I was a late-comer to wine. Only started collecting in 2005 at the advanced age of ....

[Mike Cohen]

Great thread. In the mid-90's I had a boss who was a real foodie, wine geek, and francophile. He hated all of our clients and spent a lot of his expense account taking his girlfriend, my girlfriend (who became my wife) and I out to fancy dinners all over the country. My first meal at Nobu, French Laundry, Babbo, Jean Georges, and many others were courtesy of him. He also had an apartment in NYC and two cats. He and his girlfriend would travel a lot and ask my girlfriend and I to house sit. He would tell us to drink whatever we wanted from his cellar. The education began there. I started purchasing CA pinots but quickly moved to Rhones and Burgs. All of the CA pinots purchased are long gone. My first real big purchases were two cases each of 98 Vieux Donjon and 98 Beaucastel. Pretty quickly got my cellar up to ~400 bottles but have cooled my purchasing quite a bit now that I have two kids and a golf habit that takes precedence.

[Andy Lim]

Hi All,

New comer to this forum :P... Loved reading this thread, different starting points for every person yet same path into 'never ending journey'. Glad I am not the only one . At 31 years of age now, started serious drinking and collecting in 2008. At the time, moved out of parents' and into an apartment, as celebration bought a '83 Grange and it was absolutely mind blowing!!. Bought a vintec fridge capable of 120 bottles, was filled full in no time with Australian wines. Then early 2009, went to Bordeaux dinner, showcasing vintage of century '2005' so they said at that time :P. Thats where I got hooked with Bordeaux!! How can one not be?? Tasted Lynch Bages, Grand Puy Lacoste, Gazin, Duhart Milon, Pichon Baron etc. (bought them all without thoughts on where/how to store them - and couple of days later found out about off - site storage and my problem solved, or should I say, only the beginning of problem for my wallet that is . Needless to say, bordeaux bordeaux since then, until vintages 2009 and 2010 that is, when prices soared.

In 2010, got into german riesling, and 1 word WOW!!! Since then, progressed into Spanish( Ribera and Rioja) and Italy ( Baroli) . And now with 2nd month into 2012, I am on my way to Burgundy. Did my research on this forums and others, and bought about a dozen village level '09 , a dozen 1er cru, to taste and compare in the next few month or so.(plan is open 2 bottles every friday night, and consume/taste throughout weekend) And see where the wines take me .

Now, all I need is PATIENCE to leave those babies in the cellar alone. So far so good :P

Cheers
Andy

P.S>> a little flashback, in 1997 was when I got into wine, at that time a group of friends always go out everyweek for 'cullinary delight' until 2002. Needless to say, a bottle or 2 always appeared on the table. Didn't pay much attention to what we were drinking then, although I've always enjoyed each bottles to the fullest.

[Peter Shurman]

My serious wine drinking started in 1980.
My serious wine buying started in 2001 after a California vacation.
Damn you California.

[Peter Shurman]

Shame this thread was moved. Enjoying people's responses and don't see why this isn't Wine Talk.

I agree.

[Brian R Bachman]

Started to nibble at collecting in 1991 when I was 27. I guess that's earlier than many and certainly helps for perspective and most importantly I primarily have wines with some age in the cellar. I recall tasting 1982 Bordeaux in about 1992/3 and thinking boy woulndn't it be great if/when I have a lot of wines that old. I've drastically reduced wine buying in the last few years.

In Boulder, Colorado in a about 1972 with Silver Oak. A friend shared it, went to the big wine store downtown... the sale was just over. The price went, as I recall 40 years later, from about $10 to $12. I was ripped. Bought something else. And so began the journey.

[DonLavu]

Grew up with (French) wine, with my mom's side of the family all living in Paris. Unfortunately my early impressions of wine all centered around cheap, acidic, overly tart Beaujolais since my French-Vietnamese family all drank relatively cheaply. Fast-forward to 2008 and my ~230 cholesterol level report from my physical (34 years old at the time) and I decided to cook more at home while also using this as an excuse to start drinking wine to "reduce my cholesterol". Cellar is now 331 strong with 247 pending and breaks down like so - 50/25/11/8/6% French/American/Italian/German/Other and I'm definitely accumulating faster than I consume... Northern VA offline anyone?

[Mike Baker]

Hey Kim I know you as the 90 queen from the Parker board.

I got into this after going to France in 89, when I was 22. there were all these great Bordeaux for like 2-3 dollars US in the bottle. Then I came home and started going nuts, when I was in Atlanta there was a boatload of 89 and 90 Bordeaux on the floor and I drank a bunch of 82's , 90's and old stuff. I was obsessed. I bought a ton and was lucky. I still think the 90 vintage when released was the pinnacle of young Bordeaux, we drank the 90 Cheval and 89 Haut Brion all the time and they were stellar, 90 Baron. Then I found a place called Dantes down the hatch that had all kinds of old Bordeaux like 70 Palmer, Latour, all kinds of 82's, 62's , and I went nuts there. Then there were these epic RMP tastings in Atlanta in mid 90's where we did verticals of Cheval, Palmer, Mouton, LLC, Yquem, and since I was the youngest guy there all the others gave me their 61 Mouton, Palmer, etc. I was pretty sharp by the end of the decade and bought the hell out of 2000. Love it. Not obsessed like before though....thanks for the memories..

[Jane Crabill]

I became interested in wine at the age of 24 or 25 while working in Germany as a civilian at American Army bases. Naturally I was drinking mostly German wines and my favorite regions were the Mosel and Rheingau. I traveled extensively in Western Europe trying French and Italian wines on my trips to those countries. Then I spent six years in California (three in the 70's and three in the 80's) and tried a number of California wines discovering Ridge Lytton Springs and Sonoma Cutrer The Cutrer among others. But I didn't really start collecting wines until the mid 90's. My earliest Burgundies in the collection were from the 90's. I later regretted purchasing some California Chardonnays and some Australian red wines (I do still admire Elderton and Wynn wines and Irvine Merlot--the Irvine and Wynn wines are currently not imported to the USA unfortunately.) Unlike most collectors (?) I don't buy wines by the case--most of my purchases are from one to four bottles, sometimes six as I like variety. I still have a fondness for German Rieslings (and the occasional Austrian Riesling) but buy mostly white and red Burgundies and American Pinot Noir.

[PaulJ]

I started collecting wine in late 2007 at age 34. I was living in silicon valley at the time and started with mostly American and mostly Pinot. Still follow some American favourites but now mostly buying Burgundy, Champagne, Piedmont and Rhone in that order. My wife was collecting wine since we met however and has always been a Riesling lover so we have a fair amount of Riesling on hand at all times.

[Bill H]

Started drinking seriously in 2006 and 2007 while traveling Europe on business and then building a collection in 2008 at the age of 46 after our first Napa trip. Started with a 15 bottle fridge and a small cool, dark spot under some stairs in the cellar. As all my friends and family now know, "I don't have a wine drinking problem, I have a wine buying problem" as attested to by the current ownership of 2 large Eurocaves, storage at All Ways Cool in Santa Rosa and storage here in Boston. Now, we're doing a small addition to our house...to build an above-ground wine cellar.

[Shi Sim]

I am new here as well. I have always drank wine but not seriously until last year when I visited Santa Ynez valley and had Ken brown Clos pepe Pinot noir and enjoyed some wonderful Tensley syrahs. I realised I really didnt know much about wines and wanted to learn! Just turned 24 and just started phd so on a budget :(

[Kirk.Grant]

I'm really enjoying reading this post. I started drinking wine in the late 90's while I was stationed in Germany in the Army. I was later stationed in Washington state and started learning more about those wines for the 3+ years living there. It wasn't until I got out of the military that I actually started collecting wines at the age of 29. I enjoyed California Cabernet at the time and the 2002 Joseph Phelps (for $33 in NH state stores) was my "a ha" bottle. It held enough balance, interest, and complexity to convince me to buy a 6 pack of the 2002 Insignia for $85/bottle and a single bottle of 2002 Lafite Rothschild for $119. Then the collecting began late 2005. I worked in a wine shop to buy wines at cost in Bar Harbor, Bangor, and Southwest Harbor, Maine for the next 5 years while I worked my way through my undergrad and masters. I bought heavily in California Cabs and Oregon Pinot for the first 2-3 years before learning my palate would shift and I'd need a more balanced cellar. I've fluxuated from 38 bottles at the start to a max of about 500 bottles near the tail end of college before settling into what feels like a managable size of around 180-210 bottles for me now.

I've been very fortunate due to the kindness of my former employers to get exposure to some great 1st Growths, DRC, Port from the 60's and small producers like Musar that seem to have been overlooked for years until the last 5 or so years.

[Chris Tyler]

I'm another newcomer and liked the question! I started "collecting" around 2006 at the age of 26 - although until 2010 "collecting" was really just stashing stuff away in a 24 bottle wine fridge. In 2010 I rented my first locker (with room for 12 cases) and was finally able to start cellaring larger purchases. My second 12-case locker came a year later, and I'm trying hard not to pull the trigger on a third!

My first "ah ha" wine was a 2004 Sea Smoke Ten, enjoyed at a work dinner. I immediately bought another bottle from retail, although at the time spending $80 on a bottle of wine was a very guilty / gut-wrenching experience. My tastes have changed a lot since 2006: no more CA pinot or Aussie shiraz....I'm now fully obsessed with french wine (loire, burgundy, L/R, champagne).

I still have the 04 Sea Smoke. No idea how it held up during my move to Boston in 2007 and move back to LA in 2010. I will be drinking it this year and am very interested to see what I think.

[Kirk.Grant]

I'm another newcomer and liked the question! I started "collecting" around 2006 at the age of 26 - although until 2010 "collecting" was really just stashing stuff away in a 24 bottle wine fridge. In 2010 I rented my first locker (with room for 12 cases) and was finally able to start cellaring larger purchases. My second 12-case locker came a year later, and I'm trying hard not to pull the trigger on a third!

My first "ah ha" wine was a 2004 Sea Smoke Ten, enjoyed at a work dinner. I immediately bought another bottle from retail, although at the time spending $80 on a bottle of wine was a very guilty / gut-wrenching experience. My tastes have changed a lot since 2006: no more CA pinot or Aussie shiraz....I'm now fully obsessed with french wine (loire, burgundy, L/R, champagne).

I still have the 04 Sea Smoke. No idea how it held up during my move to Boston in 2007 and move back to LA in 2010. I will be drinking it this year and am very interested to see what I think.

It's funny how this can happen. I think it's largely due to exposure and a genuine interest in something that's constantly in flux. Don't get me wrong, I still have those moments where I enjoy a more modern styled wine. however, the majority of my interest comes from more traditional styled wines. I have a '67 Barolo back in May that was one of the most exciting Barolo's I've ever had. It was nothing short of amazing...and a true game-changer for me with what to expect and look for in aged Italian wines.

[Joe B]

Im the new guy. 44 and just started getting into wine. Somehow, everybody around me aged so while i kept chugging beers and doing shots, my friends all moved onto wine. Well, i figured i might as well. So now ive got about 12 bottles of what i would call fine wine. The stuff i want to age. For me this means it has a rating over 92 and a bottle cost of over $75 per.

Unfortunatly, i have no cellar yet and the wine is being kept in my basement at about 69 degrees.

[PaulMills]

I started drinking decent wine in college, back in 1993 (sometimes spending $25 which was a lot then). It was short lived though as I just didn't enjoy it as much as beer (good beer, not PBR). Oh how I wish I had stayed with it.

I restarted around 2001 when I got married. We would buy a few bottles of what we thought what were expensive wines ($20-30) and realized there really could be a difference in the quality between that and a $8 bottle. Now we are spending anywhere from $15-90 on a bottle. Sites like this and CT have caused a downward spiral into wine geekdoom. Yes, doom.

[Paul H Galli]

1974 when I was 24.

At that time, wines were not that expensive.
Was lucky enough to taste most of the World's greatest wines multiple times.

Feel bad for newcomers as a lot of these wines are WAY overpriced.....

TTT

[mike pobega]

Started in 1981 at the age of 20. 1950s and 60s era Bordeaux and early 70s Cali Cabs. In about 2002 I sold off all my Bordeaux and went deep into Napa Cabs. Did the side trip to Barolo, Brunello and Burgundy and found my footing firmly in Napa Cabs and Cali Syrah and have not looked back since. Love the ride, all 31 years of it.

[Jeff Fish]

I started drinking wine my senior year at tOSU after taking a wine appreciation class. Started collecting in the mid-90s after graduating from law school. I was 26 or 27 years old. A friend opened a wine bar which allowed me to taste a lot of wine (at first, mostly California cabs) and buy at wholesale. My wife bought be a 120 bottle wine rack that was filled quickly, and it was downhill after that.

[Jeff Fish]

I started drinking wine my senior year at tOSU after taking a wine appreciation class. Started collecting in the mid-90s after graduating from law school. I was 26 or 27 years old. A friend opened a wine bar which allowed me to taste a lot of wine (at first, mostly California cabs) and buy at wholesale. My wife bought be a 120 bottle wine rack that was filled quickly, and it was downhill after that.

[S. Reynolds]

Hello everyone... new poster here like some others in the thread. I started drinking wine seriously about three years ago, at 22. I bought my first wine fridge a year ago and it's now overflowing. I have a general sense of what I like, or at least characteristics I think are better than others, but I am still in the phase where I am trying to drink widely to explore different regions. Also in law school so I don't have as great a budget, or time, to spend on wine as I will in a few years for purposes of collecting. Buying a few bottles here and there to put away for a while but enjoying all the world's oddities and eccentricities you can get on a budget. Love the experience of finding something different or unique, or strangely imperfect, and will take that any day over something dull you can cellar.

[Tim Marman]

We started getting serious about wine at age 30, and now three years later we're at 500+ bottles.

I was always somewhat of an alcohol snob, but that manifested itself more in single malts and craft beer during my early 20s. We started to get serious about wine in late 2009 / early 2010. I was diagnosed with testicular cancer in Jan 2009, and spent much of the year in chemo & several surgeries, went back to work in Oct just around the time Cinderella Wine launched.

The 2005 Sojourn Cab was the bottle that "did it" for us, and I'm happy to say that we still find it to be excellent

[alan weinberg]

We started getting serious about wine at age 30, and now three years later we're at 500+ bottles.

I was always somewhat of an alcohol snob, but that manifested itself more in single malts and craft beer during my early 20s. We started to get serious about wine in late 2009 / early 2010. I was diagnosed with testicular cancer in Jan 2009, and spent much of the year in chemo & several surgeries, went back to work in Oct just around the time Cinderella Wine launched.

The 2005 Sojourn Cab was the bottle that "did it" for us, and I'm happy to say that we still find it to be excellent

Welcome, Tim! Stick around.
alan

[Doug Lee]

Ditto, Tim. Hope all is well.

I'm 58 now, started collecting in 1998 at age 44. Followed the Robert Parker curve, collecting Bordeaux, American cabs, and southern Rhones, but also a smattering of Oregon and Cali PN, which tended to disappear early because they matched our food preferences. Early on had a revelatory moment with Barolo and have kept up the hunt ever since. Then had a similar experience with red burgundy just in time for the 2005 vintage and have found myself on the dark side pretty consistently thereafter (oh why did this not happen earlier). Now I drive very carefully so as to survive to age 75-80 in order to drink mature red burgs and Nebbiolo.

Cheers,
Doug

[Tim Marman]

Ha, thanks guys. That was my first post... I believe I joined last year for Beserkers Day. I'm doing well now - thankfully it's one of the more curable cancers, but the downside they don't tell you is all the other lingering side effects

@John - Enjoy academia! I graduated law school in 2007, though I went into the startup world instead of practicing. You'll probably have more money, but you definitely won't have more time... and I'm saying this as a former evening student.

On that note, I think the thing that really grabbed us about wine is how academic the whole pursuit is. It's a very humbling experience - the more you learn, the more you realize you know nothing. I am proud to say that we have a lot of diversity in our collection and in our general approach, which is I'm sure at least in part due to the fact that we started with WLTV and that's something that GV drilled into our heads. But, especially like law - I feel that if you don't have a breadth of experience, it's really hard to draw parallels and recognize patterns. This, by the way, is why we have a shipment of Jura coming.

On the subject of older wines - one of biggest challenge when we first started buying "good" wine was trying to figure out when to open it. Having never tasted older wine, we had no idea what it tasted like, what characteristics it had, what the difference between an over-the-hill and mature wine is, etc. To that end, I went out and bout some older stuff, and wherever possible we even tasted against younger or new release siblings. While we still don't have nearly enough experience to "know" when a wine is ready, this experience has certainly been valuable for understanding some of the wine journey without having to wait 30 years for it.

At the point where you realize you'll never consume (all of) your cellar - how have you guys reacted in terms of purchase habits? I've found myself trending more towards wines that will age, but also towards things that might be desirable for others in the future. Not that I have any intention of selling our "babies", but I figure at least I can justify the ridiculous amount of wine being purchased because we're definitely not slowing down! Or maybe I can help someone else's old wine discovery in the future.....

[S. Reynolds]

@John - Enjoy academia! I graduated law school in 2007, though I went into the startup world instead of practicing. You'll probably have more money, but you definitely won't have more time... and I'm saying this as a former evening student.

On that note, I think the thing that really grabbed us about wine is how academic the whole pursuit is. It's a very humbling experience - the more you learn, the more you realize you know nothing. I am proud to say that we have a lot of diversity in our collection and in our general approach, which is I'm sure at least in part due to the fact that we started with WLTV and that's something that GV drilled into our heads. But, especially like law - I feel that if you don't have a breadth of experience, it's really hard to draw parallels and recognize patterns. This, by the way, is why we have a shipment of Jura coming.

I've noticed there are a lot of lawyers on this forum--other than those posters who are in the biz, it seems like the largest group.

What you talk about, the academic nature of wine, is something that drew me to wine as well. I have a lot of interests, from law to wine and cooking to photography to languages, but what drew me to these is the fact that if you want them to be they are all complex fields, each with a lot to know. I love collecting ideas and seeing how they fit in together, and I think wine lends itself to that, with all its regions, obscure varietals, science and lore, business, and personalities--there is a lot to know and talk about. On top of all its other benefits, wine's a great area of discourse if you want to make it that.

[Tran Bronstein]

Started collecting seriously two years ago in 2010.

[Brian Jeffrey]

In the early '80s I was in my 30's and took the plunge with a case of Silver Oak cab. I subscribed to the print TWA and quickly slipped into addiction. I loaded up on '82 Bordeaux, most of which I drank far too early. I made do with a passive basement cellar in the Colorado mountains till 2007 when I built a temp controlled wine room. Very few regrets among my buying decisions. Significant regrets that at age 67 I am running out of years to learn more about this passion, and time to let the fabulous stuff now on the market mature.

[Tony B.]

Just started - I'm 32 and I can tell this board will be my financial ruin. I took a trip to Napa last year to propose to my now wife during harvest and am now trying to figure out how to move there while remaining gainfully employed.

[Dusty Gillson]

With two parents who really couldn't care less about wine, I was fascinated by the prospect of wine with all of the associated complexities and ability to enhance a meal well before I was 21. I didn't really drink any until I turned 21 (which was in 2006), but then I started attending tastings regularly.

I guess the beginning of my "collecting" was when I decided to buy a mixed case at the local wine shop with the intent to wait a few years to pop them. I don't think I spent more than $20 on any one bottle at that time and still have a few of them (mostly 2005 vintages). Since then my wife and I honeymooned in Napa and returned for a few weeks in Sonoma in 2011. Our cellar is still entirely passive and is about 150 btls (mostly singles). Mostly domestic pinot, but I'm starting to expand. Mailing lists are killing me

[Gene Vance]

I also started in the late 70s after living in Europe. Took a hiatus in the early 90s and started back in the late '90s. I've been through 3 wine fridges and I built my second wine room last year. (The first was shared with a nearby friend whose now ex-wife did not want to keep the cellar running.)

[Robert Alfert, Jr.]

Started "collecting" in 1992 at the ripe old age of 26, straight out of law school with a little jingle in my pocket. I grew up with wine in my house as my father collected and my parents always had wine at the dinner table. I drank a glass or two of wine during dinner while in law school thanks to a very liberal budget from my generous father. Since then, I have returned the wine to him in spades, and it brings me great pleasure to do so (may give him all my 2007 CDP). I took a collecting hiatus (not drinking hiatus) in 1999 after I made equity partner and had to empty all my pockets for a buy-in, coupled with having my first child and my wife stopping work. I call this my poor period. Starting buying again with the 2003 vintage, but only in earnest, with the 2005 vintage. Bordeaux, my first love. More recently, following 2007, I have gone back to a slightly more diversified palate, buying more of two of my other early loves: Northern Rhone syrah and Chinon. Bojos as well, although not just for everyday drinking; these wines are serious too!

[dgames]

New to this board. Have been into wine since the late 80s when I was in my 20s, but have never really been able to afford to dive in too deep. My wine interest peaked in the late 90s early 00s when I got up to about 250 bottles - about 200 in my Eurocave and another few cases of stuff tucked away in a cabinet. At the time, my cellar was mostly $30-$40 stuff with a few very isolated slightly higher end purchases. I suppose now most of these would be $50 to $100. Spent a short time on a few lists - Dehlinger, Rochioli, Carlisle, Ojai, Paloma, Pride, Cedarville, Lagier Meredith, Unti. Was a big fan of zins - particularly Ridge and Carlisle. Also a big fan of Rhone variety wines. Smartest wine purchase was probably buying 3 cases of 98 Chateauneuf du Pape back when you could get most of them at about $30 a bottle. Also, around 98-99, I found an out of the way wine store in northern AR that had a temperature controlled wine room that had a bunch of late 80s early 90s stuff that they never marked up. I put a pretty big dent in their inventory over a couple of years picking up stuff like 88 Pichon Baron, 89 D'Armailac, 86 Phelps Morisoli cab, 90 BR Cohn Olive Hill, all in the $20-$30 range.

Was active on the AOL wine forum in the late 90s and West Coast Wine Network in the early 00s. Went to a couple of offline events in Dallas and St Louis back then and had some of the best wine I have ever tasted. By far the best was an 89 Haut Brion tasted in 01, followed by a Shafer Hillside Select from I believe 96 also at an event that same summer.

Have been to Napa/Sonoma 4 times and have always loved visiting Dry Creek and Russian River valleys. Did a central coast wine trip in 08 and was really impressed with the west side Paso area.

The company I worked for almost went under in 02 and finances tightened, so I cut back drastically on wine purchases. Started drinking down my stash little by little and supplementing with good QPR stuff from Spain, Languedoc, Australia & a little Argentina over the last few years.

I am now down to about 3 cases of some of the better stuff I bought a decade ago plus 3 cases or so of mostly spanish reds. I really like the regular Borsao red and drink this as an everyday wine.

David

[Jane Crabill]

I started purchasing wines when I lived in Germany for the first time (of three stints) in my mid to late 20's but wasn't a collector then. I could afford Eiswein back in those days and even had some great 1976 Rieslings which were consumed young. Moved back and forth from Germany to Maryland to Germany to California to Germany to California and had accumulated maybe 30-40 bottles when I moved to North Carolina at the age of 49. That's when I began "collecting." I have more bottles of Pinot Noir than any other variety and would have more Burgundy than I do if it were more affordable.

[scamhi]

I became interested in wine at the age of 24 or 25 while working in Germany as a civilian at American Army bases. Naturally I was drinking mostly German wines and my favorite regions were the Mosel and Rheingau. I traveled extensively in Western Europe trying French and Italian wines on my trips to those countries. Then I spent six years in California (three in the 70's and three in the 80's) and tried a number of California wines discovering Ridge Lytton Springs and Sonoma Cutrer The Cutrer among others. But I didn't really start collecting wines until the mid 90's. My earliest Burgundies in the collection were from the 90's. I later regretted purchasing some California Chardonnays and some Australian red wines (I do still admire Elderton and Wynn wines and Irvine Merlot--the Irvine and Wynn wines are currently not imported to the USA unfortunately.) Unlike most collectors (?) I don't buy wines by the case--most of my purchases are from one to four bottles, sometimes six as I like variety. I still have a fondness for German Rieslings (and the occasional Austrian Riesling) but buy mostly white and red Burgundies and American Pinot Noir.

it's deja vu all over again (Yogi Bera)