dmcquade wrote: I've been looking for some "bargain" wines to balance out my collection
I used to do that -- buy up a load of inexpensive wines when there was a sale -- I hate to pass on a bargain -- and you know what?
There's no limit to the number of wines you can buy, but there's certainly a limit on the amount you can drink. So your stock creeps up and up, you need to drink those cheapies but every time you do there's an more expensive wine going undrunk. Then you find those fine wines have passed their optimum drinking window, you've got inexpensive wines piled up that don't really ring your bell and you start to begrudge them because you know if you don't drink 'em soon they too will turn, and yet you've got those better wines, and there's a wine shop closing down that is selling off some incredible wines at amazing discount and the current vintage is the best since records have begun and you must get some, and you always get Chateau XYZ so you need to get the previous vintage that has just come on the market to keep your vertical collection complete, and your best friend wants you to go halves on a couple of cases he's brought over from France and you're goingto have pasta tonight and your partner always must have a Montepulciano with it and you opened the last one last week so you have to pop out now to the store where you may as well get another half dozen and ...... ding dong! It's that blasted wine club you'd almost forgotten about with its quarterly delivery of a dozen wines you'd never have bought it you seen them in a shop, and not one Montepulciano in it ......
Don't sweat. As long as you you have enough wines to open over the coming week or two plus some fines ones maturing for the future, you have enough.
There's always another vintage, another special offer. Donn't buy to 'round out' a cellar, buy onlywines you really really want to drink. And drink 'em!!
