No, my point that you quoted was that I feel that aged wines do not evolve as fast or at same rate in glass as younger wines do. In my experience, they tend to stay more steady. And I really love the rapid evolution in the glass of a younger wine, but I can certainly see the appeal of an aged wine that has already “arrived”, so to speak. Just different preferences.
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I understood your point and I disagree. Even as young wines open up, they are still young wines. To me, they don’t go beyond simple fruit flavors into the more complex flavors that mature wines have, esp. with red wines made to mature.
For example, I had a 1974 Mondavi Reserve Cabernet last weekend. When we first started drinking the wine, it had a strange flavor that seemed like the wine was over the hill. But, within a few minutes the wine opened up and somehow (miraculously?) that flavor morphed into wonderful flavors that gave the wine extra complexity and that really enhanced the experience.
But, as you said, different preferences. You don’t have to prefer what I prefer and I don’t have to prefer what you prefer. It would be such a dull planet if we all liked the same things.
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I agree that older wines can sometimes change a lot; there’s often some VA and other funk that blows off, and they can also die with air much faster. A lot (maybe most) of older wines are just old, though, and not particularly good.
Younger wines can also evolve a bit but perhaps not as much.
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so true - certain people on this board have been curmudgeons since young. Even people I consider friends!
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Just drank a bottle of this from my cellar - with experienced Bordeaux drinkers - and it showed magnificiently.
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Especially people I consider friends. 
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I am 71 and have a bit over 2000 bottles, of which about 75% is Burgundy, most of the remaining wine is Oregon and select CA pinot noir, with a smaller number of Northern Rhone and Barolo/Barbaresco last purchased in the 2010 vintage. I stopped buying Red Burgs after the 2015 vintage, both due to absurd pricing and for actuarial reasons, but in recent years have been buying some whites, mostly under DIAM, as I had stopped for many years due to the continuing scourge of premox. My wife and I drink a bottle of wine every night on average, and more when our kids or friends are over. I continue to buy the domestic Pinots from our favored producers as my wife and kids do prefer their more fruit forward style, and unless I plan ahead to prepare a Burgundy (I personally am a believer in standing the bottle for at least overnight, double decanting the wine off its sediment, and doing this anywhere from 2-4 hours ahead of time), it is easier to go to the cellar and just grab a domestic Pinot. Therefore the Red Burgs are mostly saved for get togethers with my wine friends, and unfortunately those occasions are less frequent than I had predicted they would be. I must have thought I would be opening a Red Burg every night, as, for example, I bought over 30 cases of 2005’s and over 30 cases of 2010’s! Not sure what I was thinking. Fortunately I have enough older wines to draw from in ‘93-‘02 vintages. And none of it is in danger of going over the hill unless it is a bad bottle.
I say this only to make the point that my “usage” is different than I had imagined earlier in my 35 or so years of buying and cellaring wine. However, I am fortunate that my family members love wine. If their tastes don’t change and they continue to prefer domestic Pinot Noir, I have advised them to keep and enjoy the domestic wines (there shouldn’t be any left that are too old and in danger of being over the hill) and sell the Burgundies at auction…and I have suggested whom to contact in that regard in my paperwork. I suppose I might consider selling some of it myself, as I have done a bit, but the idea of paying capital gains tax on it makes that a little less appealing.
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Right. If you leave it for your kids they can recognize the bottles at the “step-up” value. Then they can sell them for no capital gain.
I’m not advocating that, btw. But one of the old man things I’ve started thinking about lately is inheritance tax, and the fact that I can leave highly appreciated stocks to my kids at the value the day I die is a disincentive to sell.
We are in complete agreement! In fact, much of your post describes me (ok, I don’t have a wife or kids and I am younger than you 
).
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I’m a little late to this thread, and should start with a @TomHill “Long and boring” warning.
I’m getting my kicks at age 66. I retired last June, thinking I’d feel better next year with more time to eat right and exercise. Instead, it’s been one of those years where things start to break down.
I learned long ago that you don’t age gradually. You age in fits and starts. I felt thirty until I turned 47 and then bam, an injury I knew would never fully resolve. The same thing has happened over the past seven months. In June nothing hurt. Now it’s February and I’m dealing with bilateral wrist tendinitis, a left shoulder that’s paid the price for countless ski and mountain bike falls that never seemed to matter at the time, and an intermittently unstable sacroiliac joint. I’m still biking and skiing hard, have great endurance, but things hurt a bit more than they used to.
Back from the age thread drift to wine.
Marybeth and I have cut way back on drinking over the past few years, her even more dramatically than me. No more bottles every night with dinner. Mostly restaurants and special occasions. I’ve dropped off almost all winery lists except Ridge Monte Bello, which I should probably drop, MacDonald, and more recent additions Kobayashi and Mowe. I have a much bigger buying problem than a drinking problem.
I’ll never completely stop buying, but I’ve slowed down quite a bit. We have roughly two to three thousand bottles in the cellar, and kids who are occasional wine drinkers, only like Champagne, and are unlikely to ever collect or cellar wine. I donate cases to local charities and host charity wine dinners where I’ll open a dozen bottles. I’m also one of the more generous members of our wine tasting group.
Even with that extra charitable consumption, we’re never going to finish everything. I’ll have to list some bottles here at some point, although auctioning them is easier. When I do buy now, it’s usually high end Champagne, white Burgundy, or Northern Rhône for special occasions, or older vintages that might still be alive. I’ve tried to cover nearly every vintage back to the late 1940s, since I love opening birth year or anniversary wines for people who purchase wine dinners at the charity auctions I donate.
All that said, I still feel quite young for my age, and deeply grateful. We’re having more fun than ever. We just got back from skiing at Whistler after mountain biking at home, and we’re headed to New Zealand for a month next (watch out @brodie_thomson and Roz!). We’re even kicking around the idea of spending a few months in or around Paris in late autumn. We plan to make the most of the time we have, always open the good bottle, and hope the ride stays as good as it’s been and lasts as long as it can.
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IIRC, the 1994 was released at $36/bottle and the 1995 at $65/ bottle, almost 4 times the price of your 1991.
I think you are correct. Caymus led the way in the rapid increase in Napa cabs. $65 was when I quit buying regularly.
Yep
Btw, how does the step up basis work regarding capital gains when the first spouse passes and leaves all assets to the surviving spouse? I thought that in a community property state like mine, Washington state, we have the effective “double exemption”, at least regarding our house, in that rather than a step up in only 50% of the value of the house at the passing of the first spouse, there is a step up of 100% of the value of the house. (And of course a further step up when the kids inherit and sell the house.)
And does that apply to all assets such as wine, art, etc. as well?
I often said that if we all liked the same wine, there would be one white and one red, and that if you wanted Rose you’d put a few drops of the red in the white… and I would have to find a job.
Full disclosure: I have no idea what I’m talking about, generally speaking. Even less when it comes to the state of Washington. And you should never take my advice.
But with regard to stocks, I’m referring to the ultimate passing of both spouses. In the case of a first spouse, generally all assets remain with the survivor so no tax impact (again, confirm that with a professional and subject to any pre-negotiated deals). But I’m confident the value of stocks passes to the non-spouse inheritors at the stepped up rate. No idea if that applies to art or wine. It should, but who knows.
Speaking of tax avoidance, are you familiar with 1031 real estate exchanges. If you own commercial real estate and sell it, you can avoid any capital gain tax if you re-invest it in other commercial real estate. Great deal that I only learned about recently, but why can’t I do that with stock? Real estate developers have better lobbyists?
This is an interesting issue. My wife has been away on a business trip this week and a couple of the nights I drank about a half bottle of wine each. It was lovely. I was able to sit with the wine over a couple of hours and see it develop and really focus on the wine itself. I’m not alone a lot but never felt any awkwardness with having a couple of glasses.
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I am a big fan of solo drinking, when the situation arises and the mood strikes me. It’s a whole different kind of relaxation and contemplation.
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I wish I owned some commercial real estate, but alas…
We are going to get a big big capital gains hit if we sell our house before I pass (been here 37 years), but afterwards I think my wife gets the stepped up basis on 100% of it (benefit of being one of the 9 community property states). (You’ll notice I have arranged to go first.) Just not sure if that applies to other assets, whether financial or collectibles.
Of course, as a retired physician, what the hell do I know about any of this stuff!
I do know I gotta start more of that solo Burgundy drinking so I can at least make a dent.
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This is new to me, though I have wondered. I see mixed info on this. Some references say the basis is stepped up 100%, another says it’s only the 50% of what the spouse “owned”. Thought that could still be substantial.