New Year Wine Resolutions

[rens]

I'm loving some of Ian's resolutions as many of them match mine over the past year, especially these few...


Buying no more Penfolds / Barossa / McLaren Vale - This, although did get some Marius.

Marius does not count. Marius is a 'come hell or high water' buy.

[Ozzie W]

With the New Year not far away now, I thought I'd start a thread about New Year Wine resolutions. Mine are:

- More focus on Old World Wines, in particular, French and Italian reds.
- Reduce my rate of vinfanticide by purchasing more back vintages.

What's yours?

A great exercise to look back and reflect.

I've definitely shifted my focus to Old World wines this year, particularly Italy (33% of purchases, 34% of consumption) and to a lesser extent France (12% of purchases, 10% of consumption). I'd buy more from Burgundy if it were more affordable. Italy offering much better value IMHO. Dabbled a bit in Spain too (2% of purhcases, 4% of consumption). Overall, 49% of my purchases and 51% consumption from Australia, down from 91/92% the previous year.

Looking at the vintages of my purchases, almost a third (32%) of my purchases were from 2010 vintage or earlier, up from 25% the previous year. I've been buying a lot more from auction this year and also some old stock from various retailers. I'd like to buy more older vintages, but provenance and other issues are a barrier.

[Ian S]

It certainly has been noticeable that these pages have massively more chat on Italian wines, reflecting the wines available in Australia & NZ and that people are buying and drinking them. 10 years ago there was barely a whisper. For the Barolo and Barbaresco I'm not buying, the slack is definitely being taken up here - and some

I am however more excited by Australian wines after a few years of buying very little (blame the exchange rate, other exciting regions and a little boredom). The break is good, because although plenty of old favourites are still going strong, there is plenty that is brand new and the spirit of experimentation is as strong as ever.

regards
Ian

[Ozzie W]

With the year almost over, I thought I revisit this and see how I fared.

- More focus on Old World Wines, in particular, French and Italian reds.

During 2016, my purchases have been 51% Australia, 30% Italy, 12% France, 7% Other (NZ, Spain, USA, others). My consumption has been 51% Australia, 32% Italy, 10% France, 5% Spain, 2% Other. In 2015 it was 92% Australia. In 2014 it was 100% Australia.

I've really enjoyed my journey into old world wines, particularly Piedmont, Mt Etna, Rioja and Burgundy. I plan to continue down this path in 2017. Hard to believe that it was only a couple years ago that I didn't particularly like Old World wines.

- Reduce my rate of vinfanticide by purchasing more back vintages.

25% of my purchases were 2009 vintage or earlier. 33% of my consumption was 2009 vintage or earlier.

Oh boy, how have things changed! My first post on this forum in 2014 was all about trying to understand why I didn't like aged wines. I look forward to the day when I can drink aged wines from my own cellar which I've owned since purchase, without having to worry about provenance. Only a few more years to go for my Pinot's and Etna's .

An unexpected change for me in 2016 was that I stopped buying Shiraz 4 months ago. I had second thoughts for a while, but I'm now very comfortable with this decision.

Thinking forward to 2017, I'm planning to go for quality over quantity. I feel like I've got a great foundation now in my cellar and I recently ticked over the 1000 bottle count which was a major milestone for me. I feel it's time to start buying better/more expensive bottles, but less bottles. There was previously a psychological barrier stopping me from doing this when I didn't have as many bottles as I do now.

[rens]

Seriously look at the option of additional storage.

Fail!

[Chris H]

Wizard of Oz wrote :

Oh boy, how have things changed! My first post on this forum in 2014 was all about trying to understand why I didn't like aged wines. I look forward to the day when I can drink aged wines from my own cellar which I've owned since purchase, without having to worry about provenance.

I'm sure drinking someone else's properly aged wines has helped change that perception

[via collins]

Pace Ian S : In addition, the odd german Riesling is never a mistake,

Never a truer sentiment was written. I started the year having my sense rearranged by a 2009 Heymann Lowenstein Ulen 1er, and plan to close out the year with a Weingut Reichsrat Von Buhl 2013 Jesuitengarden. I've loved Australian rieslings of all types for many years, sworn by them in fact. But a friend in Berlin has been taking me to riesling places that tease the imagination, the palate, and leave the rest for dead.

Hard to go back to economy class!

[Ozzie W]

Wizard of Oz wrote :

Oh boy, how have things changed! My first post on this forum in 2014 was all about trying to understand why I didn't like aged wines. I look forward to the day when I can drink aged wines from my own cellar which I've owned since purchase, without having to worry about provenance.

I'm sure drinking someone else's properly aged wines has helped change that perception

In those earlier days, I wanted to love aged wine. It felt like there was something wrong with my palate because I didn't like them.

Drinking other people's properly aged wines at offlines exposed my palate time and time again to a style that I wasn't used to. In time, that caused a shift in what I like to drink. One could suggest that aged wines were an acquired taste for me? Much in the same way as my palate shifted from New World to Old World wines.

[Hacker]

Pace Ian S : In addition, the odd german Riesling is never a mistake,

Never a truer sentiment was written. I started the year having my sense rearranged by a 2009 Heymann Lowenstein Ulen 1er, and plan to close out the year with a Weingut Reichsrat Von Buhl 2013 Jesuitengarden. I've loved Australian rieslings of all types for many years, sworn by them in fact. But a friend in Berlin has been taking me to riesling places that tease the imagination, the palate, and leave the rest for dead.

Hard to go back to economy class!

I am trying to embrace this. Have bought 3 or 4 dozen Gunther Steinmetz '14s and '15s, made by Stefan, not sure if he is the son or not.

[rens]

Pace Ian S : In addition, the odd german Riesling is never a mistake,

Never a truer sentiment was written. I started the year having my sense rearranged by a 2009 Heymann Lowenstein Ulen 1er, and plan to close out the year with a Weingut Reichsrat Von Buhl 2013 Jesuitengarden. I've loved Australian rieslings of all types for many years, sworn by them in fact. But a friend in Berlin has been taking me to riesling places that tease the imagination, the palate, and leave the rest for dead.

Hard to go back to economy class!

I am trying to embrace this. Have bought 3 or 4 dozen Gunther Steinmetz '14s and '15s, made by Stefan, not sure if he is the son or not.

I'd like to know more about German Riesling. We really should get a German Riesling thread going.

[Ian S]

Drinking other people's properly aged wines at offlines exposed my palate time and time again to a style that I wasn't used to. In time, that caused a shift in what I like to drink. One could suggest that aged wines were an acquired taste for me? Much in the same way as my palate shifted from New World to Old World wines.

For me it was more instantaneous, that an old Bdx (Boyd Cantenac - not a reputed producer) opened my taste-buds to remarkable new flavours / aromas. I'd already started ageing wine, but with a small stash, all the cellaring was doing was softening the youthful brashness. This showed me that I was doing the right thing, but needed more patience.

It is still hit and miss, though I do like a punt on older, but less prestigious wine, often wine that is sturdy / rustic in youth, but which on the good occasions puts it in good stead for extended ageing.

p.s. I enjoyed this thread and made a start on creating a similar list of aims for 2017.

[Chuck]

Simple. Buy and drink more Margaret River Cabs and blends. I'm in love with this stuff and hope the love affair never ends.

Carl

[Ian S]

Final update to 2016. How successful was this?

Buying a little less Barolo & Barbaresco (3 fails, but two 1998 Barolo and 1 x 1974 Barolo I can justify on 'balance' grounds Actually pretty good for the rest of the year), but sticking with Northern Piemonte & remembering the other grapes in Piemonte
Buying a bit more Rioja now closer to where I'd like it, but next year plan to add some more reservas
Exploring Etna wines One disappointment in a Terre Nere Etna Rosso, but will persevere
Buying a little more Taurasi Fail
Exploring Trentino - Alto Adige wines(nothing yet, but planning a holiday taking in Trento) yes, holidays do help explore and Trentino vino Santo is a joy. This carries through to 2017
Buying a little more Vino Nobile and Chianti Shame on me, still no more VNdiM, yet I love the style
Buying some more Clare Valley Riesling ( I hadn't put Hunter Semillon, but would have done if I'd expected to see much, so I'll sneak in Only a single as that was all they had left of the 2006 Contours
Buying a little more Hunter Shiraz Another fail, just not seeing it - maybe a sane 13% alc Yarra Shiraz counts
Buying some more Wynns Black label Fail, but have got my eye on some
Buying some more Te Mata Elston Fail [color]
Buying some more Ch. Fuisse Pouilly-Fuisse [color=#FF0040]A good selection across the bottlings [color]
Buying no more Penfolds / Barossa / McLaren Vale [color=#FF0040] successful
Exploring German Pinot Noir / Spatburgunder just 1 more added
Buy the odd US red one more added, but difficult to find stuff priced well and being confident it's a style I'd like
Buy interesting wines, but avoid lookalike 'prestige' reds doing ok
Buy some decent Montepulciano d'Abruzzo (Maybe some Pepe) just the one bottle of Pepe from a very decent wine shop in Bologna (priced much more fairly than the well-stocked Enoteca Italiana), should buy a little more
Buying some more Aosta Fumin Failure, but you don't see much of it around the traps
Keep Cahors stocks up another bottle and a magnum, but I ought to get some more halves
Investigate Loire Cab Franc (and indeed other Cab Franc wines) failure here, which is inexcusable as they aren't that difficult to find
Buy a little more Cornas Yes, but just a single bottle and prices seem to be creeping up
Keep an eye out for more good half bottles a few, but probably drank more this year than we bought
Buy a little more Dao / Bairrada / Beiras and try a little more Portuguese wines A trip to Portugal plus a recent order and I've got plenty now, especially 2000 vintage Bairrada. Definitely a style that I like with age on it
Keep trying the odd Spanish white 3 more bought, spanning old style oxidative to more modern
Remember to drink the sweet wines Not doing too badly here
Buy some more Cortese / Gavi but I'd love to try the Cascina dell'Ulivi whites
Buy some Primo Joseph sparkling red Fail - I did get some interest on a UK wine forum, as even an unsplit 6 is too much for me. Might get my act together and try to revive that interest

In addition, the odd german Riesling is never a mistake, a little fizz understandable and agreeable, some already mature wines are always justifiable, a Quintarelli valpolicalla something I've always wondered about, so an easy purchase, and dotted in an eclectic bunch of other wines that keeps me from becoming boring and singular in my tastes. Quite a few bottles bought that aren't on the list, but there's no point in being obsessive about it. Notable failures were not buying any VNdiM, Taurasi - these are not difficult to find, but often drop off the list when filling out a mixed dozen for an online order.

In summary, remarkably successful in focusing on what really interested me. Staying away from the auction scene helps, as that really encourages bargain hunting rather than a tighter focus.