Balancing your cellar

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pjaines -> Balancing your cellar (8/5/2008 7:11:45 AM)
I am now getting to the point with my cellar where I have quite a bit of good but young wine that needs to sit for about 6-10 years. I'm now finding myself planning my cellar to provide a consistent level of good drinking, which means buying some lesser wines to drink in the next 1-2 years and 2-5 years. For the 2-5 year window I am starting to buy some South African reds, some NZ Pinot and some American red (thanks to suggestions on this forum). Probably going for some Aussie red as well. For the 1-2 year window I have some cheaper Bordeaux and some South West France wines. What do other people do for their different levels of aging in their cellar?

cgrimes -> RE: Balancing your cellar (8/5/2008 8:02:38 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: pjaines I am now getting to the point with my cellar where I have quite a bit of good but young wine that needs to sit for about 6-10 years. I'm now finding myself planning my cellar to provide a consistent level of good drinking, which means buying some lesser wines to drink in the next 1-2 years and 2-5 years. For the 2-5 year window I am starting to buy some South African reds, some NZ Pinot and some American red (thanks to suggestions on this forum). Probably going for some Aussie red as well. For the 1-2 year window I have some cheaper Bordeaux and some South West France wines. What do other people do for their different levels of aging in their cellar? I am in a very similar situation to you. Most of my early drinkers are from California, Oregon, and various appelations in France. I'm, not a Chianti fan so bargain Italians are limited. We don't get a great selection of S. African wines in our area. NZ is pretty limited as well. I, perhaps irrationally, am an "oenoaussophobe" (just made that one up!) so not much from there. Would like to venture more into S. American wines as I think they can be good early drinkers. Craig

Serge Birbrair -> RE: Balancing your cellar (8/5/2008 8:31:03 AM)
After buying stuff for aging and putting it away, I drink whites, NZ, easy to drink "ready now" reds and just hope that I still have interest in those Cabs and Nebbiolos when they mature.

Blue Shorts -> RE: Balancing your cellar (8/5/2008 9:39:32 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: cgrimes I am in a very similar situation to you. Most of my early drinkers are from California, Oregon, and various appelations in France. I'm, not a Chianti fan so bargain Italians are limited. We don't get a great selection of S. African wines in our area. NZ is pretty limited as well. I, perhaps irrationally, am an "oenoaussophobe" (just made that one up!) so not much from there. Would like to venture more into S. American wines as I think they can be good early drinkers. Craig I like that term, "oenoaussophobe". I'm one also. I like a few Ozzy wines, but very few. They're mostly grenache. The shiraz just irritates me. It's the equivalent of a blackberry pie in the face.[image]http://www.cellartracker.com/forum/image/s8.gif[/image] My short term drinkers are California Pinots, French Burgundy, Italian Chianti and Super Tuscan, and especially.... Cote du Rhone...yum[image]http://www.cellartracker.com/forum/image/s1.gif[/image] Sprinkle in a little merlot, chardonnay, riesling and sauvignon blanc and the picture is complete...well, almost[image]http://www.cellartracker.com/forum/image/s4.gif[/image]

cgrimes -> RE: Balancing your cellar (8/5/2008 9:45:29 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Blue Shorts quote: ORIGINAL: cgrimes I am in a very similar situation to you. Most of my early drinkers are from California, Oregon, and various appelations in France. I'm, not a Chianti fan so bargain Italians are limited. We don't get a great selection of S. African wines in our area. NZ is pretty limited as well. I, perhaps irrationally, am an "oenoaussophobe" (just made that one up!) so not much from there. Would like to venture more into S. American wines as I think they can be good early drinkers. Craig I like that term, "oenoaussophobe". I'm one also. I like a few Ozzy wines, but very few. They're mostly grenache. The shiraz just irritates me. It's the equivalent of a blackberry pie in the face.[image]http://www.cellartracker.com/forum/image/s8.gif[/image] My short term drinkers are California Pinots, French Burgundy, Italian Chianti and Super Tuscan, and especially.... Cote du Rhone...yum[image]http://www.cellartracker.com/forum/image/s1.gif[/image] Sprinkle in a little merlot, chardonnay, riesling and sauvignon blanc and the picture is complete...well, almost[image]http://www.cellartracker.com/forum/image/s4.gif[/image] I forgot about Riesling. I actually drink alot of it because I find it so food friendly. That would also be my exception to oenoaussophobia as I tend to like their dry Rieslings. They've really got the petrol thing down, and I like that. Cotes du Rhone--great wines, great value (arguably the best QPR in the world).

JohnNezlek -> RE: Balancing your cellar (8/5/2008 9:47:27 AM)
In addition to the excellent ideas offered by our fellow drinkers, I recommend "buying backwards", i.e., looking for older vintages (particularly Bordeaux). You might find them at auctions or merchants who sepcialize in selling cellars (e.g., Blicker Pierce, Benchmark, etc.). It may take some time to find what you want (at a price that is within reason), but now and then you can get some excellent deals. For example, there are many 2001 Bdx that are drinkng quite well now, as there are some '98s, '99s, and especially the '97s (and dare I suggest, even some 00s). Good luck, John

cgrimes -> RE: Balancing your cellar (8/5/2008 9:52:28 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: JohnNezlek In addition to the excellent ideas offered by our fellow drinkers, I recommend "buying backwards", i.e., looking for older vintages (particularly Bordeaux). You might find them at auctions or merchants who sepcialize in selling cellars (e.g., Blicker Pierce, Benchmark, etc.). It may take some time to find what you want (at a price that is within reason), but now and then you can get some excellent deals. For example, there are many 2001 Bdx that are drinkng quite well now, as there are some '98s, '99s, and especially the '97s (and dare I suggest, even some 00s). Good luck, John Don't you find it amazing that you can find mature Bordeaux from decent vintages, ready to drink (or short-term cellaring) for less than recent lesser vintages? I think it reflects the sad state of current (over) pricing, and makes me wonder how long I'll be able to continue collecting this stuff.

JohnNezlek -> RE: Balancing your cellar (8/5/2008 10:00:21 AM)
I have been surprised by this for some time. I am little concerned about the quality of pre-90 (or pre-85) lesser wines, but for the most part, no worries. I even bought a '72 B&G Sauternes (for something like $10) -- hardly a cru of any sort -- and it was simply splendid. We were all quite amazed. Frankly, part of me regrets mentioning this practive at all because if you read and believe, that will simply add to the competition (and the price). Oh well.

GalvezGuy -> RE: Balancing your cellar (8/5/2008 10:26:46 AM)
I am in the same boat here. I started collecting "serious" wines about three years ago. I rely on the Drinkability Report function to make sure I am not letting wines sit too long. I had a couple of 2001 Napa Syrahs that were great young but fell apart and the CT window was probably correct. I would much rather drink a wine too young than past its peak.

pbm -> RE: Balancing your cellar (8/5/2008 11:21:57 AM)
The 2003 Bordeaux's look like a steal right now given the prices of other vintages.

mjobtx -> RE: Balancing your cellar (8/5/2008 3:33:15 PM)
The primary purpose of my cellar is to store fine wines at or near (within 5 years) of their suspected peak. I also store some of my "drink now" wines in the cellar as well but I tend to buy and consume them more frequently so they are not an important part of my cellar plan. I would caution not use the CT drinkability windows as a sole source of your information. I have found some to be wildly off. For me offline tastings are a major source of information about the drinkability of a particular wine.

Paul S -> RE: Balancing your cellar (8/5/2008 8:35:37 PM)
I am trying to keep enough bottles so that I have enough of each varietal that I normally pair with food to drink today, next year and for the next 3-4 years after.

ParkHill -> RE: Balancing your cellar (8/5/2008 9:03:56 PM)
Spanish wines are a good near-term solution. The moderately-expensive, modern-style Riojas offer outrageous pleasure if you like oak. The 2004-2005 vintage has a lot $20 wines that are really great. These $20 wines aren't the heavy-oak/over-extraction, but if you sample 5 of them, 1 or 2 are really excellent. I also feel that some American Merlot and Bordeaus-blends offer good value and good flavor when younger. That isn't my area of specialty, but $40 seems to be a QPR sweet spot. I agree that you can back-fill with reasonable affordability in the 1996 - 2001 range at the auction houses.

smahk -> RE: Balancing your cellar (8/6/2008 2:01:42 PM)
I am in the same predicament. Newish wine cellar with lots of stuff to age - but just a few to drink NOW. I have bought backwards (that results in purchasing even more allocation from the current releases trying to replicate this great experience) as well as seek out drinkable now wines. I have found South America - especially Chile to be a great value as well as drinking very early. But - even wines that are supposed to be drinking NOW - seem to benefit and taste richer and deeper with a few years in the cellar. Wine Clubs like Oriel provided wine that is usually drinking now, from all over the world, introducing me to varieties, blends and styles I would otherwise never chose. And of course I am continually reading the TN - The best find for me from the TN is a young wine drinking great now with a super QPR is Shelter 27-29.

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