POLL: The Chase, The Acquisition or the Consumption of Wine-- What Matters Most to You?

WINE TALK
1

The Chase, The Acquisition or The Consumption of Wine: What Matters Most to You?

  • The Chase – Winning that wine lot actually feels anti-climatic to me after all the bids I put in to get it
  • The Acquisition – There’s a reason I have a walk-in mini-cellar devoted to displaying all my acquired Yquem bottles
  • The Consumption – Have you not read all of my tasting notes? CellarTracker rules!

0 voters

Berserkers,

So, the recent thread on knowing anyone who has left the wine collecting hobby turned out some surprisingly emotional and completely valid answers – the support of a loved one, serious health issues, even death.

But there was one rather benign answer that also struck me – the interest in the hobby had simply left them. The chase no longer thrilled them.

While this seems particularly odd to me that the love of wine would ever leave someone, keep in mind I am also someone making up for lost time having become a Wine Berserker a scant three years ago.

But when I look at the hobbies I started in my youth, not one of them remains today. The things I used to collect – comic books, 45" music singles, sports magazines – have all fallen by the wayside. Even video games – which I’ve been playing since the days of the arcades and the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision home systems – and played well into my now adulthood have finally faded away as I gave away my PlayStation 3 to my little 7 year old nephew Kobe and I don’t miss it or the games at all.

The few that I did play, that is. It’s amazing to me how many people collect video games, DVDs, Blu-Rays and the like and never actually play or watch them. Same with wine. It amazes me how many people collect cellars full of wines but never actually get around to drinking much if any of it. I never thought I would be one of those persons but I’m getting pretty darn close.

So I have to ask everyone: what is the part of this hobby that really keeps you in it? The thrill of the chase of those rare bottles whether you actually end up obtaining them or not? The actual acquisition of the trophy bottle that you have no intention of ever opening but keep on display for you and everyone to see? Or the actual consumption of the liquid gold within?

For myself, when I started it was all about the consumption. But three years and nearly 400 bottles of wine and 30 bottles of different spirits later, I am surprised to find I have been caught up in the acquisition more than the actual consumption. Three years, ago I never expected this would be the case when my entire collection consisted of a measly 6 bottles of different icewines.

I still consume on an almost daily basis, however, so that part has never left. I’m just surprised at how fast the acquisition part took over as the most important aspect of my wine hobby.

So which is the most important aspect of wine collecting for you guys?

2

Popping a special bottle with good friends is what it’s all about. The excitement I get from acquiring a bottle is nothing compared to that I get from opening it.

3

Bad poll Tran. What if you consume and never post a CT note?

For me anyhow, the entire point is to consume, or rather to enjoy, not just to consume, which is one reason I hate corks, but that’s a different discussion.

Either way though, the point is not to collect just for the sake of collecting. Thus I have no “trophy” bottles and really dislike that term. Does anyone go all Teddy Roosevelt to collect wine? What is the trophy and what does it commemorate? Does one paddle down a river, brave hostile tribes and beasts armed only with a knife and his will to survive, returning with the rare treasure?
.
Usually not.

With wine, one simply pays some money and gets a bottle. Same way one would buy soap. Maybe we pay more money and there are fewer places to buy, but essentially it’s the same transaction. So to collect trophy wines, one simply has to spend time shopping. Kind of like the Khardashians. And once again, we realize how much those girls mean to all of us!! [snort.gif]

4

The opening, just before the consuming.

It’s like when she undoes the last button.

Just sayin’.

5

Wine drinker first but I enjoy finding and buying the wines I want to drink. They’re not like rare art with me though, I drink them all eventually.

6

I love when a great bottle actually meets expectation or exceeds it when poured.

I also love finding a great deal, not just for wine, but everything.

So my answer is yes to everything.

7

I agreed…

8

Interesting poll, Tran. I really enjoy enjoying wine. AnD enjoying it with special people just makes it that much more enjoyable. I love collecting it (wish I could afford more) and I love learning about it, as well, though. Those three pieces for me are what make wine so much fun for me.

I don’t do winebid (intentionally) so I don’t have the thrill of the bid/win experience and I don’t haunt shops so I don’t have experience with the hunting aspect so much.

9

In this order…

  1. Drinking a great wine with my family & friends.
  2. Seeking and finding the wines I’m excited to drink at some point. And, buying them really right.
  3. Writing tasting notes on CT from memory later that night or the next day. Love CT for; enthusing about a wine, tracking my impressions overtime and drinking window guesses.
10

Great poll idea, just not enough options.

11

The post makes a good point, that there is a mixture of collector/acquirer impulse that goes beyond simply our desire to enjoy great wine. We all know the easy thing to say (“I love sharing wine with dear friends and I only buy wine to facilitate that happening blah blah blah”), but if we’re honest with ourselves, most of us should be aware how much of the hobby is about shopping and collecting too.

But I don’t think anyone is going to admit to the hunt being more important than the drink, so the poll itself isn’t going to draw that point out.

12

Your suggesting a discrepancy between “what we’ll admit to” and “who we are”? [wink.gif]

I say this (and it is the truth). I hate storing wine. I love drinking it. I do, however, buy too much of it.

13

I like finding and acquiring great wines, but I love opening them with friends and family. At the end of the day, I feel that wine is meant to be consumed, not placed upon a pedestal and shown off.

14

I love drinking great wines. I knew I was in big cellar trouble when I realized that I enjoy buying them even more than I enjoy drinking them.

15

Proof, if we still needed it, that self-reporting polls are untrustworthy. [stirthepothal.gif]

16

I don’t think many of us on this board actually like “showing off” our wines. I find out about an intriguing producer and / or region that interest me and I get very eager to own and drink the wine. Don’t think “showing off” applies to many of us here. I think we may be excited to say “hey look what I found for us to drink” but that’s in the enthusiasm and anticipation of tasting a wine with great potential from a cool region and or producer of interest.

17

There’s definitely a hunter/collector component, but I think the hunt is all about the drink. If I find some amazing trophy bargain in a wine shop and buy several bottles for a fraction of their normal price, that is going to make me happy. And I’ll be happy every time I go down in my cellar and see those bottles. But if I drink those bottles and find them all to be heat damaged, I’ll be left with nothing but unhappiness for my wasted time/energy/money. Some people may just like to collect cool things, possibly in the hopes that they will appreciate in value or what not. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I think there’s more drinkers than collectors.

18



Oops! [snort.gif]

19

David – You are a commendably honest man! I think many of us here have succumbed to that. I know the hunt for the offbeat and bargains has swelled my inventory far past any rational level.

As they tell people in AA, the first step toward the cure is acknowledging the problem. [cheers.gif]

20

I would say Consumption… but some times the hunt is part of the fun.
:slight_smile: