Expensive bottles, what prompts you to buy?
 

I have wondered what prompts folks to buy expensive bottles of wine and what do you consider expensive. We are getting to the point that we're not sure of storing wine for 20 years as we never get to drink it. Yes, more wineries are making wine for earlier drinking time but there are still plenty of expensive bottles that need a long time.
What does this group consider to be a reasonable upper range of price for near term drinking?

Expensive bottles, what prompts you to buy?
 

On Fri, 26 Jul 2013 13:01:50 -0700 (PDT), lleichtman
> wrote:

> I have wondered what prompts folks to buy expensive bottles of wine and what do you consider expensive. We are getting to the point that we're not sure of storing wine for 20 years as we never get to drink it. Yes, more wineries are making wine for earlier drinking time but there are still plenty of expensive bottles that need a long time.
> What does this group consider to be a reasonable upper range of price for near term drinking?


I'm sure that we vary a great deal with respect to our finances, so we
don't all have the same budget. But as for me, I seldom spend more
that $10-15 US for a bottle.

--
Ken Blake

Expensive bottles, what prompts you to buy?
 

On Friday, July 26, 2013 2:17:41 PM UTC-6, Ken Blake wrote:
> On Fri, 26 Jul 2013 13:01:50 -0700 (PDT), lleichtman
>
> > wrote:
>
>
>
> > I have wondered what prompts folks to buy expensive bottles of wine and what do you consider expensive. We are getting to the point that we're not sure of storing wine for 20 years as we never get to drink it. Yes, more wineries are making wine for earlier drinking time but there are still plenty of expensive bottles that need a long time.
>
> > What does this group consider to be a reasonable upper range of price for near term drinking?
>
>
>
>
>
> I'm sure that we vary a great deal with respect to our finances, so we
>
> don't all have the same budget. But as for me, I seldom spend more
>
> that $10-15 US for a bottle.
>
>
>
> --
>
> Ken Blake

My upper max is generally $40-50 so finances, I know are an issue. I have friends who buy $100 bottles and I don't.

Expensive bottles, what prompts you to buy?
 

On Friday, July 26, 2013 4:01:50 PM UTC-4, lleichtman wrote:
> I have wondered what prompts folks to buy expensive bottles of wine and what do you consider expensive. We are getting to the point that we're not sure of storing wine for 20 years as we never get to drink it. Yes, more wineries are making wine for earlier drinking time but there are still plenty of expensive bottles that need a long time.
>
> What does this group consider to be a reasonable upper range of price for near term drinking?

Generally I consider $65 as my upper limit but I rarely buy much wine these days except for short term white wines. I have a cellar full of reds from the 90's and 2000's with some dating back to the 60's so these days I buy the occasional new world pinot.

Expensive bottles, what prompts you to buy?
 

On Friday, July 26, 2013 4:01:50 PM UTC-4, lleichtman wrote:
> I have wondered what prompts folks to buy expensive bottles of wine and what do you consider expensive. We are getting to the point that we're not sure of storing wine for 20 years as we never get to drink it. Yes, more wineries are making wine for earlier drinking time but there are still plenty of expensive bottles that need a long time.
>
> What does this group consider to be a reasonable upper range of price for near term drinking?

OK, I'm the outlier here. I don't randomly buy a lot of expensive wines, but I certainly spend more than $100/bottle several times a year. Most of that is for mature bottles, but not all.

I'm not a rich guy (I make about what a teacher or new cop makes around here), but I am quite penurious about most things. I drive a battered '96 Corolla, live in a 1000 sq ft house, buy my clothing at thrift shops or Kohls, seldom take vacations, eat leftovers at my desk for lunch. Which leaves me money to buy $100 bottles of wine sometimes.

For everyday drinking, most of my wine buying is in the $10-25 range. Pepiere Muscadet, Pernot or Matrot Bourgogne, Donnhoff Qba, Pieropan Soave, various Edmunds St Johns, Loire Cab Franc from Breton or Baudry, good Beaujolais, etc. But sometimes I splurge.

Expensive bottles, what prompts you to buy?
 

DaleW wrote:

>
> For everyday drinking, most of my wine buying is in the $10-25 range.
> Pepiere Muscadet, Pernot or Matrot Bourgogne, Donnhoff Qba, Pieropan
> Soave, various Edmunds St Johns, Loire Cab Franc from Breton or
> Baudry, good Beaujolais, etc. But sometimes I splurge.

You can basically substitute Dale's answer for my own, except that I go
above the $100 a bottle mark probably once per year on average. This I
attribute to the "cringe factor," which has crept upward on me over the
years. When I first started buying wines (ca. 1981), $15 a bottle
seemed like an extravagance that would take much justification; by the
end of grad school ('88), I would buy the occasional Grand Cru Classé
Bordeaux for up to $50 a bottle as a huge extravagance (graduation and
birthday presents), and that only once or twice a year. I've actually
lowered my ceiling in recent years because of Andrew's presence in our
lives and because, like Dale, I find so many excellent wines in the
$10-30 a bottle range. For an everyday drinker, I'd say my limit of
comfort is $20 a bottle. For things to go into the cellar, I don't
blink if it's under $40 a bottle, but anything above that requires a
gov't grade justification (in triplicate), and -- again like Dale --
that most frequently occurs when I'm buying older wines at auction.

Mark Lipton

Expensive bottles, what prompts you to buy?
 

On Wednesday, August 7, 2013 2:51:12 PM UTC-4, Mark Lipton wrote:
> DaleW wrote:
>
>
>
> >
>
> > For everyday drinking, most of my wine buying is in the $10-25 range.
>
> > Pepiere Muscadet, Pernot or Matrot Bourgogne, Donnhoff Qba, Pieropan
>
> > Soave, various Edmunds St Johns, Loire Cab Franc from Breton or
>
> > Baudry, good Beaujolais, etc. But sometimes I splurge.
>
>
>
> You can basically substitute Dale's answer for my own, except that I go
>
> above the $100 a bottle mark probably once per year on average. This I
>
> attribute to the "cringe factor," which has crept upward on me over the
>
> years. When I first started buying wines (ca. 1981), $15 a bottle
>
> seemed like an extravagance that would take much justification; by the
>
> end of grad school ('88), I would buy the occasional Grand Cru Classé
>
> Bordeaux for up to $50 a bottle as a huge extravagance (graduation and
>
> birthday presents), and that only once or twice a year. I've actually
>
> lowered my ceiling in recent years because of Andrew's presence in our
>
> lives and because, like Dale, I find so many excellent wines in the
>
> $10-30 a bottle range. For an everyday drinker, I'd say my limit of
>
> comfort is $20 a bottle. For things to go into the cellar, I don't
>
> blink if it's under $40 a bottle, but anything above that requires a
>
> gov't grade justification (in triplicate), and -- again like Dale --
>
> that most frequently occurs when I'm buying older wines at auction.
>
>
>
> Mark Lipton

I have certainly bought a lot of wine over the years in the $100+ category I stopped buying older wines except in rare instances...I will buy Clos St Hune when available, Silex or certain vintages of Vintage Port. As I have a fairly large cellar of wines that are coming of age i don't really seek out old bottles much any more as I have been dissapointed far too many times and old white Burgundies have totally lost their appeal with the Premox issue. I have recent;y bought a few older bolttles of CNP from the cellar of a friend where I knew the history of the wine.

Expensive bottles, what prompts you to buy?
 

On Friday, July 26, 2013 3:01:50 PM UTC-5, lleichtman wrote:
> I have wondered what prompts folks to buy expensive bottles of wine and what do you consider expensive. We are getting to the point that we're not sure of storing wine for 20 years as we never get to drink it. Yes, more wineries are making wine for earlier drinking time but there are still plenty of expensive bottles that need a long time.
>
> What does this group consider to be a reasonable upper range of price for near term drinking?

I still have a fairly large collection, so I seldom buy wines for long aging anymore. Of course I have to replace a few whites not meant for long aging. Very rarely I buy a bottle of rare wine that I could not find earlier and wish to taste at least once while I still can. Such wines have included very old Constantia, very old Tokaji Essencia back to the early 1800's,vintage Madeira back to the early 1800's etc. However many of these can no longer be found or are now extremely expensive,so I have bought nearly none of such wines in the last decade. I do admit that I have paid over US$ 1000 for a very rare wine in the past, but I also bought 1st growth Bordeaux from 1961 and 1959 for about $11 to 30 not long after release. I have drunk or discarded most of my mistakes, so most of the older wines I have left are still very good.