I think most wine collectors have experienced this problem … plenty of bottles i the cellar, but none or only a few mature wines – and almost none in the drinking window.
This is where most of make the largest mistakes .. either opening a treasured mature bottle without the right occasion or more likely open a bottle younger wine that is closed, disappointing and would have been better after 10 years of additional cellaring.
Cellar Optimization – enlarging the drinking opportunities
Cellar Optimization is in my view all about having wines that are in the drinking window or if you like the window of opportunity.
Some wines have a large drinking window, and taste good from day one – more or less until full maturity – or at least one could say that they bring pleasure on the journey towards full maturity.
Other wines close down and bring little joy or pleasure and thus have a shorter drinking window, and should be tasted young and then kept in the cellar for years before they are enjoyable.
The key is to have a diversified cellar with a combination of wines with narrow drinking windows, and a fair share of wines with a large window of opportunity.
A part of this is to buy producers that offers a large drinking window i.e. wines that offer great pleasure and complexity even when the wines are young or on the way towards maturity. This also means buing village level wines, as they mature much faster than the big Grand Crus.
One need to focus on this balance, otherwise one will end up with a celler of great Grand Crus and nothing to drink with pleasure within the next 10 years.
A perfect example is Roumier Bonnes Mares – a great wine without doubt – but it really require time i.e. 20 – 30 years in the cellar. In fact the 1996 is far from maturity, the 1998 is still quite youthful. And if one try to drink young vintages – they will only show a small part of the potential complexity – and even worse one will miss the immense pleasure of enjoying a mature bottle of Roumier.
Optimizing your cellar
I strongly recommend cellar optimization and management implementing a buying strategy than reflects your consumption and age.
With a good strategy you will be able to maximize the pleasure of your cellar, and make the most of the great bottles you have collected over the years. You can do the work yourself, or contact me to get an offer you most likely can’t refuse.
I can help you optimize your cellar and your buying strategy getting more great Burgundy moments with wines that are in the drinking window.
Feel free to contact me for further info