Netscape Forum Poll: "Threshold of pain" for everyday wine

The evidence from my drinking history shows that any bottle over $50 gets a special meal of some kind. I didn't purposefully draw the line there, but apparently my subconscious did.

[Jenise]

Now that's not really how I was answering the question. I did it more in the vein of purchasing everyday drinkers.

Yeah, I realize. It's just that the everyday wines we buy currently are summer whites. Our everyday reds are whatever we own that we like to drink, many of which were purchased at auction and usually at prices around half retail. Sometimes, much less. Ergo, the street value of the wines we drink every day is a lot higher than our actual cost and value isn't what drives my daily selection anyway, so that's why I answered the question the way I did. Didn't mean to answer a different question than was asked, it's just that this is the only way I could have answered it.

[Robin Garr]

Didn't mean to answer a different question than was asked, it's just that this is the only way I could have answered it.

As I told Bob Ross in a parallel thread on the Netscape Forum, there's really no right or wrong way to answer these simple polls ... they're just about making folks think about wine and the ways we use it.

That being said, the underlying question that I had in MY mind when I put together the poll was along the lines of, "When you're picking up a bottle of wine at a local wine shop to have for dinner tonight, what's the price point (if any) at which you start to think, "Hmm, that's a little high for everyday, maybe I'd better save that one for my birthday."

But nobody has to answer it the way I meant it.

When you're picking up a bottle of wine at a local wine shop to have for dinner tonight

I hardly ever do this....the "buy for tonight" part. Am I in the minority of people here? It's very very rare that I bring home a bottle and say Lets open this tonight. I do remember reading somewhere that most wines are consumed within 24hrs of purchased, but how common is that with geekdom?

[Robin Garr]

When you're picking up a bottle of wine at a local wine shop to have for dinner tonight

I hardly ever do this....the "buy for tonight" part. Am I in the minority of people here? It's very very rare that I bring home a bottle and say Lets open this tonight. I do remember reading somewhere that most wines are consumed within 24hrs of purchased, but how common is that with geekdom?

Interesting question. I'm constantly haunting wine shops and picking out wines, if not for tonight, at least for "in the next couple of weeks." I do this in large part because I seem to have hatched this scam where I make my living by buying new wines and telling people about them, but I guess I just naturally assumed that everyone else does pretty much what I do.

Based on a lot of E-mail, I can tell you that a lot of <i>Wine Advisor</i> readers do the same, but whether the distinct subset of WLDG denizens tend to be more in the realm of collectors, I can't say.

That might be another good poll sometime - maybe a poll on this forum software to limit it to forum regulars. Wanna start it?

[James Roscoe]

.... I do remember reading somewhere that most wines are consumed within 24hrs of purchased, but how common is that with geekdom?

I probably purchase 50% of my wines for consumption w/i the next few months if not days. The other 50% are the two yrs or more keepers.

For everyday wine, I usually drink my home made, which costs less than $3.00. That being said, when I do buy wines, I seldom spend more than $15 -$20 and I don't think I've ever spent more than $40 for a bottle. However, I've received bottles as gifts that I know cost a lot more than that and have enjoyed them. On the other hand, with a few exceptions, I usually spend more than $10. I'd also like to point out that about half of the "store-bought" wine in my cellar was purchased at nearby wineries.

[Jenise]

When you're picking up a bottle of wine at a local wine shop to have for dinner tonight

I hardly ever do this....the "buy for tonight" part. Am I in the minority of people here? It's very very rare that I bring home a bottle and say Lets open this tonight. I do remember reading somewhere that most wines are consumed within 24hrs of purchased, but how common is that with geekdom?

Robin, I'm where Bill is. And yet I don't consider myself in the other category you just referred to, "collector". I'm just someone who drinks mostly red wines and buys the wines I plan to drink 3-10 years ahead of time. AND, I often buy at auction. If I want a Cal Cab for dinner tonight? I might open a 99 Freemark Abbey Bosche vineyard. Street price? About $70, but I paid $19 at auction. Tomorrow I might open a Karl Lawrence I bought from the winery for $50. And the next day, I might have a good little cab from my favorite neighborhood winery: $14. And the next night, a delicious Margan shiraz rose from auction: $2. The next night, maybe a little 02 Baudry Chinon that I bought locally two years ago for $13. And the night after that a 99 Leoville Barton, auction price around $23. And then a friend drops by and we get to talking wine and so I pull the new release Dunham cab to sample, $45. All wines I love and would open any day of the week for any occasion regardless of price. Average cost over six nights? $23. Average quality? A lot higher than that.

Sure there are a lot of people who buy for immediate consumption but there are many, many of us who don't, and we're increasing in number.

I have to say I never really thought much about it, but the truth is a little flag goes up whenever I reach for something that's more than $15.99. I'm not saying I won't grab it anyway, but I do stop and think--do I really want to open this tonight? Sometimes the answer is "of course I do" and sometimes not.

It also depends on what's going on in the kitchen.

As far as purchasing habits, I ALWAYS buy by the case. I don't know how it is where you shop, but we give 15% off on mixed cases, and that's usually like getting a bottle or two free.

As for the tomorrow-may-never-come approach, I guess I'm just never gonna make it as a total hedonist. So far, tomorrow has come every damned day, and it's been a lotta days.

[Jenise]

As for the tomorrow-may-never-come approach, I guess I'm just never gonna make it as a total hedonist. So far, tomorrow has come every damned day, and it's been a lotta days.

Dave, you're looking at this all wrong. Buying the wines--that's hedonistic. Drinking them? Purely practical.

[Jenise]

Addendum to Dave--I hit the SEND button before I had finished--the point I needed to make is that Bucko's a doctor. He sees patients die. And me, I have a husband who survived something most people don't. And we're not unusual, life teaches others the same lesson every day. aught me a new lesson. Live well while you can, my friend. Not foolishly, but well.

Addendum to Dave--I hit the SEND button before I had finished--the point I needed to make is that Bucko's a doctor. I'm not, but I have a husband who survived a form of cancer most people don't. Before that happened I thought more like you do, but life taught me a new lesson. Live well while you can, my friend.

I understand what you're saying. At the same time--for me, anyway--part of living well is expecting that tomorrow will come, and planning to make as good use of it as I can within my admittedly limited capabilities. Sorry if I sounded cranky.

And now back to the topic...

[Jenise]

Sorry if I sounded cranky.

Nah, cranky I can deal with. You sounded judgemental.

and planning to make as good use of it as I can within my admittedly limited capabilities.

Which is exactly what Bucko and I are doing. It's not the devil-may-care "eat, drink and be merry" philosophy you thought. Rather, it's about not putting off for tomorrow what we can do today so that if we like it and there's means, we can do it again tomorrow. That's practical.

Rather, it's about not putting off for tomorrow what we can do today so that if we like it and there's means, we can do it again tomorrow. That's practical.

No argument here!

As far as judgmental: We're all judgmental. I know it's unfashionable to say so, but I think it is important to be judgmental. You may disagree with my judgement, and I am always ready to cheerfully admit when my judgment is wrong (like this instance--just as you say, I mis-interpreted your meaning), but I am going to judge, you bet.

[Jenise]

but I think it is important to be judgmental.

I basically agree. And I blow it all the time, too.

"As I told Bob Ross in a parallel thread on the Netscape Forum, there's really no right or wrong way to answer these simple polls ... they're just about making folks think about wine and the ways we use it."

It might be worth explaining a bit about how I approach these polls, Robin. First, I just answer them -- in this case, I answered $20 because after thinking about it, I decided I wouldn't spend more than that unless I was buying a wine to share or a wine I had another interest in.

But, I've understood that you don't just want poll numbers, but also some blah blah blah to encourage other folks to chime in and agree or disagree or set forth another point of view. As I pointed out on Netscape, I wasn't quarrelling with the way you set up the poll, just trying to explain that the cost of a bottle of wine at my stage of life is not a very important consideration in making a purchase decision.

I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better in future polls where I don't have an answer that easily fits into one of the categories to plug in an answer and then give a short intro to my expanded answer along the lines of:

"I recognize that these polls are not meant to be scientifically accurate but designed for fun and as an opportunity to share points of view about wine. With that in mind blah blah blah ...."

The advantage of that approach would be that we wouldn't be in the position where you have to defend the poll -- or at least appear to do so.

What do you think?

Regards, Bob