I would say I don’t have more Truchots than I expect to drink in my lifetime. Also, these are all wines that I bought on release and know how the wines have been stored. If I used the money I would get to buy other wines, (1) if I bought older wines, there would be more duds because of poor storage, fraud, etc., and (2) I am not buying younger wines of top quality anymore because of my age. I don’t need to buy a whole bunch of cheaper wines. I have a lot of those, again with more age on them - really good less expensive wines like Prum, Zilliken, 2005 Beaune premier crus, etc., etc. As I said earlier, if someone offered me $600 for the 2005 Bourgogne Rouge, I would probably sell some to them and buy Musigny or something , but I want the better ones.
Whether to sell any of my wines that have appreciated greatly is a difficult and complicated decision. The biggest complication is that I don’t have more than 1-2 bottles of almost any of them, so selling the wine means that I may never get to have another of them.
Next, most of my highly appreciated wines are very special to me for one reason or another, so their value to me is more than monetary. I have no knack for converting emotional or sentimental values to economic ones, in part because I’ve been fortunate enough that there isn’t anything that selling even the three or four most valuable wines in my cellar would allow me to do that it wouldn’t be too painful to do without selling those bottles. I’m also not sitting on any high four or five figure bottles so we aren’t talking new car or kitchen renovation bucks here.
Finally, I have a pretty limited quantity of highly valuable wines that I can share with some very generous friends as an reciprocal expression of my appreciation for their generosity. Some I also hold on to because bringing them allow me to attend tastings of wines with comparable value.
No badge in my case. I was just stating a fact.
To explain, in my own case anyway:
I buy a bottle (because I want to drink it, naturally), say, for $100 (for simple math). After some time, buying that same bottle would cost me $1000. Some person then offers me $1000 for it. I wouldn’t sell because I still want to drink that wine.
However, with the same above givens save that said person offers me, say, $2000 for my (then appreciated) $1000 bottle, I’d just tell him he could buy it for $1000 somewhere else.
In a deflationary environment, you want to be sitting on cold hard cash.
But in an inflationary environment [and especially an hyper-inflationary environment], you want to be sitting on tangible assets [like that '99 Verset Cornas].
So you have to decide - are we headed into deflation [which is what the demographics would dictate], or are we headed into inflation [which is what the legislators & their bankster overlords would like to achieve], or possibly even into hyper-inflation?
PS: You also have to ask yourself how long the Northern Rhone will continue to be the “It Girl”, until inevitably she hits the wall and gets supplanted by younger hotter tighter…
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When I first started buying wines I never planned on selling them. It never even crossed my mind as a possibility. However, since I got “lucky” and was able to buy some (now valuable ) wines in larger quantities, I am contemplating selling a few bottles. For me, this would be the best of both worlds since I would get to experience a few of the wines as well as sell a few. Considering my age, and the amount of wine that I have, this approach makes the most sense. To be a bit more specific, I was able to buy a considerable amount of '82 Bordeaux at “futures” prices. Truthfully, I have drunk and shared a good portion of these wines. Many with fellow Berserkers. However, a couple of wines, such as the Lafleur have had some very serious price appreciation. It is a perfect example of where I will drink a few and also sell a few. To me, this is just common sense and simple economics.
Cheers!
Marshall ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Ha. This thread made me go and look up verset pricing. I had no freaking idea how that had exploded. I think I have one bottle of the 1998 left which I think I paid $50 for. 
Scott, I opened one of those 3 years ago, and it was delicious, and probably at its peak? No reason to wait…
If I ever have wines that are Veblen goods, I’d sell them (and try not to buy them in the first place). Turns out it’s hard to define exactly what that is though.
This is certainly a factor for me as it impacts my social life.
The endowment effect is strong with many people.
IF I had wines that had increased 300-400% or more I’d do as suggested in the early posts - sell most, and keep one or two.
my magnum of 90 La Tâche cost $500. It’s now worth about $15,000, 30 times what I paid or 3000% increase.
You should have put the money in the stock market.
Wait–ignore whatever I said before. Sell!
More seriously, if I remember correctly, it was a serious strain for you to buy this wine when you did. Now, I’m assuming that you have the freedom to do whatever you want with it–sell, or DRINK. I learned at some point a while ago that money on it’s own doesn’t make you happy. It’s the freedom that it gives you that makes you happy. So now you have the freedom to do whatever you want with it. I would think that the sacrifice entailed in acquiring it, and the emotional investment in saving it and maturing it would make you want to drink it. But it aint my wine.
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ha. Last big wine like this I opened, a magnum of 1990 DRC Richebourg—for a big birthday party—was corked. That hurt.
Actually, that’s the one thing–that risk–that might make me want to sell single exalted bottles.
An old friend aptly referred to his collection of a list-only “Cult Wine” accumulated over 25+ years worth vastly more than it’s original cost as his “401W”.
I am definitely in the “older” category. Retired in 2002. Over the years, I have slowly reduced my holdings by drinking them down, offlines, house parties. I have also been far more selective about what I buy and I almost never buy a case of anything. With the exception of Thomas PN, I am no longer on any mailing lists. My current strategy is to buy mostly old world wines with 10 or more years of age on them and mostly in quantities of three. For me limiting purchases to three is a function of my age. Daily drinker Champagne and exceptional bargain vintage Champagne (2008 Cristal for $180 and 2009 Dom for $112) are the exceptions to the rule of threes. Selling was never a part of my strategy to reduce my holdings. Self-discipline with purchasing was my strategy but I will admit there were times when I failed to execute my strategy.![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
Over time though, it has worked out.![[winner.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/07ec25c9fd71159fe15d7f1ba5fad64e91238d0e.gif "winner"){kind=small}
Regarding '99 Verset in particular. I opened my last 750 about 2 years ago and it was delicious. Despite that I decided to sell the magnum I had given the ridiculous price increases. Before it sold a friend talked me into keeping it so I could open it alongside his magnum of 1999 Allemand Reynard.
Hopefully that will happen some day.
Remember regret can cut both ways. My husband, a number of years ago, sold '85 Jayer Richbourg for about $5k, figuring he’d rather have that money in his bank account.
Wait for that to sink in…
When the pleasure of drinking it is less than the discomfort associated with telling my wife how much it is worth.