Same old topic - wine inventory

Seems like whenver you take an inventory people post something. It is a very cleansing task and you feel so good when it is complete. Just finished mine and happy to say inventory is holding at 800-810 bottles, must be because that is the maximum capacity. By country I have 64% French, 15% Italian and 12% US. The only surprise is 21% white, mostly Chablis and Loire CB. Bordeaux wins by far but love CC and well made mountain cabs. Very satisfied with the mix and with a bunch of parties coming up over the 4th will have a chance to balance things out and try some nice orphans.
Walt

I love Cellartracker. This reason is comparatively trivial, but it does make this information instanteous.

About 1000, divided:
France 75%
Italy 9%
US 9%
Germany 9%
Austria 1%
Spain 1%
Portugal 1%

80% red.

Bordeaux is over 40% of total, Burgundy 22%.

Of course, these figures are indicative of what I entered into Cellartracker. I don't enter NZ Sauvignon Blanc, rosés, artifically stoppered Pepiere muscadet, QbA Riesling, straightforward Zinfandels and other wines that go onto the "drink in the next year" racks. I certainly drink more than 20% white.

must be because that is the maximum capacity.

We're something like goldfish growing to the size of our tanks, arent we?

As recent as 2 years ago, my red/white ratio was 95/5. Now it's 70/30 with a majority of the whites being German and Alsatian riesling.

Country breakdown has also shifted with Australia dropping to single digits:
France 30%, US 20%, Italy 16%, Germany 12%, Spain 10%

I love Cellartracker. This reason is comparatively trivial, but it does make this information instanteous.

About 1000, divided:
France 75%
Italy 9%
US 9%
Germany 9%
Austria 1%
Spain 1%
Portugal 1%

80% red.

Bordeaux is over 40% of total, Burgundy 22%.

Of course, these figures are indicative of what I entered into Cellartracker. I don't enter NZ Sauvignon Blanc, rosés, artifically stoppered Pepiere muscadet, QbA Riesling, straightforward Zinfandels and other wines that go onto the "drink in the next year" racks. I certainly drink more than 20% white.

Dale,
Our cellars are somewhat similar but I only have about 8% Burgs and 4% German. A IT geek made a custom program for me that sorts by any of 12 catagories so like cellartracker it is easy to figure out what you have.
Walt

The question I like to ask at this point, is how fast are you drinking your wine?

It's always instructive to work out how long your wines would last at current rate of drinking (without buying any more - like that's going to happen )

It seems 7 years is a common figure and represents a relatively balanced habit (at least for an obsessive wine nut like most of us are!).

and if you need any justification for avoiding buying too many more bottles, just reflect on how you'd feel if you walked into a wine shop or restaurant and was presented with a list identical to your wine collection. Personally I'd be pretty contented.

Enough "voice of reason" from me!

regards

Ian

The question I like to ask at this point, is how fast are you drinking your wine?

Ian,
That is a very good question and really is what has sized my cellar. 60% of the wines I buy are designed to drink the first year they are purchased. My cellar, excluding those, has an age of about 10 years. We drink about 5 bottles a week so 800 is a good number. I know people with much larger cellars but wines do go bad.
Walt

At current consumption levels--10 years. I do try to stay on top of the drinking windows and actively cull wines reaching their limit. There is a buying bulge that I do worry about: '04 Calipinots.

There are also bulges for '02 Burgundies and '99 Bdm that for some reason don't seem as troublesome.

I think if I didn't buy any more, my wine would last about 2-3 years.

Jane, I'm with you. I'm not sure how much I have, but it looks like about 500 -600. At our rate of consumption, I think thats between two and three years. But of course, I will keep buying, because most of what we drink is pretty young stuff, whites, CdRs, Sangio, Spanish, etc... That which I have is, I'm guessing, less than half stuff to be consumed relatively young, like within 5 years, and the rest 5 up to 25 or 30 years. My kids damn well better enjoy the latter.

I love Cellartracker. This reason is comparatively trivial, but it does make this information instanteous.

About 1000, divided:
France 75%
Italy 9%
US 9%
Germany 9%
Austria 1%
Spain 1%
Portugal 1%

80% red.

Bordeaux is over 40% of total, Burgundy 22%.

Of course, these figures are indicative of what I entered into Cellartracker. I don't enter NZ Sauvignon Blanc, rosés, artifically stoppered Pepiere muscadet, QbA Riesling, straightforward Zinfandels and other wines that go onto the "drink in the next year" racks. I certainly drink more than 20% white.

Wow, Dale! You've added quite a few bottles since the last time I heard you talk about your invenetory. And I'd have guessed a higher % of Burgs, but I suspect that that has to do with economics (as it does with me, too).

Since I've been reinventorying the cellar recently, here are my latest figures:

~400 bottles (including 375s and magnums)

France - 56%
USA - 39%
Oz - 1%
Italy - 2%
Spain - 2%
Austria, NZ - 1%

Biggest entries are:

Bordeaux - 10%
CdP - 18%
Zinfandel - 16%

Like you, white wines are underrepresented in the cellar inventory because so many are placed in the "drink now" rack. Looking at what actually ends up in the database, it's Chablis, GV, Alsace and the Loire.

Mark Lipton

If I didn't invite anyone over for dinner and would drink all bottles along my stash of c. 100 bottles would last about a year. Gladly I do (maybe a bit too often!!!) so in reality my stash would last about 3 months.

90% wine; 10% beer:

Bordeaux 40% - too much of this.
Muscadet 10% - too little of this, and disappearing much too fast
Other France 15% - too little, but none available here (esp. Burgundy and N Rhone)

German Riesling 17,50% - much too little here.

Musar only 6,25%

Various odd bottles from here and there 1,25% - not very diverse am I?

Cantillon 10% - it rocks like Musar!

I think that adds up to 100% but if it doesn't, I've rounded some figures so that numbers like 17,489753% won't appear!

Wow, Dale! You've added quite a few bottles since the last time I heard you talk about your invenetory. And I'd have guessed a higher % of Burgs, but I suspect that that has to do with economics (as it does with me, too).

I have added some since we moved into house, plus this list counts prearrival. But biggest factor in jump is move and Cellartracker. Before I had an Access database, and if I had a new wine would have to type in :
<vintage>, <producer>, <wine>, <appellation>, <region>, <country>, <number>, <cost>, <drink>, etc. etc. for each wine (as well as any notes). I pretty much would for every expensive bottle, but skipped others. When I moved and built cellar, and when I switched to Cellartracker , I did full inventories. And my cellar total magically jumped by well over 100 bottles - no treasures, but $10-30 cellarable bottles (Savennieres, '96 Lynch Moussas, Crozes-Hermitages, Gigondas, Kabinetts, etc). The ease of adding stuff to CT makes it easier to keep up.

And you're correct re Burgundy. Ideally I'd have more, but there are less cellarable options in the under $30 range. Over $30 I'm more likely to buy ones & twos. So I have many multi-bottle lots of things like Gloria and du Tertre (at least till recent price increases) and Fronsacs or Haut-Medocs, and lots of 2-bottles sets of various Burgundies.

Cantillon? Otto, are you talking lambic beer? If not you have me totally confused. Not that that is something I am not used to.

My cellar is sitting at around 4000 bottles, divided about 85% wine cellar, 5% downstairs bathroom, and 10% stacked in the laundry room (to the all to evident disgust of she-who-must-be-obeyed).

Oh, you meant how is it divided among countries?

My American wines are slowly diminishing. I no longer buy them as they do not represent fair quality for price any more, at least not in the Canadian market - too many others from other areas available for less money. Let's see - one bottle of what used to be a modest Napa Cab, or two bottles of decent Hermitage - duh!

My French wines stay about the same, despite the fact that I last bought Bordeaux in the 1996 vintage. So many good things from the South to consider. The shift is away from Bordeaux and Burgundy to the Rhone and Provence.

My Italian wines are a growth area - not all producers are ga-ga-ga-Gaja when it comes to pricing. I HAVE stopped adding to verticals of Solaia, Sassicaia, etc. but there are lots of new interesting things - some of the Nero d'Avolas from Sicily are knock-outs, for instance.

Australia is probably about static as a result of my disgust with the wines we get in our market - many of the flash in the pan knock you over with sweet fruit style. I buy the good ones when I can find them and wish they'd bring in more.

Chile and South Africa are both areas of interest and modest growth as things appear in this market.

I am a bit more ambivalent about Agentina - I haven't yet seen (with a few exceptions) the quality of the top Chilean wines, and ther are a lot of over-fruity drink-me-now wines coming out of the area. Watch and wait.

Germans are a long time interest but I haven't been adding much - more likely these days to buy Alsatian.

Iberia continues to interest and is an area of slow growth in the cellar.

BC (local) wines pile up (the bathroom and laundry room contingent) and are generally used as every day drinkers - even the ones that merit close attention, unless I forget about them or misplace them for a few years. Now finishing up my store of the really excellent 1998s.

516 bottles

65% red, 35% white

46% France, 39% US (with the qualifier that the majority of the American wine is from two producers, Ridge and ESJ), Italy 6%, Germany 4%,
the remainder a mix of Australia, Austria, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, and Spain.

Best represented red grapes (in varietals as well as blends), in order: Syrah, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon.

Best represented white grapes (ditto): Riesling, Chardonnay (mostly Chablis) Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and the white Rhône grapes.

Best represented winegrowing regions, in order: California [but really this should be broken down further; my spreadsheet doesn't], Loire, Burgundy, Rhône, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Piedmont, Alsace

Oldest bottle: 1971

Median bottle cost: $26.50.

Cheers

Patchen

Patchen - come see us some time and we can reduce your cellar by a couple of bottles - any chance you'll be out Vancouver way for a wine tour some time?

Hi Bill!

Actually, we might be in your neck of the woods this summer, although we may not make it further north than Oregon. My grandmother has moved to Portland, so we're thinking about a West Coast swing that could involve a little time either on Vancouver Island or the Olympic Peninsula, a little time in Portland, and a little time in SF. But it all depends on work schedules, etc. Will keep you posted if it looks like we'll be up there.

(At the moment, though, you don't want my bottles. Two out of the three I've opened since I've been back on the WLDG have been corked. Which is funny, since I haven't seen Yaniger's name anywhere.)

cheers,

Patchen

[Jenise]

At current consumption levels--10 years. I do try to stay on top of the drinking windows and actively cull wines reaching their limit. There is a buying bulge that I do worry about: '04 Calipinots.

There are also bulges for '02 Burgundies and '99 Bdm that for some reason don't seem as troublesome.

Buying bulge. Now that's a new phrase to me, and unfortunately a badly needed one. I have too many, ahem, bulges.

[David M. Bueker]

Hi my name is David and I have a buying problem...

The cellar is holding steady at about 2200 bottles, divided 55% white to 45% red.

Germany leads the pack at 48% of the cellar.
France stands at 36% (16% Bords, 6% each Rhone and Burg, 3% each Champagne and Alsace, 2% Loire)
USA slowly declining, and now at 9% (like Patchen, lots of Ridge and some ESJ)
Austria is at a disgustingly low 3%. Phooey!
Italy and Portugal each have 2%

Every year the Germany % creeps up a little more. Gee, I wonder why. Burg is growing (Yay!), and so is Loire. Champagne is also growing, but the wallet groans.

Hi all. This is my first post here on these forums.

My beginner's cellar (started collecting wine around 1999 with a limited budget) stands at 592 right now with the oldest bottle being a 1985 port and an average cost of $25.7

Country Distribution:

Oz 39.4% (21.5% Riesling 38.5% Shiraz)
California 18.6% (Cabs and Cab mixes and Pinot mostly)
France 13.3% (mostly burgs)
Italy 7.4%
Oregon 7.4% (Pinot)
Washington 3.9% (mixed bag)
Spain 3.9%
New Zealand 2.0%
Porto 1.5%
Germany 0.8% (drinking them as I am getting them)
Other ~2%

I have around 25.7% whites (9.6% Riesling, 5.2% Chard., 2.4% Semillon, 1.5% Roussane, 1.4% S. Blanc, 1.2% Gewurz., and others) and 74.3% reds (16.7% Shirah, 15.5% Mixed, 14.9% Pinot, 6.4% Cab S., 4.4% Sangiovese, 3.4% Gernache, 2.4% Zin, 2.2 Merlot, ~8.5% other). Of the various varieties, approx. 5.4% are stickies.

And you're correct re Burgundy. Ideally I'd have more, but there are less cellarable options in the under $30 range. Over $30 I'm more likely to buy ones & twos. So I have many multi-bottle lots of things like Gloria and du Tertre (at least till recent price increases) and Fronsacs or Haut-Medocs, and lots of 2-bottles sets of various Burgundies.

Pretty much the same with me. From my db, I see that I have 290 different wines but over 400 bottles, so I average about 1.3 bottles per wine. When that's broken down, though, the multiple bottle purchases are heavily weighted toward Bdx, CdP, Ridge Zins and Muscadet. Burgs and CalCabs tend to be 1-2 bottle purchases. More recent vintages also trend more heavily toward multiple bottle purchases, reflecting the recent increase in disposable income (two home refinances and paying off car loans will do that for you). The arrival of Andrew will probably change that yet again, though.

Mark Lipton

My cellar is sitting at around 4000 bottles, divided about 85% wine cellar, 5% downstairs bathroom, and 10% stacked in the laundry room (to the all to evident disgust of she-who-must-be-obeyed).

Don't you mean "she who rolls her eyes every time you bring another case of wine back home"

and to think I get abuse for our ~ 240 bottles

I like the story (I believe it's genuine) of an UK man who realised he'd got much more wine than he could drink, so he set up a website to sell it and now has a thriving wine broker business going.

regards

Ian

[Jenise]

Hi all. This is my first post here on these forums.

My beginner's cellar (started collecting wine around 1999 with a limited budget) stands at 592 right now

Tim, welcome to the gang. You know what, 592 is pretty impressive for someone who calls themselves a beginner. And you have a pretty international collection for a beginner, too.

I'd say you're definitely an intermediate.