Our consumption is down 48% and our purchases are down 46%. Our per bottle cost went up about 15% reflecting our almost complete elimination of “daily drinkers”. We want to continue the trend of less, but better wines in our lives. We also will cut back on our list purchases from some that we have overbought from in the past: board darlings. The cellar is full of wines “needing time”.
I drink more white than red but buy way more red than white. According to CT, I also generally score higher-end whites better than higher-end reds. In other words, I need to buy more whites.
I also want to lower my average purchase price, with a view to keeping purchases under $80 per bottle unless there is a compelling reason to go higher (e.g., wines I buy every year like Jamet and Monte Bello). There are so many good wines for $80 and under that I don’t think I get a significant marginal benefit above that level.
I also drank relatively little wine in 2015 due to a new baby and exhausting work schedule. I’d like to change that in 2016.
My priorities for the new year in terms of purchasing are (1) backfilling, (2) Champagne, (3) White Burg, (4) more half bottles, and (5) small lots, perhaps single bottle lots, of new producers/wines/regions.
In my perfect world scenario, my consumption would be 10% higher than my purchases and increasing 5% annually so 10 or so years I will …drink fresh Nero’D’Avola locally, in the sun with a warm breeze blowing while speaking Italian with my new paseans.
We cut our purchases by 28% in 2015. Did not expect that. Still have quite a bit more wine than we have storage. No off site storage in NM.
So, need to continue that trend. We also have a lot that are “not ready”. Time to start decanting earlier in the day. Maybe we’ll try the blender. We do drink it on a regular basis, that’s not the problem.
Mike, I like your plan.
You may be moving to Italy, but you’re never going to hang with Klapp if you’re drinking Nero’D’Avola.
Accept that I love big burly California wine. My first Turley Uberoth Zin reminded me of what I really enjoy about wine, and after delving into the AFWE arena for a bit, I am a member of flavor loving plebeian class. No longer trying to be “elite”.
I have to severely curtail wine buying. The inventory is out of control.
What will hurt most is curtailing purchases from winemakers that I consider friends. But it has to happen. It’s not personal.
Stop wasting my time on this website and in these forums.
Same situation. Even a cursory look this AM got me to almost 30 cases annually and this has to become 20, or less.
I think that David makes an excellent point. I have been severely cutting back on California purchases; Even from friends. Luckily, most of my friends in the business realize that at my age (and with my current inventory), I really do not need many more long aging, cellar worthy additions. I still plan on visiting , tasting, and simply hanging out, but actual buying will be minimal. In addition, I have cut down my overall purchases this year but we have traveled so much that our consumption was at an all time low (per CT). So in 2016, we will buy less, stay home more, and drink more!
Cheers!
Marshall 
In 2015 I HAD to stop buying wine…and I did it! Too many other pressing needs, mostly related to the house. I bought nothing from any mailing lists, and even locally - probably less than 10 bottles of wine that cost over $40. it was quite a challenge!
in 2016, I HAVE to start buying again. I am lower than I’ve been, hardly anything left. But I have to buy smartly - I still have one 21 year old furnace, and a lot of old windows that need replacing. Luckily the windows I can spread over time. Oh, and we are taking a Caribbean vacation for our 10th wedding anniversary, and I want a LASIK retouch on my left eye. Ok, well, I may need to develop a plan for 2016. ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
We got a crazy awesome deal on this house we bought 2 years ago. But I knew it needed some TLC, and that is what it is getting.
Stop buying from PC.
Buy less, drink less.
Remember that the calendar is a dynamic thing, and that wine you bought “only yesterday”, is actually 9 years old now.
I sold of a few hundred bottles of wines from storage that I had accumulated for no particular reason I could discern or remember. Last year I managed to lower the number of bottles I bought considerably, down to maybe a hundred. Like to buy less by half.
I’m grazing on the grass in the neighbor’s yard (ours is decked over) to get me there.
Applies to me too. 2016 will be about backfilling and focusing on Bordeaux, Chianti/Brunello, Barolo/Barbaresco and dabbling in red burgundy. Perhaps drink less so I can buy less. I’ll still need to buy Chablis, dry Riesling, and some inexpensive Italian whites for everyday drinking.
More barbell (as opposed to more cowbell), fewer bottles of better wines. 1 GC instead of 2 1er, etc.
We drilled 30+ domestic cases annually down to under 22. It is a bit draconian to actually view the spreadsheet.
Buy less wine.
Those threads of “who are your top 5 producers” or “who are the top 5 you consumed” were valuable exercises. I got too much of certain varietals, and too much wine from certain producers. Will be dropping one of them as I have too much, and their prices have gotten too high. Will also drop a trophy list as I’ve figured I could drink one a year before I die and probably still have a couple left over.
Going to try to buy more of my wines somewhere besides lists just to get more variety.
Mike, just IMO, but trying to go from 206 bottles to 48 in one fell swoop is a recipe for failure. Too big of a cut.
If it were me, I would shoot for about 100, or a 50% drop ( which is still a huge change in buying habits).