Who's missing from your cellar?

[Wizz]

Which producers are inexplicably missing from your cellar?

I'm not asking you to tell me you have no DRC or Lafite..but is there a producer who for some reason isn't in your cellar but should be?

For me:
McWilliams & Tyrrells. I should like Hunter Shiraz but have none. Just never got around to it.
Egon Muller and Keller. I love German Riesling, but these two, despite their iconic status, don't make an appearance. Both are stupidly poor value for money compared to their peers too.
Oakridge. Makes a style I really like but just never bought them.

There are others, but these are the notables. Ones I've recently fixed up:
Yangarra
S C Pannell
Ochota Barrels
Ten Minutes by Tractor

[Mahmoud Ali]

It's not really inexplicable but more to do with availability and price. Right off the top of my head, in terms of Australia, it would be the classics that I miss, things like Wendouree, Moss Wood, Yarra Yerring, and Mount Mary.

Mahmoud.

[A_Steady]

Tyrrells for me, must do something about it....

[Hacker]

I like to think I am somewhat proactive, especially with wine, so when I hear of or taste a wine that makes me sit up and take notice I try to remedy that as best I can. So to answer the OP's question, no producer that I can think of. Although ignorance shields me from some 'must haves'. Over the last five or six years I have added Standish, Sami Odi and Marius to my cellar, and a selection from Piedmont on the international front. I'm still open to new surprises though.

[JamieBahrain]

Undoubtably Giuseppe Rinaldi. Had many times but just can't believe I missed the boat on this one!

2008 Champagne. Always another buying priority.

Australia? Nothing really. I love Aussie wines but they are easily obtainable.

[Mike Hawkins]

Billecart Salmon... by choice. I think they’re overpriced and the CD staff are too arrogant.

Pierro.. really like their Chardonnay but have never gotten around to cellaring any

[Ian S]

Ok. excluding price and availability (the latter also a very explicable reason)

- Te Mata Elston is a favourite for both of us, yet it looks to have been absent from the cellar for a decade or more. Not the most widely available wine, but there are bottles in the UK, so that's a big oversight (balanced by having plenty of Chateau Fuisse in recent times)

- Until recently there was a gap with no Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, a region whose wine style we really enjoy. Currently 5 bottles, which is still a little light, but the gap mostly resolved

- Similarly until relatively recently, we had no Cornas, which was odd considering a 1985 Robert Michel Cornas was an absolute stunner in 2010, yet it took me 18 years to buy another bottle of Cornas.

- South Africa was an interest for a while - Meerlust, Hamilton Russell etc. but drifted away. It's been enjoying a lot of geek interest in recent years, but I've not been enthused to put the effort into rediscovering it.

- Baileys reds. I wouldn't call myself a fan of warm / hot climate shiraz, but the 1920s block used to impress, not least for having decent structure. Would I still like them now? Perhaps my tastes have changed, and perhaps the corporate shenanigans mean the wines are different now?

- Dry white bordeaux. I've enjoyed these at times, though not enough to really spark an interest, so no bottles reflects no effort to change that.

- Paul Blanck Riesling Schlossberg. Alsace has been a mixed bag, unsurprising considering the varying wine styles, but this producer and especially this wine, really impressed.

- New Zealand. Our 2nd focus after starting on Australia. Whites always a mixed bag, as the brains of the operation hates Sauvignon Blanc with a passion, but NZ buttery chardonnays have been a guilty pleasure (a shame we never see Church Road Reserve around any more). Hawkes bay Bdx blends were always an interest, as were Martinborough Pinot Noirs. However wider exploration disppointed (e.g. Central Otago PN, Syrah from all over both islands), and this has oddly curtalied buying of what we have enjoyed. Currently no NZ bdx blends!!! One single bottle of Martinbrough PN.

Taltarni, Alkoomi, Primo and Delatite probably fall under the availaibility challenge, occasionally seen, but not often enough. Likewise Brachetto, as our last bottle of the (typical) fizz was consumed on xmas eve and just a bottle of the Sottomano Maté left. It used to be impossible to find here, but that has improved recently. Similarly Isole e Olena Collezione di Marchi Syrah is one of my favourite examples of the grape. Not cheap, but not crazy in price, but not often seen.

[Dragzworthy]

For me it's burgundy wine, both white and red. Then again, I'm not so worried given I read in a thread on here that all roads lead to burgundy...it's only a matter of time before my palate develops

[AdamR]

Due to three years ago having no money and drinking anything in the cellar that wasn’t rare. I had to restart the cellar process. This was a good opportunity.

I rebought and focused on Areas that consistently produced wines in the style I like such as the Yarra or Tasmania and Pinot and chardonnay. Aged sem/sav, aged Pinot, couple of Nebbiolo, some fresh Riesling. So I’m generally pretty happy.

My biggest surprise was a previous Favourite area was neglected and that is hunter semillon. I think the simple reason is my go to wines of the past have risen to a price level that puts them in competition with too many other choices. For example I can get good Clare Riesling or Victorian chardonnay at the same price and good sem/sav for half the price. Still think they are good wines but not good value. Also I am finding screw caps (which I’m super pro in whites) mean they age soooo slow.

[Ozzie W]

Craiglee Shiraz

Not that I drink much Shiraz any more, very little in fact. But years ago when I was in my Aussie Shiraz buying spree, that producer somehow got ignored. It's a producer I seldom saw in the daily influx of email offers, but that's not reason enough as I knew of it's existence and rather liked it based on a few tastings.

[cuttlefish]

I love central Victoria, but have no Bests.

[sjw_11]

Hmm in terms of missing not just underweight ...

Burgundy (zero)
Barolo and Barbaresco (I drink quite a lot but have none in my actual cellar or in-bond)
German Riesling

And I guess NZ and South Africa, although I think many of these drink well young so its perhaps less a concern.

[Benchmark]

Craiglee Shiraz

Not that I drink much Shiraz any more, very little in fact. But years ago when I was in my Aussie Shiraz buying spree, that producer somehow got ignored. It's a producer I seldom saw in the daily influx of email offers, but that's not reason enough as I knew of it's existence and rather liked it based on a few tastings.

We used to live down the road from Craiglee. One Sunday a month he would open up his latest and some bottles from the cellar. So much fun.

Elegant, age worthy, well made Shiraz and like you we didn't have a bottle.

One thing we are missing are some of the Spanish wines we love. Not Rioja, but the stuff from Telmo Rodriguez and the like. Interesting wines made with so many varieties you have never heard of... wild yeast, made in some sandstone winery cut into a dry hillside.

More of that stuff.

[Ian S]

Agreed on Craiglee - never seen here except for one very lucky auction purchase.
and also agree on Telmo Rodriguez - he seems a very astute winemaker. Worth trying the Mountain Wine dessert wines (from Malaga?). I also like the family Rioja (Remulluri) which is polished, perhaps with more oak influence than I'd like, but it's a pleasure to drink.

[phillisc]

Thousands of different things
Too little Champagne, Old world Rieslings, Rhone, Bordeaux
Fortifieds and stickies, Hunter Semillon, WA Cabernet, Tassie Rieslings.
Can't have them all
Cheers craig

[scribbler]

If I stick to locals - Bindi, Crawford River, Tarrawarra, and Yarra Yering are amazing omissions.
However, I have (more) than enough alternatives to keep my palate entertained.

[Rossco]

This is a fantastic question!
I don't really have a proper answer if I'm honest. Yes there are plenty of wineries and styles I don't have (most have already been mentioned here). Do I want them?.... Not sure. My cellar certainly doesnt feel 'complete' without them (lol is it ever complete!) but there are some styles and varieties I just don't want or have enough of already.

I would love more Italian Neb and am aiming to achieve that this year. Yet I don't want super Tuscan's. Etna absolutely.
I would love more champagne.
I would love more white burg, but am too afraid to cellar them due to the premox issues. Happy to buy relatively young and drink within a year or so. Don't care about red burg, never got bitten by the bug and I have had a few decent ones (although I'm definitely not an expert). Have just had enough to know it doesn't do it for me
I can take it leave Bordeaux (even if a Bordeaux was my woty in 2019) and Spanish wines haven't piqued my interest at all(apart from ports and fortifieds....wow love those!!).
So here I am at a bit of a crossroads

[Michael McNally]

Tyrrells for me, must do something about it....

Best wine club I ever joined. Joined the Private Bin club about 5 years ago with the minimum 2 (free) deliveries per year (6 x wite and 6 x red).

Twice a year you get an invite to come and try ALL the wines (in major capitals only I guess) for free and hear from the winemakers/owners. THese are great events as you get to look at the wines you have bought without opening them! Fantastic.

I have been disciplined and only drunk 6-8 bottles over that time so now have 50 odd bottles, some of which are starting to enter their drinking window.

It also means I have Hunter Shiraz, Hunter Chardonnay and Hunter Semillon in my cellar, which I otherwise probably wouldn't.

And the wines are extermely high quality and very good QPR (especially at the lower to mid price points.

Do yourself a favour.......

Cheers

Michael

[felixp21]

Probably the only two wines I would want more of are Rose Champagne and Dry White Bordeaux. The latter is fast becoming my favourite wine, so the 6-8 dozen that I have ain't nearly enough!!!!
Other than that, very happy with the balance of my cellar.

[JamieBahrain]

Felix

What about northern Italy ?

Aged white Bordeaux is excellent . Taken for granted almost .

[ticklenow1]

I accepted long ago that I can't have everything, as much as one would like to. Fiscal and space constraints are the obvious restrictions.

I'm reasonably happy with my cellar, bar possibly wanting more high quality chardonnay. But I've been chipping away at that the last year or so.

I'd like to go long on 2018 SA wines but the above constraints will limit me to mostly my normal purchases. What little I've tasted from 2018 is exceptional. It could go down as the best vintage of the noughties in SA.

Cheers
Ian

[paulf]

What's missing? Everything and nothing

I accepted long ago that I can't have everything, as much as one would like to. Fiscal and space constraints are the obvious restrictions.

I think this sums it up

In most cases, if I wanted something badly enough I could find a way to obtain it, but anything I buy is at the cost of something else I can't justify buying. If a producer prices something I regularly buy out the range I regularly pay, then that becomes an opportunity to seek something else out.

I own very little international wine outside of vintage port. I own no Hunter shiraz or Tasmanian anything. A lot of it I know I'd like. A good proportion of what I do own is from places I have visited at some stage or at least have some sort of connection to. I probably just need to take a trip to some of those places to get on the bandwagon

[sjw_11]

Probably the only two wines I would want more of are Rose Champagne and Dry White Bordeaux. The latter is fast becoming my favourite wine.

I have never spent enough time on White Bordeaux.
Any particular names you would call out (other than the super famous/uber-expensive ones)?

[sjw_11]

Tyrrells for me, must do something about it....

Best wine club I ever joined. Joined the Private Bin club about 5 years ago with the minimum 2 (free) deliveries per year (6 x wite and 6 x red).

I would second this.
I have stopped now as I just don't need to buy much more Aussie wine while I live in Europe, but it really is an excellent scheme and a very good saving versus retail as long as you have the resources to cellar it yourself.

[Mahmoud Ali]

On the international side, in terms of country and region, I am missing almost nothing except for the most obscure regions and grapes. Therefore on the producer side of things, I am missing many a fancied producer that I would love to have. As Ian (ticklenow1) said one can't have everything.