Digging around in Cellartracker got me thinking about a handful of producers that I no longer buy. Some of them are quite a big part of my buying history/collection. We talk a lot here about not buying too much too early in our wine journeys because inevitably our tastes change. Also inevitably we ignore that advice (at least I did). So, lessons learned, here are mine:
Littorai. Been over 4 1/2 years since I last bought a bottle of Littorai and this is still my number one producer in terms of bottles bought. I got caught in the flood of their club releases, plus I liked both the Pinot and Chardonnay. Really excellent producer. But my tastes have changed.
Rhys. Pretty much the same story as Littorai.
Arnoux Lachaux. Started buying pretty heavily with the 2012 vintage. Still love the wines and will happily drink through my collection. But sadly the pricing is so vastly disconnected from the value that I’m no longer a buyer. Last vintage for me was 2018.
EMH (Black Cat). I really adored this producer for their solid, well priced Napa Cab. They are no longer producing wine, but my tastes started changing before the last few vintages. Still enjoying my few remaining bottles.
Groffier. Very similar story to Arnoux-Lachaux. Just opened a pair of Sentiers (2002 and 2009) and I’m really glad I have a bunch of their wine through the 2015 vintage.
6-10 are all California producers. Not a huge surprise to me since I’ve really slowed my California buying over the last 5 years. Zero in 2024 and probably zero in 2025! Kinda sad for someone who lives in San Francisco. Top 5 by number of purchased bottles I still buy? Willi Schaefer, Falkenstein, Giacosa (still backfilling pre-2008!), Prüm, Chave.
Keeping it generic, as I’m wary of feeling like I’m shitting on individual wineries
A very large number where the price has escalated well beyond what I think they are worth. Often it’s not their fault, as the secondary market drives this pricing.
Wines where I just stopped seeing them available e.g. Delatite riesling from Australia, plus others that had fleeting distribution. Many of these I’d buy again if I saw them.
Shift in style preference… or rather better realising my preferences. This shows most obviously in Barossa / McLaren Vale shiraz, which might have a few modern renegades seeking freshness and elegance, but mostly is a style the critics seem to like much more than I do
White burg. We still get a little Macon, from which I’ve yet to hit a premoxed bottle, but the general producer apathy (and critical silence) to this issue completely drove me away from the rest of the region. One or two producers with a high rate of faulty wines have also fallen off my radar as a result of that.
Higher end of my buying range. I never used to chase or aspire to the great icons, but £30-50 on a bottle wasn’t unusual, indeed it was perhaps too common, especially when on holiday and my mindset was to ‘optimise’ the limited luggage space for the return flight. £30+ now incredibly rare for me, as I have plenty of those maturing or matured in the cellar, so there’s currently much more of a focus on unfancy / sometimes rustic / quirky everyday wines.
For me it’s Ridge. I was in the ATP club for a long time (from the beginning of my interest in wine!) but my tastes veered towards Piedmont/Burgundy/etc and I was acquiring the wines substantially faster than I was drinking any of them.
Harlan/Promontory, Diamond Creek, Checkerboard, Scarecrow
I’m a Napa loyalist - but over time, I’ve discovered wines at a fraction of the price that rival (and sometimes surpass) these producers. However, there has been a wave of newer labels launching with high price tags, often riding on the reputation of their winemaker, vineyard pedigree, or ownership - long before they’ve truly proven themselves.
Of course it can go in any direction but I’m wondering what usually happens. Three of the first responses seemed to indicate preferring lighter wines over time and I remember seeing that trend mentioned in other threads as well.
I now prefer lighter wines than I did at the beginning of my wine journey but I’m curious if I’ll enjoy the 2022 Burgundies I bought when they come to maturity or if I’ll be wishing for the 2012 Napa Cabs I just sold instead
I really liked ‘22 Burgs (though of course there is a lot of room for variation). But in a decade, or two, if you decide that you want to undo this trade, my guess is that you’ll be very happy. Most likely your Burgs will have become very valuable. Napa Cabs not so much.
Well, it’s tough to know what usually happens without good data on the broad spectrum of drinkers.
But to overgeneralize, one possible trajectory is that people start out with big rich ‘obvious’ wines when they first get into wine in their 20s or 30s. Then as they become more ‘sophisticated’ in their 40s and 50s they may shift towards elegant wines. And then when their palate gets dulled in their 70s and 80s, the big rich wines return.
Me too with Ridge. I find ATP mostly average nowadays. Whether it’s my palate or shift in winemaking style nothing excites me. Shauna has brought some new energy to Lytton though so things may change.
Top 5 by what? How much of them you have left? How much you’ve purchased over time? Dollar-based or bottle-based? And is “don’t buy anymore” a forevermore or just haven’t bought in a few vintages?
If I take the spirit of the question to be why wines you bought regularly, at quantity no longer get your attention, I think my main reasons are:
Price escalated beyond my estimation of value (or my available budget). DRC is probably my best example of this, but point 2, below also contributed when Wilson-Daniels changed distribution channels circa 2014.
I lost access to the wine in my market. Example here is Mt. Edward. I direct-imported for awhile but it just became a lot of work and there is a lot of wine like it out there. Another example of this would be list-exclusive wineries where I dropped off the list and that lost me the access I once had. Dehlinger and Rochioli would be in that category.
A shift occurred. My tastes changed or the winemaking changed. I don’t really have any examples of this by producer. I will say that looking at what I drink now does reflect a change compared to 20 years ago. This is less about single producers for me than it is about regions/styles of wine.
You suggest three stages and I agree with the first two having gone from big Italian and French reds to entirely ligher reds, whites, and bubbles. I have heard of the third occurring, but I find it odd and would probably quit drinking rather than go back to big reds. It would be like going from Heavy Metal to Classical/Jazz/World back to Heavy Metal again.
I meant “top 5 by number of bottles purchased over all time”. “Don’t buy anymore” is meant to be more open-ended - but roughly that you stopped buying it in a particular year and either never bought again or reduced purchases by a lot (say, 90% ore more). But also interpret as you see fit.
Btw I see that you got my drift. Thanks for the post Fred.
Rhys - I own a ton anyway
Produttori del Barbaresco - I own a ton anyway, and the 2013s have me very bothered.
Leitz - hard to find, and he stopped making several of the wines I liked
Ridge - I own a ton anyway
Krug - price
