I can’t seem to stop. I’ve tried different ways of stopping myself, but nothing seems to work, I just keep doing it.
What am I talking about? Buying wine. That’s right, just the simple act of exchanging hard earned cash (or plastic) for fermented grape juice for later consumption. I’ve tried to give myself a monthly budget, I gave my credit card to my wife, but neither method worked. I go over the budget, have my credit card number memorized, and have found online order forms disturbingly easy to use.
After I’ve exasperated my wife’s tolerance of my wine spending, I have to find creative ways of getting the wine home. It’s shipped to my office and taken to the cellar when she is conveniently absent. What am I doing giving away my secret, you exclaim? She doesn’t read my blog. Plus I’ve only done this a couple times. Even still, I have already been caught on more than one occasion. I promise her it won’t happen for a while, and I’m good for some time. But eventually the pull of the hunt ensues, and I’m back at it again, reading ratings, signing up on mailing lists, and investing in quality wine. The important thing is that I haven’t put us into the poverty level, and have quite a few bottles that have turned out to be great investments, like the 2001 and 2002 Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon.
Misery loves company and I know I’m not alone. I remember reading a piece on this very subject in Slate some time ago. Ahh yes, here it is, Grape Deceptions by Mike Steinberger. How the words in this article still ring in my head since first reading it almost 2 years ago. If you haven’t read this yet, please do, it’s classic. Maybe you’ll understand the disease a little better, as there are a lot of us still looking for a cure. All we really want is some sympathy every now and again, and maybe a little help. Actually, scratch that, we don’t need help, we’re pros at buying a ton of expensive wine.
Read [slate.com]
{ 7 comments }
Jathan,
You’ve got to scare yourself into thinking that the stuff is going to go bad before you can get around to drinking it. It also helps to witness first-hand the disaster that is fine wine way past its peak. So that helped me out a bit — maybe it’ll work for you. It wasn’t meant to be any kind of new year resolution but as it turns out I’ve yet to make a wine purchase in 2006 (though something’s on sale this weekend so I suspect that will finally change).
Interesting,
So because your storage conditions weren’t the greatest, and prized bottles were victims of their surrounding, you’ve written off buying wine for a while.
I don’t think that’s going to be enough my friend.
The more I drink in hopes of saving these poor bottles, the more I’ll see empty spots in the cellar, and my gathering instincts will subconsciously kick in. I see a vicious cycle developing here. I could continuously downsize my storage area to counteract that effect, but I’m not very good with a hacksaw.
)
Your 1990 Margaux has my condolences btw.
Oh well, I’m sure your wife will thank me for trying…
So how big is this cellar of yours? And how many of your bottles are getting opened each week?
If my wine fridge (still undelivered) didn’t hold just 11 bottles I think I could see my future in this post of yours…
BTW, the Margaux wasn’t mine, though I was quite disappointed just the same.
I call it the cellar because it’s under my house (it makes me feel a lot better about it). Our house is situated on a moderate slope, so our crawl space opening is a side entry and offers pretty good space. Humidity is great thanks to nearby streams, and the temperature stays between 55 and 60 all year long. It’s quite a nice setup actually, I don’t know what I would do if we moved.
I’ve got close to 100 bottles, and enjoy 3-5 bottles per week. I’m constantly replacing my supply, but I don’t seem to have enough tweeners. I get through the $15 and under pretty quick, and have to drink the nicer bottles on a regular basis.
Whoa is me.
Jathan,
I have this problem as well, and you can thank your wife because she is keeping you in check, even if you don’t realize it. My wine spending increased severalfold when my wife and I divorced.
I still only buy a bottle or so a week from the local Vintner, but I spend more at winebid and belong to more wine clubs.
The odd thing? My wine consumption actually went down after I was divorced
. Although, I now have more people to drink with, I drink less overall.
Yes, thank you for trying g58. It seems my threats to my husband have not helped in the least and in fact, a reasonable man like yourself cannot even reason with him. I guess from now on I will have to monitor the “cellar” door or at least take a look down there from time to time, or maybe even everyday, to see just what my husband is up to in my absence. (And he thinks I don’t read his blog!) ;o)
Ahh, thanks for your understanding sweetie. You do read the blog, hooray!
)
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