Cellar Distribution, White vs, Red

Are people generally red wine fans who also drink whites on occasion or white fans who have reds to match to food?

I am at 11% white wines and was wondering what others were cellaring.

[David M. Bueker]

I am always hovering around 50/50, except that merging my dad’s 90/10 cellar has moved the needle further to red.

I’m at 2:1 red to white, both in the cellar overall and in the hundred or so bottles I have “pending,” so I guess I’m pretty consistent. I consider myself a fan of both, but I think I have a wider range of interests and experience in red, and that’s self-perpetuating.

I am always hovering around 50/50...

Me too. These small white percentages sound insane to me!

CT says 70.3% red, 29.4% white, 0.2 rose (mostly sparkling, one bottle of Cotat listed).
But I only list (some of) the bottles I plan on aging on CT.
I'm much more likely to drink a current release white than red
Home consumption is likely 50% white, 45% red, 5 % rose, just because of what we eat.
Total consumption is like 55-60% red, as my wine groups are more likely to do red themes

Good point about consumption vs. cellar. In the year since I went on CT it shows consumption is only 57% red. I also plan to shift buying more toward whites as I age, both for actuarial reasons and because my consumption restrictions have given me a new appreciation for 8-11% abv bottles.

Good point, Dale - the through-put on whites is going to be faster as with some exceptions they will not benefit from age as much. My turn-over on whites is faster (with slower turnover on some Loires, and Rieslings). The reds age more slowly than many whites so stay in the cellar longer - Ports, for instance can sit there for many decades (I am holding at only around 3% Port, but then I am no longer buying vintage Port as one hopes to be around to drink the wines at peak...).

Bordeaux used to be the largest portion of my cellar but while I am happily drinking it, I am no longer buying new vintages of reds (it is now only 11% While Italy is still pretty actively turned over, as is Canadian wines, my South African, Australian and to a fairly large degree US Cabs have stopped increasing.

Cellartracker says 70% red and 30% white/rosé, but it bundles sparkling wine in that latter category. OTOH, like Dale, not all my white wine purchases make it into CT, in fact far from it (for that matter, not all my red purchases make it in, either: "house reds" just go into the dining room rack). So my consumption is probably close to 50/50.

[Jenise]

Neither. Like others I'm in the category you didn't ask about: pretty equal fan of both. My cellar's 75% red BUT we probably drink at least 50% white (incl sparkling and rose). Obviously, the difference is that we don't sit on whites for 10 or 20 years so they don't accumulate at a rate commensurate with our appreciation for them.

I'd say 80+% red for my cellar. The whites are mostly dessert wines (Sauternes and German BAs and TBAs).

-Paul W.

As of the last inventory, 38% white, 61% red, 1% rosé. Like Jenise, our white consumption is higher since we go through a lot of off-dry Alsace Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and German Rieslings with our weekly Chinese/Indian food.

I am always hovering around 50/50...

Me too. These small white percentages sound insane to me!

Percentage can be misleading. My 12% amounts to c. 450 bottles.

[David M. Bueker]

I am always hovering around 50/50...

Me too. These small white percentages sound insane to me!

Percentage can be misleading. My 12% amounts to c. 450 bottles.

OK. So you are almost as crazy as me!

I am always hovering around 50/50...

Me too. These small white percentages sound insane to me!

Percentage can be misleading. My 12% amounts to c. 450 bottles.

Sure, and I suppose the difference between cellar stocks and consumption does help bring things into a more balanced ratio.

For me, I'm very evenly split in my consumption of white vs. red and get bored if it shifts too far in one direction. But obviously we're all different.

If I did it right, I'm at 23% white, 4% sweet, the rest red. But, as with all y'all, whites don't make it to storage as often as the reds because they are not intended for aging. I would guess my throughput is not quite 50-50; I open a lot of lightweight reds.

comparing red table wines against white table wines - that's not including sparkling, fortified or dessert wines. I have no pink wines.

I have 8.3% white in my cellar (but we bought a dozen white table wines last week).

We drink red 6 days a week, on Friday we have a white NZ SB with fish. On the odd occasions I make pizza I choose a white that's not SB.

comparing red table wines against white table wines - that's not including sparkling, fortified or dessert wines. I have no pink wines.

Not a single pinot gris, Peter? They are pretty pleasant on a warm summer's day (which at the moment I wish we were experiencing!)

comparing red table wines against white table wines - that's not including sparkling, fortified or dessert wines. I have no pink wines.

Not a single pinot gris, Peter?

Not a single pink wine Neither do I have any PG, but P Gris & Grigio are white here. I've had both in the past, but I prefer Chenin

We only have wine at home with dinner, and on Sunday (& Mon & Tue) a glass of fizz as aperitif

CT says I'm at 60% white (including sparkling and dessert wines) and 40% reds. My wife and I drink mainly whites, with the reds mainly pinot noir. I do have some older, bolder reds, but I don't buy many anymore.