What I Learned About Wine In 2015--My Lessons. What Were Yours?

[Joe_S]

As a wine drinking engineer, here are my 2015 lessons learned:

1). Bottles/yr purchased - bottles/yr consumed = mo bottles

For some reason, I am buying about 200 mo bottles per year than we are consuming.

2. If (available storage + mo bottles > total storage)
   Then
   you’re fecked and need more storage,
   else
   You’re wife asks for a wine you don’t have.

I have filled out yet another offline locker and now have wine in my garage. This will be okay until it warms up in May or I drink more bottles.

3. Nightly consumption = f(1/age + 1/ABV)

At my age, I am happy drinking AFWE wines because 2 bottles of Paso Syrah puts me under the table.

[RyanC]

So many great age able wines available for less than $80. I increasingly wonder why I ever spend more than that.

[Joe_S]

@Ryan Caughey

So many great age able wines available for less than $80. I increasingly wonder why I ever spend more than that.

Because you rely on history to affirm which wines age well? (As do I). Typically, wines which have great track records are know for aging well. If you have other selection methods that allow you to know in advance, Ryan, please share.

[PCLIN]

Old Corton Rouge is good, really good!

[Dennis_Kanagie]

@D@vid Bu3ker

@Joe B

All roads lead to Napa.

I did not know that Napa was a village in Burgundy.

Napa is a village in the center of Hype County. Town Hall is painted blueblueblue.

Sometimes the hype is realized. Sometimes it’s not.

ps - I still kinda wanna try Schrader. Can’t seem to find any on Commerce Corner though…

[Monte_Mast]

My reorganization of my cellar prompted the first few.

1. I made progress on getting my consumption in line with my purchases. I should end the year after gifting 90 bottles closer than I was last year. My problem was that 2014 was way out of whack with at 190 bottle difference. Still 100 bottles difference. The goal is to cut that in half again next year.

2. My wife is starting to drive some purchases. She is directly responsible for 25% (5 of 20) of the cases we purchased in 2015. By responsible I mean she either joined the wine club or told me “I want you to buy 3, 6, or 12 bottles of that wine.” Life is good.

3. It also means she couldn’t complain too much when I had to get a third cellar to store the 16 cases from fall mailers, clubs, Oregon trip and spring weather holds that didn’t have temperature controlled storage.

4. My consumption is changing. Three years ago, my red v. white consumption was 5 to 1. After discovering white Burgundy and riesling, it is now 2 to 1.

5. At my current consumption rate, I have 15 years worth of syrah. I need to think to drink it because the ones I have I like.

6. Sometimes I like the youthful exuberance of a new release and other times want something subtle. Or as a friend bluntly puts it, “Wine is no different than sex. Sometimes you want a seductive romantic encounter and other times you simply want to get laid. If you want one and get the other, you will be extremely disappointed so think before you choose.”

7. The more I learn, the less I feel like I know. Say what you want about the movie and related shows, there is a stupid amount of stuff that a somm candidate needs to know to pass that exam. I’ll be happy when I know as much about a region or two as they have to know about Peloponnesian whites.

[robert_creth]

I still allow others opinions to influence too much of my purchases.

I have no patience to cellar.

Just because I loved you today, doesn’t mean I will next week.

Buy less!

I am not an oenophile and that is ok.

If I am trying to like it, I don’t.

[G_Greenbaum]

I like beer!

[Brian_Maxwell]

As a retailer, you think you know it all, until you work on the wholesale side and then you realize you didnt know crap.

[Scott_G_r_u_n_e_r]

Lesson 1- Over the last few years I have spent too much on expensive pointy wines on lists that hold you hostage due to FOMO

Lesson 2- I am happier drinking Gonon, LDH, or a number of wines with real soul vs. most of the mailing list wines.

Lesson 3- You can never have too much Champagne.

[Dennis_Borczon]

I learned that in the future, I need to wait for the Bill Klapp truffle report. Purchased just 1oz of Urbani trufflesthis year and was really disappointed. Some scent, but not much taste. Listening to Bill is like hearing that most annoying guy in your high school, who is absolutely correct about many things he is familiar with. Lesson learned. If Bill wanted to make a real contribution to humanity, he would issue a yearly “Truffle Advocate” newsletter…

[Matthew_King]

1. Burgundy has jumped the price shark. The price of new-release Burgundy has officially crossed the tipping point for me. When merely good village wines from my favorite producers (e.g. Dujac) edge to $100 a bottle, it’s time to move on. I found it’s remarkably easy to backfill quality 1er crus for vintages like 1999 and 2002 (which I like) at decent prices.

2. Fewer geeks. I often get more enjoyment from sharing special bottles of wines with curious and grateful friends with limited wine knowledge than with fellow cognoscenti who fuss over and dissect every nuance of the wine. If I’m honest about it, if someone recorded some of the fey/precious conversations I’ve had about wine with my fellow geeks, I’d be embarrassed (at times) to hear it played back to me. It’s nice to open and taste a really nice bottle and just watch the smile spread on the faces of the uninitiated without all the hand-wringing and drama (about the oak regimen, whole cluster %, optimum drinking windows, provenance, ex-cellar access, blah blah)

3. Just say no. As someone dealing with his buying problem, it can feel very gratifying to walk into a massive wine shop, peruse a bit, and walk out without a purchase. Or an auction site. I’ve gotten much better about it this year. Hasn’t always been the case. A bit like that old adage: Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.

4. Mmmmmm. Beer. I often find myself craving quality craft beer more than wine. This is especially true at restaurants, where I often find it much easier to find good beer than good wine. Or put another way, craft beer accounted for more of my per-unit alcohol consumption this year at the expense of wine. It will never replace wine, but I have to admit that craft beers as a whole are more affordable than wine, have a greater success rate, and often provide as much intellectual and sensory enjoyment as many of the wines I drink.

[Nate_Simon]

@Matthew King

1. Burgundy has jumped the price shark. The price of new-release Burgundy has officially crossed the tipping point for me. When merely good village wines from my favorite producers (e.g. Dujac) edge to $100 a bottle, it’s time to move on. I found it’s remarkably easy to backfill quality 1er crus for vintages like 1999 and 2002 (which I like) at decent prices.

2. Fewer geeks. I often get more enjoyment from sharing special bottles of wines with curious and grateful friends with limited wine knowledge than with fellow cognoscenti who fuss over and dissect every nuance of the wine. If I’m honest about it, if someone recorded some of the fey/precious conversations I’ve had about wine with my fellow geeks, I’d be embarrassed (at times) to hear it played back to me. It’s nice to open and taste a really nice bottle and just watch the smile spread on the faces of the uninitiated without all the hand-wringing and drama (about the oak regimen, whole cluster %, optimum drinking windows, provenance, ex-cellar access, blah blah)

3. Just say no. As someone dealing with his buying problem, it can feel very gratifying to walk into a massive wine shop, peruse a bit, and walk out without a purchase. Or an auction site. I’ve gotten much better about it this year. Hasn’t always been the case. A bit like that old adage: Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.

4. Mmmmmm. Beer. I often find myself craving quality craft beer more than wine. This is especially true at restaurants, where I often find it much easier to find good beer than good wine. Or put another way, craft beer accounted for more of my per-unit alcohol consumption this year at the expense of wine. It will never replace wine, but I have to admit that craft beers as a whole are more affordable than wine, have a greater success rate, and often provide as much intellectual and sensory enjoyment as many of the wines I drink.

+100. Pretty much what came to mind for me. Well done.

[Howard_Cooper]

@Robert Alfert

2. Be true to thy palate. I know what I like. I have a narrow, old school palate. While I have flirted elsewhere and with various styles, I always go back to what got me hooked in the early-to-mid-90s: Bordeaux, Chinon and Northern Rhones. These three regions account for 75% of my collection. About 22.5% of my collection is Beaujolais and Zinfandel.

Really like this one. Certainly, it is always good to try new things, but too many of us keep trying a wine region over and over again and complain because the region’s wines are not like the wines from the regions you like. You are always consistent - most of the time I see notes from you, they are going to be about good Bordeaux or Chinon, or watches.

[Howard_Cooper]

1. Cherish restaurants that let one BYOB. Wine prices at restaurants have gotten out of control. When you go to such a restaurant, be really nice and tip as if you bought a nice bottle of wine.

2. Cherish your wine tasting group and friends.

3. My favorite wine is red Burgundy, but when it is really on, there is really nothing like a white Burgundy.

4. There are no substitutes in wine for age - a perfectly mature wine is a treasure that cannot be duplicated with a younger wine, no matter how good the younger wine is.

[Michael_S_Monie]

@Dennis Borczon

I learned that in the future, I need to wait for the Bill Klapp truffle report. Purchased just 1oz of Urbani trufflesthis year and was really disappointed. Some scent, but not much taste. Listening to Bill is like hearing that most annoying guy in your high school, who is absolutely correct about many things he is familiar with. Lesson learned. If Bill wanted to make a real contribution to humanity, he would issue a yearly “Truffle Advocate” newsletter…

I can just see Bill “robo-tasting” white truffles!

[craig_v]

Turned 60 this year and thought, THIS, is the year I will trim back my spending. Instead,I spent more than last year and hit an all time high. Guess I learned I can’t curve my collecting. Like a buddy of mine said " I almost love buying wine more than drinking it". We’ll,I love drinking it too. If I didn’t, space would force me to slow my buying. The good news is I’ve drank and shared almost as many btls as I’ve bought this year. Maybe I should pic a new goal for next year

[Mike_DiSalvo]

I like older barolo’s and barbaresco’s
I’m still drinking too much wine too soon
I also like beer…and bourbon
and I’m going to drink less
and exercise more.

[Dennis_Atick]

Premier Cru has the most amazing deals on pre-arrival wines!
I mean, you have to be patient and all, but wow the deals!

[Kevin_Porter]

My sad lesson - If you walk into a wine store and find a bunch of '14 Clos Roche Blanch Cuvee Pif don’t buy two with the intention to try and possibly go back for more. You will love it and there will be none left. And while it is true that there is always more wine to be had, this is it for CRB.