Another CT cellar summary - lead grape varieties in your cellar

Which grapes are represented in your cellar? For me it’s:

(now edited to include consumption % in brackets)

Nebbiolo 18.8% (12.2% of consumed bottles)
Red Blend (Mostly Musar) 8.6% (7.5%)
Syrah 6.7% (7.9%)
Sangiovese 4.9% (4.3%)
Tempranillo 4.2% (2.5%)
White Blend 4.0% (1.5%)
Red Bordeaux Blend 3.7% (8.6%)
Cabernet Sauvignon 3.5% (5.4%)
Pinot Noir 3.0% (3.0%)
Corvina 2.7% (1.9%)
Muscat 2.5% (3.1%)
Riesling 2.2% (5.3%)
Champagne Blend 2.0% (1.1%)
Chardonnay 2.0% (6.5%)
Baga 1.5%
Malbec 1.5% (2.4%)
Mourvedre 1.5%
Port Blend 1.5% (1.1%)
Nosiola 1.2%
Teroldego 1.2%
Sémillon 1.2%
Timorasso 1.0%
Montepulciano 1.0%
Chenin Blanc 1.0% (2.1%)
Others (each less than 1%) 18.6%

Red Rhone blend (2.3%)
Corvina (1.9%)
Barbera (1.6%)
Semillon-Sauv Blanc blends (1.4%)
Sauv Blanc (1.2%)

Commentary

  • Nebbiolo clearly a strong favourite and I reckon one in five is about where I want to be, though with the typical longevity, I need to top up again on a favourite nebbiolo d’Alba to ensure there is enough that I’d be happy to open.
  • Syrah hides a slow but steady move from Aussie Shiraz to Northern Rhone Syrah
  • A decade ago, the Cab Sauv / Bdx blend number would probably have topped the chart
  • Pinot Noir might be higher, but for the price rises in Red Burg
  • Chardonnay, like Cab Sauv, would have been easily the leading white grape. When my next delivery lands it may be relegated even further by Nosiola! It has a place, but it’s almost always confirmed favourites rather than new experiments.
  • The ‘Others’, currently at 18.6%, has been increasing, as I’ve made a conscious effort to explore outside my comfort zone. Grapes like Timorasso, Teroldego, Nosiola and Baga have started from a first taste to be emerging interest. There are maybe a dozen sitting below 1% that might be on a similar list in 2-3 year’s time, with Vespolina about to sneak in

Regards
Ian

Mine . As I straighten out inventory on a rainy day in NY
IMG_4814.PNG

Cabernet
Pinot noir
Chardonnay
Syrah

My top 5:

Pinot Noir 38.7%
Red Bordeaux Blend 18.0%
Riesling 10.3%
Cabernet Sauvignon 6.9%
Nebbiolo 5.4%

I find I like Pinot almost anytime, with or without food. Almost same story for Riesling. If I’m opening Bordeaux, Cab or Barolo, I tend to do it with a specific food pairing in mind. Some varietals under 3% I can see growing are Zinfandel, Gewurtztraminer, and Pinot Gris.

Top 5:

Cabernet Sauvignon 42%
Zinfandel 27%
Sangiovese 9%
Red Bordeaux Blend 5%
Nebbiolo 3%

That’s pretty representative of the frequencies with which I open them, so seems about right to me. If there was one thing I’d change it would be to see champagne in there around 5% or so. Currently, it sits at 1-2%.

Zinfandel/Zinfandel Blend 24.8%
Riesling 22.3%
Nebbiolo 10.1%
Cabernet Sauvignon 9.2%
Red Rhone Blend 8.2%
Pinot Noir 5.9%
Sangiovese 5.9%
Red Bordeaux Blend 2.5%
Champagne Blend 1.5%
Chardonnay 1.5%
Syrah 1.5%
Chasselas 0.5%
Gewürztraminer 0.5%
Mourvedre 0.5%
Chenin Blanc 0.2%
Dolcetto 0.2%
Grüner Veltliner 0.2%
White Blend 0.2%

Long-term I’d like more nebbiolo as well as riesling and other ageable whites (Loire, gruner veltliner, some Chablis).

My allocation - feels pretty good.

  1. Pinot 42%
  2. Nebbiolo 15%
  3. Chard 9%
  4. Syrah 9%
  5. Cab / Bordeaux Blend 9%
  6. Riesling 3%
  7. Champagne Blend 2%
  8. Other - 11%

The top 7 are varietals I most often go to for meals and entertaining. And I like having a ~10% ‘tail’ with lots of variety (e.g., Chenin, Rioja, Sangio, Grenache/CdP, etc.) for experimentation and the odd craving.

My top 10. Probably only one here with Pinotage on top.

  1. Pinotage 40.7%
  2. Cabernet Sauvignon 21.1%
  3. Red Bordeaux Blend 10.6%
  4. Syrah 7.6%
  5. Red Blend 5.8%
  6. Red Rhone Blend 2.2%
  7. Zinfandel 2.0%
  8. Petite Sirah 1.3%
  9. Grenache 1.1%
  10. Other (less than 1%) 7.4%

Only surprise for me is how little Petite Sirah I have left but then again have been drinking a lot of those lately.

Chardonnay 17.6%
Pinot Noir 13.1%
Riesling 9%
Syrah 7.7%
Nebbiolo 6.4%
Red Bordeaux Blend 6%
Gamay 6%

Fun exercise for me because it is influenced by my campaigns over the last few years. The chardonnay is a combination 2005 to current of Ceritas (750 and mag) along with a large amount of Chablis and other burgundy. The white burgs are post 2010 and require vigilance to stay ahead of the curse. Chard is not a recent campaign. Pinot is pinot and is burgundy and Rhys. Riesling is nowhere near in my top 5 wines I enjoy, but the 2015 year had me buying across the board and I found GG. Riesling buying has since slowed to almost zip. Syrah came from our trip to France some time ago. There I made the connection and haven’t looked back. Nebbiolo and Bordeaux are gradual but continuous buys over a long time and little drink down due to the need for aging them. Gamay is mostly the 2014 Beaujolais crop along with isolated backfills like 2009 and 15/16 selective additions avoiding fruitiness.

Pinot Noir 30.2%
Malt (Beer) 10.1%
Syrah 9.7%
Red Bordeaux Blend 7.1%
Riesling 7.1%
Red Rhone Blend (mostly CdP) 6.2%
Cabernet Sauvignon 5.3%
Chardonnay 4.8%
Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend (Sauternes) 3.2%
Chenin Blanc 2.1%
Cabernet Franc 2.0%


That’s getting closer to what I’d like. I’ve no issues whatsoever with Pinot Noir having such a commanding lead — Pinot is almost always in the running for which wine we’ll pull for dinner. Cabernet Franc and Chenin Blanc are on their way up; Chardonnay I am trying to pull back on somewhat, but I find that difficult because my holdings are primarily Arcadian and Rhys, and I love them both, and I don’t really want to stop buying them. Cab. Sauv. is giving way to Red Bdx. Blend. I finally emotionally accepted what I’ve intellectually known for quite some time: for my preferences, France does Cabernet better than USA, and typically at a lower price point, ta boot. Sauternes is sinking – I don’t buy them much anymore because we rarely drink them; our current holdings may very well be all we need for the remainder of our lives. Riesling should probably be upped a couple notches.

Zinfandel and Zin Blends (about a third)
Pinot Noir (about a quarter)
Cab and Cab blends (about a fifth)

The rest spread over many varieties, led by Syrah

Cabernet Sauvignon 19.4%
Red Bordeaux Blend 12.7%
Red Rhone Blend 7.4%
Red Blend 5.3%
Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 5.3%
Syrah 4.9%
Pinot Noir 3.9%
Malt 3.5%
Champagne Blend 2.8%
Shiraz 2.8%
Sangiovese Blend 2.5%
Port Blend 2.1%
Petit Verdot 2.1%
Grenache Blend
Garnacha 1.8%
Chardonnay 1.8%
Tempranillo 1.8%
Vijiriega 1.8%
Sauvignon Blanc 1.4%
Tempranillo Blend 1.4%
SuperTuscan Blend 1.4%
Sangiovese 1.1%
Cabernet Franc 1.1%
Grenache 1.1%
Merlot 1.1%
Zinfandel 1.1%

I’m particularly enjoying the trend commentary and aspirations, but each post is interesting to see the wide variation. 41% Pinotage is indeed something I’d not expected to see, but a great illustration of ‘buy what you enjoy’.

Port Blend 27.6%
Cabernet Sauvignon 24.5%
Syrah 15.5%
Riesling 12.1%
Pinot Noir 8.0%
Red Bordeaux Blend 3.4%
Red Blend 1.5%
Chardonnay 1.2%
Nebbiolo 1.2%
Petite Sirah 1.0%
Red Rhone Blend 0.7%
Pinot Meunier 0.6%
Cabernet Franc 0.4%
Carménère 0.4%
Sémillon 0.4%
Muscadelle 0.3%
Petit Verdot 0.3%
Tempranillo 0.3%
White Rhone Blend 0.3%
Albariño 0.1%
Grenache 0.1%
Rosé Blend 0.1%

Port aside, Most of mine are Australian with a smattering of German rieslings, Portuguese reds and whites, a couple of Chilean Carménères and maybe a Kiwi or two. A couple of years ago, I think Syrah was leading the way, but I’ve not bought much of that in recent years. I’ll probably aim to diversify the varieties a bit more over the next couple of years.

Intrigued as to whether my thoughts were backed up by a comparison to consumption, I’ve now added in consumption figures (in blue) to the OP.

An additional comment:

  • The drift away from Aussie wines also explains the drops in SSB blends, Sauv Blanc, Semillon and Riesling, along with some of the Cab Sauv / Bdx blends drop.

Nebbiolo is 29%, Sangiovese next at 20%, Pinot Noir at 13% and Riesling at 11% - so basically 75% of my cellar made up of four grapes.

Cabernet Sauvignon 16.1 (15.1)
Red Bordeaux 16.1 (7.1)
Syrah 13.3 (9.2)
Red Rhone 12.7 (8.2)
Pinot 11.6 (12.7)
zin 9.3 (10.3)
Chardonnay 4.9 (12.4)
29 0thers 16 (25)

These numbers are not quite what I expected but I am pretty happy with the distribution of my cellar. I am actively working to reduce my purchases of syrah and Bordeaux and increase Champagne, Riesling, and White Rhone blends. This is largely a function of getting older.

I have twice as much Riesling as any other grape. Next up is Pinot Noir. Syrah rounds out the top 3.

Pinot noir -48.49%
Riesling - 32.39%
Chenin blanc - 4.74%
Chardonnay -4.06%
Semillon/semillon-SB blend 3.07%
Red Bordeaux blend - 2.15%
Nebbiolo - 1.71%
Rieslaner -:0.68%
Champagne blend - 0.44%
Pinot gris -0.36%
Cabernet sauvignon - 0.32%
12 others make up the balance

I like to spread the love. Last 160 bottles consumed:

Pinot Noir 13.1% Consumed (21)
Sangiovese 12.5% Consumed (20)
Syrah 11.9% Consumed (19)
Red Bordeaux Blend 11.3% Consumed (18)
Red Rhone Blend 10.0% Consumed (16)
Cabernet Sauvignon 3.8% Consumed (6)
Chardonnay 3.1% Consumed (5)
Gamay 2.5% Consumed (4)
Nebbiolo 2.5% Consumed (4)
Riesling 2.5% Consumed (4)
Tempranillo 2.5% Consumed (4)
Red Blend 1.9% Consumed (3)
Zinfandel 1.9% Consumed (3)
Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 1.9% Consumed (3)
Negroamaro 1.9% Consumed (3)
Chenin Blanc 1.9% Consumed (3)
Champagne Blend 1.3% Consumed (2)
Aglianico 1.3% Consumed (2)
Mourvedre 1.3% Consumed (2)
Malbec 1.3% Consumed (2)
SuperTuscan Blend 1.3% Consumed (2)
Port Blend 0.6% Consumed (1)
Roussanne 0.6% Consumed (1)
White Rhone Blend 0.6% Consumed (1)
Xarello 0.6% Consumed (1)
Tannat 0.6% Consumed (1)
Malvasia 0.6% Consumed (1)
Mencía 0.6% Consumed (1)
Merlot 0.6% Consumed (1)
Muscat 0.6% Consumed (1)
Nerello Mascalese 0.6% Consumed (1)
Bonarda 0.6% Consumed (1)
Cabernet Franc 0.6% Consumed (1)
Grenache 0.6% Consumed (1)
Jacquère 0.6% Consumed (1)

Commentary - My inventoried cellar (which excludes daily drinkers) is dominated (75% of the total) by just six - Bdx blends/cabs (Bdx, Cali, Tuscany), syrah (Rhone, Cali), pinot (Burg only), red Rhone blends, nebbiolo, and sangiovese.

I would say that Bdx blends/cabs is the only one helped by my having significant quantity from more than one region (Bordeaux and California). I have some California syrah and grenache, but not enough to really move the needle compared to those from the Rhone. Otherwise, with the exception of a couple of German pinots I just added, I really only have these varieties from their home regions.

How they will show in my consumption list vs my cellar list is heavily influenced by whether they are equally represented among my $12-$15 daily drinkers and among the inventoried cellar.

Pinot is helped both by red Burg being about 10% of my cellar inventory and by my still being in the midst (though near the end) of drinking my way through a bunch of '10 and earlier Bourgogne rouges (and occasionally others) that used to pop up from time to time for $14.99 or so. Sadly that doesn’t seem to happen any more, so pinot will make up an ever-shrinking percentage of my daily drinker consumption.

Sangiovese is helped by being not only a favorite, but by my having hosted a Brunello dinner in the time frame reflected.

Syrah is hurt (it is almost 17% of my inventoried wines) by making up a lower percentage of daily drinkers, as save for the odd Crozes or St. Joe (or CdR syrah cuvee) that pops up here and there on a special deal, most of the red Rhones I tend to find at daily drinker prices are southern blends.

Bordeaux blends is helped by there being so much tasty everyday drinker Bordeaux out there in addition to the classified growths in the inventoried cellar.

Nebbiolo is hurt (2.5% of consumption here vs over 8% of the inventoried cellar) by rarely (but not never - thanks, Garagiste, for the Ca’Rozzeria Langhe Nebbiolo) being cheap enough to be purchased as a daily drinker, and by the inventoried stuff being too heavily made up of more recent vintages I’m not opening yet.

Zinfandel is hurt by it falling out of favor in my daily drinkers. I don’t dislike them, but these days I think I get better bang for my daily drinker-level bucks elsewhere.