Red Bordeaux blend 48%
Riesling 9%
Syrah 8%
Red Rhône blend 8%
Champagne 8%
Cabernet Sauvignon 8%
Pinot Noir 47.4% [31.4% of consumed bottles]
Riesling 20.5% [20.3%]
Red Bordeaux Blend 7.4% [11.8%]
Chardonnay 6.2% [18.1%]
Cabernet Sauvignon 3.4% [1.9%]
Chenin Blanc 2.2% [2.1%]
Nebbiolo 1.9% [1.9%]
Cabernet Franc 1.7% [0.8%]
Semilion-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 1.3% [1.1%]
Zinfandel 1.3% [0.8%]
Semilion 1.3% [1.1%]
Biggest difference between owned bottles and consumed bottles is I drink my white Burgundies on the younger side because of premox and thus I drink a lot more than I own as a percentage of the whole.
Wow, a lot of y’all are doing a great job in maintaining a diverse collection, instead of hoarding a bunch of one kind (varietal?/region?) of wine!!
I feel ashamed of myself now…
I genuinely hope you don’t. Knowing what you enjoy and being happy in that place is a lovely place to be. It definitely should not be a competition to have the most diverse cellar, or the trendiest wines.
Palate preference variations are definitely to be celebrated.
I was mostly kidding.
I derive serious joy in tasting the different interpretations of my favorite grape varieties, plus a good number of the bottles I own need additional cellar-time before I can open them.
There will always be a whisper of concern in the back of my mind that I may end up experiencing some dramatic, unforeseen “palate shift” in the future. However, the wines I have are solid stuff (in my opinion), and good wine is good wine. 
I have 129 different varieties/blend categories in CT, but here is just the list that represent 1% or more of my current cellar, along with those representing 1.5% or more of my consumption:
Pinot Noir 20.8% (18.3% of consumed bottles)
Syrah 12.9% (7.2%)
Red Bordeaux Blend 7.9% (4.2%)
Chardonnay 5.7% (9.4%)
Cabernet Franc 5.0% (4.2%)
Riesling 4.4% (3.5%)
Red Rhone Blend 4.1% (3.8%)
Cabernet Sauvignon 4.0% (3.2%)
Chenin Blanc 4.0% (7.8%)
Gamay 3.5% (2.1%)
Red Blend 2.2% (2.1%)
Nebbiolo 2.1% (1.0%)
Melon de Bourgogne 1.8% (2.0%)
Mourvedre 1.6% (1.0%)
Zinfandel 1.4% (2.1%)
Sangiovese 1.0% (0.6%)
Champagne Blend 0.8% (1.7%)
Malbec 0.8% (1.6%)
Rosé Blend 0.4% (2.0%)
Mourvedre Blend 0.3% (1.6%)
Others 15.3% (20.6%)
I’m pretty concentrated with almost 90% of my cellar devoted to 6 varieties/blends. I’m impressed with those whose top varieties comprise less than 5% of their cellars.
It’s not so much that I’m not adventurous in tasting, but that I tend to go back to the stuff I like. In effect, though, over time that leaves fewer opportunities to try new things.
If my taste buds and olfactory sense atrophy in my dotage I can always trade in my Bordeaux for Meiomi or whatever the rocket juice du jour happens to be. OTOH, if I suddenly find I can’t live without aged premier or grand cru Burgundy, I’m screwed.
Limiting the list to over 1%, with some adjustments for odd CT categorizations:
Red Bordeaux Blend: 28.5% (Bordeaux, California, Tuscany and Argentina)
Pinot Noir: 14.9% (Burgundy, California and Oregon, not counting imminent Rhys order)
Red Rhone Blend: 14.5% (S. Rhone, California and Languedoc)
Riesling: 10.5% (Germany and Austria)
Cabernet Sauvignon: 7.8% (California)
Syrah: 5% (N. Rhone, Languedoc, California and Australia)
Chardonnay: 4.5% (California and Burgundy, not including champagne)
Nebbiolo: 3.4% (Piedmont)
Grenache: 2.4% (Spain, as I moved the CNdP wines to Red Rhone)
Tempranillo: 2.0% (Spain)
Sangiovese: 1.4% (Tuscany)
Merlot: 1.1% (California and Tuscany)
The composition changes over time because I am currently aging much of the Bordeaux and pinots (even the US ones), while drinking the Rhone blends, grenache and syrah. Riesling would be a higher percentage if I had better access to it.
CS 36.9 (40.6)
Zin 14.0 (7.1)
Syrah 11.8 (9.2)
Chard 6.8 (8.9)
Red Bdx 6.2 (7.0)
Pinot 4.9 (4.3)
95% of my cellar is domestic
I’ve got way too much pinot noir. On second thought, I do NOT have too much pinot noir!
![[berserker.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8600bbd4810d342b8fbd4ffb62b4f0026275fd37.gif "berserker"){kind=small}
Pinot Noir 23.7% (8.2% of consumed bottles)
Cabernet Franc 13.7% (9%)
Riesling 10.2% (6.3%)
Gamay 8.5% (8.5%)
Chardonnay 7.3% (4.9%)
Melon de Bourgogne 4.1% (2.1%)
Red Blend 4.1% (8.5%)
Red Rhone Blend 3.2% (3.7%)
Chenin Blanc 2.9% (3.0%)
Syrah 2.9% (3.4%)
Cabernet Sauvignon 2.4% (1.5%)
Port Blend 1.5% (1.7%)
Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 1.2% (0.7%)
White Blend 1.2% (2.4%)
Mourvedre 1.0% (0.9%)
Nebbiolo 1.0% (0.7%)
Red Bordeaux Blend 1.0% (3.6%)
Sauvignon Blanc 1.0% (3.4%)
Savagnin 1.0% (0.6%)
Trousseau 1.0% (0.2%)
Red Bordeaux Blend - 20%
Sangiovese - 18%
Nebbiolo - 13%
Pinot Noir - 12%
Red Rhone - 9%
Chardonnay - 6%
The remaining 22% is spread across 32 other grapes or blends.
I’m 90% Bordeaux, Northern Rhone and Chinon, split pretty evenly. The remainder is mostly Beaujolais and select Zins.
inventory:
Pinot Noir 53.6% Bottles (504) / Pending (12)
Cabernet Sauvignon 27.5% Bottles (247) / Pending (18) /
Red Rhone Blend 4.8% Bottles (46) /
Red Bordeaux Blend 3.6% Bottles (35) /
Chardonnay 3.3% Bottles (32) /
Syrah 1.9% Bottles (18)
Syrah Blend 0.2% Bottles (2)
Sauvignon Blanc 1.0% Bottles (10) /
Consumed (over about a decade):
Pinot Noir 49.1% Consumed (996)
Cabernet Sauvignon 13.7% Consumed (278)
Syrah 8.8% Consumed (178)
Syrah Blend 0.7% Consumed (15)
Chardonnay 3.5% Consumed (71)
Sauvignon Blanc 3.5% Consumed (71)
Zinfandel 3.1% Consumed (62)
Red Bordeaux Blend 2.3% Consumed (47)
Shows my shift in style away from Zin and Syrah to Pinot and Cab…
An interesting exercise as it gives an idea of what I’ve been consuming versus buying and how that dynamic has changed. I’m also a seller, so rough consumed doesn’t work, so I used “Drank” + “Missing” since I drank them but forgot to record it. Like others here, I don’t record “House” wines anymore nor does this include wines consumed at restaurants (which accounts for a lot).
Holdings:
Pinot Noir 36.1%
Cabernet Franc 13.8%
Nebbiolo 12.2%
Syrah 10.4%
Gamay 6.3%
Chardonnay 5.8%
Chenin Blanc 2.4%
Red Rhone Blend 2.3%
Mourvedre 1.0%
Cabernet Sauvignon 1.0%
Consumption 2017
Pinot Noir 16.4%
Cabernet Franc 16.0%
Chardonnay 13.1%
Nebbiolo 10.9%
Gamay 9.5%
Syrah 6.5%
Chenin Blanc 6.2%
Riesling 4.7%
Melon de Bourgogne 3.6%
Red Bordeaux Blend 2.5%
Consumption ~10 years
Pinot Noir 15.0%
Cabernet Franc 12.6%
Chardonnay 9.6%
Gamay 7.9%
Nebbiolo 7.1%
Melon de Bourgogne 5.8%
Syrah 5.8%
Chenin Blanc 5.6%
Riesling 5.2%
Red Rhone Blend 4.2%
Riesling is in my top 10 of consumption in 2017 and all time yet not in my current inventory. This relates directly to my preference for youngish riesling. I buy very few to cellar these days and they are almost exclusively Austrian but we always have a good supply for the House.
The same is true of Muscadet (melon), which is another wine I’ve determined that I mostly like youngish although we also aren’t drinking as much as we used to and don’t buy that much for the House.
Chardonnay consumption is more than my holdings (and under reported due to House wine) because of premox and other reasons. I’m not cellaring as much chardonnay these days.
I drink very little cabernet sauvignon, but cellar some. Same for Bandol (mourvedre).
I drink more chenin blanc than I cellar. That might be a mistake but I was burned by some premoxed Huet, but I’ve been buying more the last year.
Pinot noir consumption is way lower than cellar holdings, this has mainly been due to loading up on Burgundy the last few years in anticipation of being priced out of everything very soon.
Nebbiolo consumption is trending up probably because of Alto Piemonte. We also drink a lot of House wines from the Alto Piemonte.
Sangiovese doesn’t show up at all, but we drink a fair amount as House wine but I cellar very little. That’s something I’m going to look to change.
Champagne is similar to sangiovese. I don’t cellar very much, but we consume it regulalrly and always have a House supply.
Pinot Noir was only 24%. I thought it would be higher.
only listing varieties clocking-in at 2% or more:
Cellar Holdings
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%
2017 Consumption
Pinot Noir 19.0%
Malt 13.2%
Chardonnay 7.5%
Red Bordeaux Blend 7.5%
Riesling 7.5%
Syrah 5.2%
Melon de Bourgogne 5.2%
Red Rhone Blend 4.6%
Cabernet Sauvignon 4.0%
Sauvignon Blanc 3.4%
Champagne Blend 2.3%
Mourvedre 2.3%
Total Consumption (past decade)
Pinot Noir 11.4%
Malt 11.2%
Syrah 10.2%
Red Rhone Blend 9.7%
Riesling 5.9%
Chardonnay 5.3%
Red Bordeaux Blend 4.3%
Grenache 3.6%
Cabernet Sauvignon 3.1%
Sauvignon Blanc 3.1%
Red Blend 2.9%
Mourvedre 2.9%
Zinfandel 2.6%
Understanding that my CT is off:
Pinot Noir 33.3%
Riesling 20.0%
Syrah 9.6%
Cabernet Sauvignon 4.4%
Red Blend 3.7%
I’m slowly reducing the percentage of Pinot Noir that I own, while increasing the amount of Syrah in my cellar. Next year I would like my top 3 to be close to 25%/20%/15%.
For “malt,” do people mean beer or whisky and bourbon? If beer, my holding would be low, as I don’t really cellar beer, but my consumption would be over 50%.
Chris,
For me it’s almost all beer. I do have a couple bottles of whiskey in CT, but I’m not going to continue with that. The beer is all age-worthy stuff (mostly heavy darks, and sours).