Tried to throw out enough to start a conversation.
Good on you for thinking about this. I’m almost 59 (later this week), and a couple of years ago inherited 2000 bottles that my dad never got around to drinking. You at least have heirs who might want the wine. My wife and I have no heirs, so plowing through what is now 6000 bottles is in fact my life’s work.
YOLO. unless you are worried about money holding out, buy what you want to drink and if there is stuff you don’t want anymore, sell it or donate to charity if they kids don’t want it. if you are worried about dumping wine on them they don’t want when you pass, leave some instructions on possible selling options or charities you would want to donate to.
I am currently nearing 62 with a cellar of 1732 as of tonight. For the last five years, I have attempted to scale back my inventory, but it has continued to increase every year at a slow rate. It doesn’t really matter since I have space and can afford it. However, my wife has scaled back drinking substantially and I have moderately. I have found that alcohol is hitting me harder these days and pay the price if I go over half a bottle in an evening. I have no heirs except a step-daughter who is not particularly interested in wine.
An interesting thing I have seen are comments that people gravitate towards bolder wines as their taste buds age. I have experienced the exact opposite. I’ve gone from enjoying bigger reds (Nebbiolo, Brunello, Amarone, Rhones) to lighter reds (primarily Pinot Noirs) to now at least 50% whites and bubbles. I now lean strongly toward high acid (well, always the case), lower alcohol, lighter body, and elegance.
My take on this subject is always the same. Two of my greatest joys about collecting wine is sharing with others, especially newcomers and the constant learning about new wines / supporting winemakers. So I plan to continue to buy and open as much wine as I can for others!
At 150 bottles per year, you will exhaust your cellar in 10 years. It would seem your issue is really how many of the 1500 bottles are age worthy and what your storage conditions are, i.e. will some of the bottles not be so good anymore after 5 or 10 years based on the storage conditions or the age-ability of the wines?
Personally, if I were you, assuming the wines will last, I would drink what I have focusing first on the older bottles and only buy really good deals or age worthy wines that will be in a good place when you drink down your present collection.
We have what we have and no longer buy wine for cellaring.
We drink about 400-500 wines a year at home. Slightly more in 2025. Sometimes with others, often just a bottle a night and maybe a bit of a white to round off the evening. At that rate, we have about a four year supply. But I also like finding out new wines that I didn’t know about, like a great Gamay from Los Olivos that we found a few weeks ago. So we’ll be diligent about maintaining a rigorous schedule, drinking at the same level, while occasionally sourcing some new fun stuff. And since I’ve had many wines over my life, I don’t mind if I miss out on yet another Napa Cab, Burgundy, or Bordeaux. Nor am I too concerned with supporting wine makers. I appreciate what they do, and have a number of friends in the business, but they chose that profession, I didn’t force it on them and if it doesn’t pencil out without my personal contribution, they messed up in a big way.
All that said, I’m looking forward to BD 17. I’ve found lots of fun new wines that I never would have heard of otherwise, and for me, that’s perhaps the biggest part of wine - discovering new things all the time.
You sound almost like me! I’m 68 with over 1500 bottles and still buying. I’ve also gravitated from Bordeaux/Cab to Pinot and Nebbiolo. I’ll always love Riesling and Chardonnay. I’m trying to limit my purchases now to some special bottles and/or regions I’ve never explored before like Loire, Sicily, South America, South Africa, Portugal, Jura, and Oregon. I consume several bottles a week and am very active with a wine groups here in DC area. My spouse doesn’t drink much. No kids and my dog Bruno only drinks water. I do have quite a few nephews and nieces that would love to inherit my stash. But not before I drink that ‘82 Mouton and ‘89 Haut Brion!
At 79 I am cutting way back on purchases.
About 1000 bottles in the cellars and we drink about 5-6 bottles a week. Drinking more pinot and also whites. Definitely need bolder wine as the taste buds do decline.
Wow. I’m turning 70 in a couple months, and have about 900 bottles. I’m still an active buyer (mainly white) and we don’t drink more than 2-3 bottles a week. The cellar is all red wines (and about 40-50 Rieslings) and at least 75% 10-15 year old wines. Heavy in Bordeaux and Burgundy. And I love long walks and long talks.
But I’m happy with where I’m at. I’ll keep buying, but mainly wines that I can drink young (cru Beaujolais/many whites).
This is exactly how I feel (age 56 if that matters). I’m not judging others who feel the need to try to time their collection with their expected life span and successors, but as long as I’m doing it in a way that isn’t harming my financial future and my family, I’m happy to enjoy the hobby in all the ways I enjoy it — drinking, finding, shopping, discovering, having tastings, meeting people, discussing it, etc.
If when I die, if I have a lot or a few wines left, and if my kids treasure the balance of my collection or have no interest in it, it’s nearly the least of my worries.
Most of the wines I buy are cellar worthy and like most of us with a lot of bottles I have a temperature controlled cellar. I’m also religious about using CellarTracker and am always scanning for bottles nearing the end of their life.
You’re correct that at my current pace I’ll exhaust my cellar when I’m only 78, so should still have some good drinking left in me. It was all a bluff; I’ll keep buying.
I’m pleased to see a strong response to the Old Man’s Thread. Hope the interest grows.
In addition to what to do about buying habits as we age, I’m also curious with what other retired people are doing with their time. I retired about a year ago and am still settling into a routine. I’ve added more golf to my schedule; i.e., for the first time I’m actually working to get better. Also took up guitar. That’s been a real pleasure and goes well with evening wine sipping.
What are others doing to fill your days without feeling like you’re wasting them?
Definitely similar profiles. Do we share golden retrievers in common as well?
I’ve also recently adding Brunello to my inventory. Seems like easy drinking without too much tannin.
I have a very regular regimen about drinking. A lower priced bottle (typically zin or inexpensive cab) over three nights (with the pump), a medium priced bottle Thursday and Friday and anything I want Saturday, with leftover Sunday. My wife doesn’t usually share any, so I’m on my own.
To the extent I have time to fill, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, cooking, and yard care/gardening. But I have very little time to spare these days.
At the ripe ol’ age of {mid 40s}, perhaps I am “too young” to already find myself harboring some of the same concerns discussed herein. A few years ago saw me, for the first time ever, pass on a wine purchase because I figured I’d likely be dead before the bottle would be ready to drink. For a few years now, much like @ChrisJames , I’ve been trying to have my consumption outpace purchasing but have been having absolutely no luck whatsosever with those efforts; thus far, I’ve found I can “behave” for three months, max, and then it all goes to hell. Playing into this, however, is my keen awareness that I am quickly running out of years where I can buy vin de garde wines on release and cellar them myself all the way to their peak ---- the “rational” (LOL!) part of me knows I should buy more now because this opportunity to cellar from purchase to peak will soon be in my rearview.
70 years old, 3000 bottles in passive cellar…mostly reds, most probably not age-worthy.
My wife and I drink one glass/evening, set the bottle on the counter and finish the next evening.
We still like bold reds, but have a variety with some Pinot.
Still buying more wine than we drink.
Wife will outlive me by 20 years, so the excess wine is her problem…Ha ha ha ha ha ha…
