Make sure you like what you buy as well. A lot of them seem to be overlapping.
Use the Phelps or the Larkmead napa cab as the benchmark for all these wines. If wines that cost more don’t perform as well, you know what to do.
Who has the best parties? You location suggests you could probably go to many of them. Some places seem to have a lot of events. I usually can’t get to them, but some sound like fun. That assumes all other things being equal.
Recently I have been taking less than I’m offered. Some places will keep your allocation even if you don’t take it all. Others will drop you thus making the decision for you.
I actively buy from only 4 lists:
Ridge Monte Bello
Sandlands
Kutch
Dirty & Rowdy
I wouldn’t really have any qualms about dropping any of them.
I’ll buy (or have bought) from 4 lists this year:
MacDonald
Ridge Monte Bello
Sandlands
Ultramarine
Whoa! If you are buying off of all these lists, you must be spending some serious change! Do you have amount budgeted for wine? I don’t think anyone can tell you which lists to dump and which lists to stay on - you will have to make that call based on your taste and the perceived value of those purchases. Lists are not all that bad, but as others have mentioned, you should use lists to get those wines that are not readily available at retail, and/or those who offer a discount. I don’t like it when a winery puts a lot of conditions on the purchase and/or shipping - like Aubert - I loved their Chards, but did not like the minimum 6-pack purchase plus no options on rather expensive 2-day air delivery. Good Luck!
Great point Steve. I don’t know if the OP is really a person that needs advice. The list of wineries were very varied.
OP, you don’t need to be on any of the lists. You live in NoCal, why would you just visit the wineries you like and do a purchase while you are there. And you probably have access to a lot of the wine through the friends that recommended the lists? Why would you share wine at dinners with them to narrow down your tastes?
You save on buying wine that you don’t know if you would like. It would be way more cost effective to try before you buy. Steve may not be able to purchase Aubert in Chicago, but if you lived on the coasts there is access.
At the end of the day, the true cost of wine is not just the purchase price but the total cost of ownership. If you buy and need to cellar, the cost of cellaring for X years needs to be factored into the decision as well as the possibility that the bottle may not be all that its expected to be in X years.
Why exclude OR and WA, they have some great wineries too.
If you’re already on the mailing list for Joseph Phelps, Larkmead, Failla, Turley, Rivers-Marie, Realm, Arista, Bevan, Mending Wall, Quintessa, Outpost, Lokoya, and Morlet, you’ve got a lot of California varietal bases covered. If you want to add a few I’d suggest:
Aubert
Bedrock
Pisoni
Sandlands
Actual lists I order from
Chappellet
Dunn
Ridge - Monte Bello futures
O’Shaughnessy - been buying this locally to save on shipping
Outpost - skipped 17 release
Red Cap
Rivers Marie
Robert Craig
Scarecrow
Spottswoode
Shafer -Hillside Select, finding this one can be purchased at retail for less except in 100 point vintages
Bedrock
Carlisle
Turley
Rafanelli
That’s quite a list. Here’s what I would keep out of all of those:
Aubert
That’s it. This is so personal, though. Which are your favorites that you can’t get at retail?
Think about not buying any, and then consider which you would truly miss. Probably not that many. I guess it’s difficult to know until you actually do it, but many people here, including me, took that plunge and are glad.
I used to be on several lists and now, one: Eyrie. I like being able to get their limited bottlings and member pricing. The only ones I ever miss are Aubert and Rhys. Even with those, I still think I made the right decision. I bought way too much domestic wine for several years, and I’m in a LONG process of balancing out the cellar as my tastes skew much more Old World. I’m enjoying a lot of 9-13 year old domestic wines, while realizing that my current buying strategy will ultimately be more fulfilling for me.
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Mine, All not necessarily "worth it ".
Aubert
MacDonald
Scarecrow
Maybach
Myriad
Saxum
Cayuse
Rivers-Marie
Becklyn
Piper
Carter
Pott
Kapcsandy
Drinkward Pechon
William & Mary
Realm
Bevan
Outpost
Tench
Riverrain
Switchback
Outpost
Quilceda Creek
Betz
Booker
Force Majeure
That’s a list of some of the mailing lists you are on? Some? Holy crap!
This. I would dump 90% of them. If you can find it at retail or online (Wine Searcher) at or below release price, immediately dump it.
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Anthony - Julie nailed it.
Also, your lists are all over and they’re overlapping in some respects. What kind of wine do you like and when do you like to drink it?
“Worth it” is all subjective. Some of the names you list make some pretty good wine. Some of them I wouldn’t pay $20 for.
It’s your money, but my suggestion would be to pick wines that you really love and be very cautious about buying a lot of wine at once. You’ve only been into wine the last year or two? Some of us have managed to be interested in wine for decades without joining any lists. Just go slowly and explore. There’s a lot of wine in the world and you may find out that you’d like to expand beyond Napa Cabs and Cali Pinot Noir at some point.
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I only included California in the title because I live in NorCal and can easily visit many of these wineries. While the ability to visit is not required, it’s a plus to be able to take friends to these wineries to taste. I am open to mailing lists or recommendations anywhere, not just California and certainly not just the US. I recently had a 100% Petit Verdot from Uruguay, and while it wasn’t the most complex wine, it was worth the $30
There are some great points being made here. One of the reasons I’m overwhelmed with these lists is that in the scope of things, I want to be able to try as many wines and wineries as I can. Buying from lists removes or reduces my ability to branch out and try more things, which I think is paramount at this point. Plus, my proximity to Napa and Sonoma makes it easy to just visit more new wineries. Something that we are starting to do more of.
We certainly have our favorites, but we always love a good recommendation, especially for good QPR wines. As Dennis said, I’m not going to open a $300 Cab on a random Tuesday night. At this point, maybe it is best to just buy retail with a few exceptions, at least until we find those wineries that click with us consistently. Are wineries typically open to getting back on mailing lists after letting them drop off? Part of this was that I wasn’t expecting getting on so many so soon.
Also, the number of tags hanging off bottles In our cellar that say “Hold until 2025+” is a little disheartening. I’ll admit that we have not always followed the “best by” recommendations, it seems that that can often lead to having a cellar full of wine but nothing to drink on a weeknight.
I appreciate all the comments!
In my opinion, Aubert, Bedrock, Carlisle, Carter, Maybach, Myriad and Pax are “worth it” to me as they are the US lists I buy most regularly from and cannot otherwise find in my market.
It’s worth noting that fantastic producers such as Ceritas, Saxum, Cayuse, even Kutch can often be found below release price at auction, and with bottle age. You don’t control storage, but you don’t have to pay for it either. Winebid has allowed me to try wines from producers like this whose lists I’m not yet on (incl Walter Scott, Horsepower, Andremily) and decide if I’m a fan or not… Plenty of Schrader, QC, Tor on there as well.
Many producers you mentioned (Bevan, Tor, Occidental, Dana, KB) do make it to retail where they can be purchased as singles (to ensure you love the wines). I just bought a 2014 Bevan Ritchie chard at 1/2 off of the retail price. But it’s not what I’m looking for and I wouldn’t buy it again even at a great discount. Also, Clubs are meh and lists that punish you if you don’t take an allocation are not ones I remain on long.
I hypocritically second the notion that you’re probably on too many lists and should visit/taste in lieu of numerous shipped purchases. FWIW I’m still waiting on MacD, Ultramarine, and SQN, but would likely buy from them once offered.
And yes, having a bunch of only “special occasion” wines is a shame. It should be a reminder to back off of expensive bottles and explore your weekday drinker category more, which for me are usually found locally. It’s not a race, either. You’re not going to miss anything by passing on these lists. Instead, find some like-minded buddies (hint: they may be a lot older than you!) who appreciate the experience and pop some corks together. My best tasting experiences have been in that context (or travel with my spouse).
+1 for Bedrock, Carlisle, and Pax.
Also great point on how many wines are available at auction for cheaper than mailing list price. Winebid last week had about 15 different offerings of Ceritas Chardonnay from the 2013-2016 vintages available cheaper (after taxes, shipping, and buyers premium) than DtC. The secondary market is a great way to try wines with a bit of age and see if you like the style.
I was surprisingly able to get on the Colgin mailing list this year and got offered the IX estate blend for $500/bottle with a 3 bottle limit. Any suggestions on what I should do here?
Since you asked, I’d recommend you buy Riverain and William & Mary. Buy a couple Riverain Cab, then a couple each of William & Mary’s Cab and Prop Blend bottlings. You’ll still have a few hundred dollars left for other things.
For $500 a bottle for a not great year, no surprise to get an offer IMO . Does Colgin usually go for a premium in the marketplace ?