We all have a general limit as to what we will spend on wine, that limit is as varied as the members here. Hell, I still remember $25 being the max. I’d spend on a bottle … that limit has crept-up over the years, but I still balk at triple digits. For most wines, I wouldn’t even consider plopping-down a bill, so the decision to buy or not to buy is usually easy … but what about the wines that are priced right at, or just beyond, your limit? Which ones most threaten the sturdiest pillars of your willpower? Like other past limits, the $100 limit may eventually be a thing of the past … I imagine a Sauternes may be my undoing, or perhaps a Bdx … as much as I love So. Rhone wines, it’s tough for me to go triple-digits there with all the fantastic wines that can be had for less, so that’s not it … whatever it is, it’ll be interesting to see which bottle, after so many before it, I feel is good enough for me to push past my limit.
Where has your limit been … perhaps, where is it now? What were some of your “limit busters” and what bottles threaten to push your limit now?
Hard to put a hard number to my limit on price per bottle to spend or even a monthly amount. Right now I am in a buying freeze of sorts…nothing being purchased above about $20 a bottle on the spur of the moment.
As for a realistic answer, I guess it depends on the wine and the context. Max’s offer for the 2003 Pavie at under $150 is a no brainer to me…if I were in the spending mode this month. Also, I was offered a mag of 1990 Leoville Poyferre for $400 and based on a recent experience, I wouldn’t balk at that price.
Good question. I also remember when I balked at a $50 bottle. Then I found the boards… That pushed really quickly into triple digits for some bottles. Then I tasted some of the bottles I bought for triple digits and realized they weren’t worth anywhere near those prices.
So I’ve pulled the throttle back some, but (like Tex said) I think for the most part it depends on the wine and the situation.
i used to have a limit of about 40, and that is a threshold i dont break too often. the only times ive spent more than 100 on a bottle is 1976 huet, 1989 le gay, and 2002 gravner breg. so all pretty hard to aquire/special wines. the huet was worth it, the gravner was pretty great but i woulnt buy again at that price, and the le gay is still in slumber. the le gay came from an immaculate cellar in va, purchased on release, and i paid 110, my most ever.
luckily i get 99% of my wines wholesale now so i can spend within my comfort zone and get great wines. not to mention all of the closeouts happening which make it even easier.
This has recently happened to me as well. I’ve tasted a few of the $$$ bottles that I bought in the past, and have been lucky enough to be given tastes of some top-end juice. The experience was awesome, but in the end I found that I get 95% of the same experience/pleasure from some of the great value wines that I’ve found for $30 or less. I was purchasing vintage port, until I found some great late bottled vintage port - 90% of the pleasure, 25% of the cost.
Until I have A LOT more discretionary income, there won’t be much that will push me past $30 a bottle. Our upcoming first anniversary dinner in Vegas will probably be a big money night, as is the occasional event with my wino buddies. But I’m strictly a deal hunter for all my other wine for probably the next few years.
