RSVP--"Regrets only"

[AlohaArtakaHoundsong]

I thought it was time for one of these.

Name one thing you have learned in your 20-30-40 or more years of wine appreciation that you wished you knew "back then."

Generalities are forgiven. Per custom, I'll start:

German wines. Value trap. There are many, many fine ones, at extremely reasonably prices on QPR, absolute, and relative bases (compared to many other fine-wine producing regions). I can't stand the ones I've cellared and don't like any of them young, beyond a sip. They're too sweet and I feel I'm waiting in vain for the magic of the "stunning aged Spatlese." Fortunately I never bought a great many.

[DavidG]

Fun game. Two come to mind:

California Cabernet does not turn into Bordeaux with age. Took about 15 years to figure this out. I liked them fine young, but they weren't Bordeaux. I bought way more than necessary considering I didn't need to age them much.

"You'll live as long as you have bottles left in the cellar" is not a realistic buying strategy, and really didn't fool anyone other than me.

[jal]

The obvious:
Trust your palate and don't rely on what someone else likes for buying strategy. For instance I dislike
Clerc Milon
D'Armailhac
Grand Puy Lacoste
Leoville Barton (ouch!)
Most German Rieslings
High alcohol dessert wine
And many more
What is the point of buying any just to try it out just because someone (critic, friend, wineboard poster) loved it? And no, I will not give the estate another chance, too many good wines are around to bother with "second chances"

The less obvious:
Not to be upset if you miss a sale, there's always a good qpr wine on the horizon.
Not to whine about the prices of twenty years ago, sure, Lafite was $100 a bottle, and Rousseau and Roumier Grand Cru wines were selling for $75, but that's irrelevant. It's what the price is now that matters. Plus, again, there's always a good qpr wine on the horizon.

Good post idea, Art

[stefan]

Buying on futures wine that would not much increase in price rather than the top end wines that did appreciate.

[William P]

1. Beware walking the path of French Burgundies, it is full of landmines.
2. The best burgundies take an equal if not longer time to age than Bordeaux and Corton is the worst.
3. To agree and disagree with David G. Cali Cabs did not age well. In the late 90's that changed. However as David said (or would say) aged Bordeaux is transcendent, aged Calis nice but....
4. What ever happened to Pichon Lalande in the bargain bin for $3.75 a bottle?
5. With age, your palate changes, so always taste before you buy and depend less on self-talkers when buying in quantity even if at one time your palates aligned.
6. Give less wine advice to novices. Provide direction without sounding stuffy.

[JCNorthway]

I think my greatest regret is not really discovering wine until I was well into my 40's. So much wine, so little time.

I also regret that I did not trust the reviews of 89 Bordeaux that said they needed 10+ years before drinking; I drank too many bottles too soon. And while I was focused on accumulating some 1989 Bordeaux because it was my marriage year, I pretty much missed buying the 1990 Bordeaux vintage.

[Comte Flaneur]

Rousseau.

In a word.

Exactly ten years ago I attended a dinner in London with five burgundy cognoscenti, who to this day I regard as ‘go to’ authorities on the subject.

I bought along a 1991 Clos Saint Jacques. I was three quarters through the case, labouring through it with little joy, because in those days I misunderstood the nonlinear dynamic of how burgundy ages. But this particular bottle had metamorphosed into a wine of immense beauty.

The other wines around the table, mainly Grand Crus, were extraordinary, including a barrel sample of the 2005 Chambertin. I wrote about it on BWE: ‘Bordeaux is your wife and burgundy is your mistress’

Two of the participants were, however, congenitally lukewarm to the wines of Rousseau despite conceding the brilliance of the wines around the table. They argued that outside DRC you can do a lot better, suggesting Rousseau wines were a bit obvious.

I should have run with my instincts and loaded up there and then. Prices have risen nearly tenfold in the last decade. My only consolation is that I do have a handful of bottles, but if I had trusted my instincts I would be the proud and smug owner of a few cases.

More generally I don’t own enough high quality red burgundy, and drinking it has become a luxury. My preciouses. I should have foreseen that given how tiny the quantities are.

Ah well, sh1t happens

[Blanquito]

Generic regrets:
-buying more than 6 bottles of a given wine (even wines I really like can get boring half way through a case)
-buying too many QPRs, especially as futures (I should have bought fewer, but higher caliber bottles)
-not buying more vintage champagne and northern Rhone before things went crazy there
-listening to Parker too much post-2000 and especially outside of bordeaux (he was reliable for my tastes pre-2001)
-buying too much off-dry German riesling. I like it still, but I never really crave it nowadays.

Specific regrets:
-not buying the 90 Montrose on the shelf for $42 in late 1994. Came back a week later and they'd sold their remaining case+
-not buying more 1996 First Growths on the shelf for $150 in 2001.

These are good problems to have, basically I am wishing I'd spent early to save now, no biggie. Plus these days its easy to unload wine you don't like or have too much of, you can usually at least get your money back.

[RPCV]

I agree with several of you:

- too many German wines...especially Auslesen. I do still like them, but they require a very narrow spectrum of cuisine.
- conversely, not buying more Austrian whites...much more flexible at the table
- not buying more '82 and '02 Bordeaux
- not buying more Spanish Rioja
- buying vintages over producers early in my appreciation
- on the consumption front....opening a really good bottle after reaching my limit....or as a friend once coined, "not respecting the wine"

All in, I wouldn't say that these are major regrets as I am able to enjoy wine regularly. For that, I consider myself fortunate.

Cheers

[Racer Chris]

One regret only - not discovering Bordeaux wine until 2014.

[dstgolf]

Agree with many who have already posted.

Regrets:

Should have had a buy one get one free attitude like several friends with first and second growth Bordeaux. They have done very well indeed drinking for free buy selling half their stash after 15-20 yrs...I think that those days are over unfortunately.

Should have bought quality Rioja years back. Still cheap by Bordeaux comparison but hindsight would have been fabulous.

Thinking Californian cabs would magically evolve into something greater than they were...wrong but not a major disappointment. Been there done it and find Cali Cabs a poor QPR now so stopped buying a decade ago.

Initially going long on Italian and Rhone wines loading up the cellar in lieu of more higher end Bordeaux only to find my wife got to the point where she found most Rhone Brett unpalatable and Italian Brunellos/chiantis and Super Tuscans never aged to her liking forcing me to sell. Thankfully sold at buying price but disappointing not being able to put more money into the wines where my heart was.

Not discovering the pleasures of quality Burgundy earlier. When they are on they are amazing but now the great ones are silly expensive and too many other wines in the world to worry about it at reasonable prices. Would still like to hear about that elusive magical bargain Burgundy if there is such an animal out there.

Not buying more of the 96 Sir Winston Churchill when the LCBO was clearing it out at $99 a bottle. Should have bought everything they had. This was one great Champagne....or maybe just the influence of the company!! We love good champagne and sad to say I have 2 bottles left in the cellar....should have picked up more vintage champagnes over the years. Found out to late that these are not just celebration wines.

Not buying more than 3-4 bottles of each Chateaux of classified Bordeaux for over 15 yrs then overly concerned about when to open the first bottle, then once the second has been popped don't want to open the last bottle. Wish I had bought a minimum of six bottles to allow a more relaxed time frame to indulge and I have never regretted over the last 10 years when I bought 1-2 cases of a Chateaux. I don't seem to fatigue of good Bordeaux.

Not buying the producers that I love year in year out rather than buying the most highly rated wines in only the best vintages. The good producers find a way to do well year in year out and yes there can be surprises/bargains in off years. The only producer that I've kinda followed this is Pontet Canet thanks to the enablers on this board. More vintages of this than any other producer in my cellar. Not a regret by any means.

[DavidG]

I like German Riesling more than those who have posted above, but do agree that I should have bought more Kabinetts and less Auslesen and Spatlasen.

And Danny, 1996 SWC for $99?!?!?! OMG, what a deal!

[JimHow]

Surprised by all this hate for German Spatlese!

[DavidG]

Not hate for Spatlese, I do love them. But they are just too sweet (even if well balanced) to have regularly. Didn't realize it until I had a few too many.

[Winona Chief]

I love German Riesling Spatlese - easy to drink them. With the exception of JJ Prum and Maximin Grunhaus (which are great and age well for a long time), I bought too many Auslese. Partly it's that I haven't liked how some of the other producers Ausleses have turned out but also it can be difficult to figure out the right circumstance to open them.

Lot of good advice in the posts above. As for my regrets, buying too many slightly above average wines and not enough great wines. Don't waste your time and money on "daily drinkers" - they can get boring pretty easily.

Chris Bublitz

[Nicklasss]

Biggest regret: missed too much BWE annual conventions and offlines since the start in 2000.

Regrets:
- not buying enough 2005 Red Bourgogne.
- not discovering Ridge Vineyard Zin before 2001.
- not buying at least one bottle of 1975 Chateau d'Yquem at 250$ in 2002, in Indianapolis.
- even if I trust and respect my palate, i go out of my preferences often, influenced by critics.
- the 1993 Chateau Batailley and the 2003 Chateau Péby Faugères.
- aiming at red Bordeaux, budget wise it is bad, as many Rhône, Loire, Spanish and Italian are excellent, age well, and are less expensives.

No regret: Never liked Whoopie pie, seafoods or fish with red Bordeaux, or other red wines in general.

Nic

[Blanquito]

Not hate for Spatlese, I do love them. But they are just too sweet (even if well balanced) to have regularly. Didn't realize it until I had a few too many.

+1.

I always enjoy German off dry wines when I think to open them, I just so rarely crave them that they just collect dust and take up space.

Maybe we need some German flights in SanFran to re-energize the interest!

[JimHow]

In the summer of 1998 I was at the New Hampshire liquor store in Hampton on the northbound side of the turnpike on I-95. Somehow I found out that the Nashua store had a case of 1995 Petrus at $275 per bottle. I raced across NH to Nashua. When I got there, there was a pristine OWC case of 1995 Petrus at $275 per bottle. I told the woman: I am here to buy the 1995 Petrus. She said to me. Do you want the whole case? I said: I will buy one bottle.

One bottle. It still sits there, awaiting my 75th birthday or some such celebration. If I could go back in time I would tackle myself leaving the store without that full case in my arms.

[Comte Flaneur]

In the summer of 1998 I was at the New Hampshire liquor store in Hampton on the northbound side of the turnpike on I-95. Somehow I found out that the Nashua store had a case of 1995 Petrus at $275 per bottle. I raced across NH to Nashua. When I got there, there was a pristine OWC case of 1995 Petrus at $275 per bottle. I told the woman: I am here to buy the 1995 Petrus. She said to me. Do you want the whole case? I said: I will buy one bottle.

One bottle. It still sits there, awaiting my 75th birthday or some such celebration. If I could go back in time I would tackle myself leaving the store without that full case in my arms.

That is very painful.

Around the same time I passed on a six pack of La Tache 1990 at £295 a bottle.

I really wish I could turn the clock back just once.

[stefan]

Isn't it clear that the non buys are more painful than the buys? Collectively we just do not buy enough wine.

[Blanquito]

So true, Bill... Stefan, the patron saint of wine buying.

[dstgolf]

David,

Realize those are Canadian dollars now approx 60USD!!! Hindsight...... and yes its always the one that got away that stings the most whether it be a fish,a putt, a girl or even a bottle of wine.

[Nicklasss]

The good side for us:

We knew it was a great deal
We knew we should have bought everything
We knew we would have some regrets

But we stayed sane and did not bought.

I'm trying hard, but I still hate myself for not buying the 1975 Yquem.

Nic

[stefan]

"Sane" is not derived from "saint", Nic.

[DavidG]

Very true, Stefan. Sane Nic would never fly around the world in a reindeer-powered sled Xmas eve dropping down chimneys with a bag full of toys. Only Saint Nic would do that.

Danny, US$60 for that wine conjures memories of Crazy Eddy on TV in NYC screaming about "Insane!" prices on electronics.

[AKR]

I must be the only person who wishes I'd bought less wine when younger. Moving, storage, temperature paranoia, multiple sites etc. have added more aggravation than I really need. Of course in another era, it wasn't so easy to press a mouse button, and have an aged bottle of BDX show up at your doorstep 2 days later. So maybe there was no better alternative.

Even if one was wise in their cellar selections, its really hard to beat financial assets versus tangible assets over the long run, especially when the fully loaded costs of a cellar are thought through (insurance, electricity, storage, possible theft/breakage etc) For every Le Pin that is cherry picked as some kind of example of how cellaring pays off, there is a whole lot of other wines that ended up not getting a perfect score, and are dead money for a decade or two.

It's also not obvious to me why fine wine has some god given right to increase their prices in excess of CPI every year, and that market condition of the moment, is some kind of unalterable truth. At least according to some of Coate's books, Bordeaux pretty much flatlined for a hundred years between 1850-1950.

[AlohaArtakaHoundsong]

^ It's different this time.