I've got too much fine wine in my basement and not enought everyday wine

[Markus_S]

FWIW there are many times where a good everyday wine is EXACTLY what I want, e.g. a Ch Lamartine Cahors or Cascina Saria Langhe Nebbiolo. Anything more powerful, more prestigious, more oaky, would be a less appealing choice for mood & food.

Yes, exactly. I get all the “go ahead and drink the ‘good’ stuff” posts, but that’s really not at all what I want a lot of the time. This weekend, a friend said (in reference to a particular pizza) “that would have been great with an aged meursault.” I thought, sure - but I am pretty sure I preferred it with the jurancon sec I chose. You don’t always want Beethoven’s 9th - that is never background music. Fortunately, I have plenty of both.

I’m usually thinking barbera or nebbiolo with pizza…

[PeterH]

I used to think I did, but as I became able to afford better everyday wine the distinction is now between wine ready to drink and not ready. For a long time I’ve had all I need of both.

[Jim_Stewart]

. . .
I’ll quote Jim Morrison: “You never know when you’re giving your last performance.” Enjoy more of the good stuff.

+1 on this sentiment . . . and good advice for living in general

As for my basement wine stash, it is a relatively small diverse collection consisting mostly of what, until recently, I thought of as “special occasion” wines. Starting to realize that almost every day is a special occasion and worth treating as such. So like Michael I too say “Enjoy more of the good stuff”

[Marcus_Dean]

I try and buy a few cases of day to day wines to cellar every year from producers I like.
VDP and CDR from the Northern Rhone, Langhe Neb, Barbera and some Etna Rosso. I try to give them 5-8 years before I plow through them, although the odd one has stayed hidden for 10-12 and has still been a good drink.
Sometimes I just want to switch off and just enjoy a nice meal and a nice bottle and not have to think too much about it

[BrianMarshall]

For me it’s more a tossup between wine that requires contemplation, introspection & time invested vs. wine that’s easygoing, comfortable & readily immediate. Both can be found at the full spectrum of price points.

This is how I am, too. There are nights when I want something compelling and others when I want something that demands a little less from me. I try to balance between these two things.

[john_stimson]

For me it’s more a tossup between wine that requires contemplation, introspection & time invested vs. wine that’s easygoing, comfortable & readily immediate. Both can be found at the full spectrum of price points.

This is how I am, too. There are nights when I want something compelling and others when I want something that demands a little less from me. I try to balance between these two things.

This is the key for me. It’s not so much everyday wine vs the good stuff, it’s what can I open at 7:30 PM when I get home from work that will be enjoyable with food, vs what will take 3-4 hours of coaxing and contemplation. I do find that I have way more of the 3-4 hours contemplation stuff and sometimes not enough of the pop and pour. there are times when I’ll stand in the cellar for 15 minutes thinking about what I don’t really want to spend the intellectual effort opening and following, then leaving and pouring a brown drink instead.

[Pau1_M3nk3s]

I answered “No”, but am a few months into a yearlong buying sabbatical. Ask me at the end of the year.

[Tom_G_l_a_s_g_o_w]

FWIW there are many times where a good everyday wine is EXACTLY what I want, e.g. a Ch Lamartine Cahors or Cascina Saria Langhe Nebbiolo. Anything more powerful, more prestigious, more oaky, would be a less appealing choice for mood & food.

Yes, exactly. I get all the “go ahead and drink the ‘good’ stuff” posts, but that’s really not at all what I want a lot of the time. This weekend, a friend said (in reference to a particular pizza) “that would have been great with an aged meursault.” I thought, sure - but I am pretty sure I preferred it with the jurancon sec I chose. You don’t always want Beethoven’s 9th - that is never background music. Fortunately, I have plenty of both.

I’m usually thinking barbera or nebbiolo with pizza…

Too far north

[Alan_Eden]

I have no issue popping anything except a few bottles at any time, fancy a Saxum with a burger just do it. Whats the point of keeping bottles ? Just drink them when you feel like it, the really special bottles i will open but prefer with great food, typically a prime steak

[GregT]

I think it depends on what you call fine vs everyday wine. For me fine doesn’t really mean big and oaky, it usually means something I can’t acquire more of without great difficulty. So I end up with a lot of single bottles of this or that and open something else because where am I going to get another of those 1990s that I bought somewhere in Europe?

Contemplation, etc., is going to be the same. I pay pretty close attention to what I put into my mouth.

[Jeremy_Holmes]

You’re an Importer Dan. I’m sure you drink something nice everyday.

[Joe_W_i_n_o_g_r_a_d]

Flawed poll. I don’t have enough of either.

[Carlos_Delpin]

Wine is either ready to drink or it isn’t.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

Nope. “Everyday wine,” to me, means “boring and uninspiring.” There are plenty of cheap wines out there that are interesting and engaging — I don’t consider them “everyday” wines. To the extent those comments don’t address the intended spirit of the OP, I’d say I am currently trying to buy less qty and greater quality; so far, I’ve had success buying greater quality.

[David_Glasser]

As the ratio of fine/everyday wine in my cellar increased, my definition of everyday wine shifted to keep things in balance.

The whole point of a cellar was to create a steady supply of mature wines. It’s no longer a big deal to pull out a 20-30 year old bottle on a Tuesday. Or a young one if that’s what the mood or food call for.

[NickRut]

I buy a lot of zins for every day drinking. Always have a ton of those and none really broke the bank.

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

And let’s be honest, we are not the supermarket wine crowd. Even our every day bottles are pretty fine.

This is a key point in this discussion, David, thanks for making it.

I know I’m not using the term “everyday wine” to refer to something boring or mediocre. I never drink wines like that. I consider all the wines in my cellar to be delicious and, yes, special. We’ve spent years finding treasures at all price points, and aging them appropriately, which can mean a variety of things. But there are certainly wines we buy that I’m putting in the “everyday” category, even out of those we love - versatile, give immediate pleasure on opening, didn’t cost a ton, can be replaced when we run out, won’t be sad if I gulp half the bottle without noticing for real what I was drinking, don’t demand attention… “Everyday” is as good a word as any for these wines. We buy these wines in larger quantities one, because we can (price) and two because there are more occasions for these than for “great” wines. Setting and timing do matter to me, and I certainly do think about it before I open something I can’t replace. I want to have attention to give to it, not be tired, not have already drunk something else, have a proper food pairing if applicable, and (maybe most importantly) be excited for the experience. That doesn’t have to be a special occasion. Sometimes all those things come together on a random Tuesday. For when they don’t, I’m glad to have familiar friends in the cellar.

[robert_creth]

Every day is fine. It deserves a wine to go with it.

And let’s be honest, we are not the supermarket wine crowd. Even our every day bottles are pretty fine.

This I second! I consider all my wine to be fine so I drink as I please. I do find that the more elaborate the meal, the less fancy the wine works better for me and vice versa.

[PaulMills]

I used to think I did, but as I became able to afford better everyday wine the distinction is now between wine ready to drink and not ready. For a long time I’ve had all I need of both.

This

[Sherr1_Shap1r0]

And let’s be honest, we are not the supermarket wine crowd. Even our every day bottles are pretty fine.

This is a key point in this discussion, David, thanks for making it.

I know I’m not using the term “everyday wine” to refer to something boring or mediocre. I never drink wines like that. I consider all the wines in my cellar to be delicious and, yes, special. We’ve spent years finding treasures at all price points, and aging them appropriately, which can mean a variety of things. But there are certainly wines we buy that I’m putting in the “everyday” category, even out of those we love - versatile, give immediate pleasure on opening, didn’t cost a ton, can be replaced when we run out, won’t be sad if I gulp half the bottle without noticing for real what I was drinking, don’t demand attention… “Everyday” is as good a word as any for these wines. We buy these wines in larger quantities one, because we can (price) and two because there are more occasions for these than for “great” wines. Setting and timing do matter to me, and I certainly do think about it before I open something I can’t replace. I want to have attention to give to it, not be tired, not have already drunk something else, have a proper food pairing if applicable, and (maybe most importantly) be excited for the experience. That doesn’t have to be a special occasion. Sometimes all those things come together on a random Tuesday. For when they don’t, I’m glad to have familiar friends in the cellar.

Excellent post, Sarah. And while the wines in my cellar are very different from yours, the sentiment is exactly the same. There are wines I buy (and age) for the purpose of having things on hand that aren’t expensive, but are very enjoyable and are more appropriate for my day to day life than the treasures I consider “fine.”