Wine probation support group starts here

Bah. My very good intentions of not buying anything just ground to a halt. Aged Clos Windsbuhl at 30 bucks will do that.

Now to try and get back on the wagon and have a little more restraint (although maybe I'll keep thinking that it'll be a long time before I see any more ZH at such crazy prices to break my will).

Salil,

Clos Windsbuhl at $30 (ea.) is an astoundingly good deal, not worth the restraint to at least try one, to see if the bottles are sound. If the condition is good, well, it gets more difficult doesn't it ?

Jeff - provenance wasn't a concern for me as these were in the Hart Davis Hart inventory, and I've had excellent experiences buying older bottles from them in the past - they're very good about giving warnings on fills, leakage, capsule/label conditions, etc (there were none on these bottles), and all the older wines from them that I've opened so far have been in great condition.

[Jenise]

Thanx for the recommendation for a place to stay, Jenise. You describe pretty much what I buy from them, except I do get their Zin too. The sryah and petite sirah are both good, but I don't buy much of either varietal from anyone.

If I'd had more space, I'd have bought the zin as well, but the three I did buy were for me the most exceptional. And I passed up the syrah and petite sirah for the same reasons you do. Competent wines, but not the grapes I love best.

Well I am doing very well but I did have to buy a cheap bottle of Port for a balsamic port reduction!! Truth, honest mi`Lud.

Jenise has shown no restraint whatever.....If I'd had more space, I'd have bought the zin as well, but the three I did buy were for me the most exceptional. And I passed up the syrah and petite sirah for the same reasons you do. Competent wines, but not the grapes I love best.

[David M. Bueker]

Come on folks; this has become the wine enablement thread. Pick each other up.

I went to a Burgundy tasting last night and came home with zero, count 'em zero bottles.

Follow my lead!

Uh, couldn't make a trip to California to visit Santa Barbara County wineries and not buy anything. I showed more restraint than Jenise however--a dozen bottles in three days of tasting--three from Carr in Santa Barbara, three from Melville, three from Babcock, and one each from three other wineries.

[Jenise]

Jenise has shown no restraint whatever.....If I'd had more space, I'd have bought the zin as well, but the three I did buy were for me the most exceptional. And I passed up the syrah and petite sirah for the same reasons you do. Competent wines, but not the grapes I love best.

You're so wrong! I can't believe you'd judge me so harshly! I had two travelling cases and could have brought home 24 bottles, but alas I brought only 17. That's restraint! Plus, you have to know what else I used the space for--rocks.

David,

Oops, guilty. It looked like there weren't as many "on probation" WLDG citizens lately , so I jumped in on the "buyer's confession and remorse" bandwagon. Sorry.

On a positive note for the original therapuetic intention of David's thread, I feel good having not purchased a more appropriate wine last week for our Italian dinner. Even though it meant killing a real baby, my only Macarello 98 Barolo, I made the right choice by pulling from cellar rather than from wallet. Thanks.

I went to a Burgundy tasting last night and came home with zero, count 'em zero bottles.

Follow my lead!

I'm attempting to get back on the probation wagon by removing myself from most of the wine email lists I've joined (and removing the appropriate bookmarks from Firefox). Can't buy if I can't see the offers.

I went to a Burgundy tasting last night and came home with zero, count 'em zero bottles.

Well check out Mr. "I didn't buy Burgundy" guy here! With the the economy in a shambles I've been "not buying Burgundy" every day for several months now. Let's see how well you do when faced with a 2001 JJ Prum W.S. Spatlese for $23! That may be the situation I find myself in next week in Southern Texas. The guy down there does not follow the market and keeps his prices the same from release. A man can only be so strong!

Sam,
I'm available as your disabler, err, enabler!! I think there is a loophole for 2006 ESJ Bone Jolly Gamay (Red) for $12.98 before discount. Hell, you'd be a damn fool if you didn't buy it. Well, you may actually be a fool if you only bought one bottle. Hell, it even has a screwcap so Mr. Bueker can buy/drink it.

That's what I'm talkin' bout, Bill! Illness is in the eye of the beholder. Good QPR is always an excuse to go off the wagon.

[David M. Bueker]

Well check out Mr. "I didn't buy Burgundy" guy here! With the the economy in a shambles I've been "not buying Burgundy" every day for several months now. Let's see how well you do when faced with a 2001 JJ Prum W.S. Spatlese for $23! That may be the situation I find myself in next week in Southern Texas. The guy down there does not follow the market and keeps his prices the same from release. A man can only be so strong!

Well since I have a cellar full of the stuff bought on release & for less than that I think I would do just fine.

Well since I have a cellar full of the stuff bought on release & for less than that I think I would do just fine.

Dammit! Somewhere in the world there exists a juice that would tempt you to the dark side of wine purchasing, David. We've yet to discover your weakness... I wonder... I wonder...

Sam,

I'm guessing David could be tempted, but based on his postings I've seen, would it have to be, ummm - Donnhoff ?

I'm slightly partial to the Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle, but I wonder if David could have passed on an excruciatingly good deal for some prime Oberhäuser Brücke. Kabinett, Spatlese and Auslese. 1998 - 2005. Many Gold Cap. But I wish I had thought to test this theory last week and offered him mine. I just traded three cases of O-B away over the weekend for two assorted boxes of 2007 Donnhoff N-H, yet to arrive. This is one route I've taken to stay safely off probation, in kind of a sneaky, low side compliance way.

Now I just gotta get rid of eight more cases of something, and I'm down to only one locker at The Wine Box. Yippeeee.

[David M. Bueker]

Trades are not a violation of Wine Probation. I do a lot of that myself.

It was Donnhoff that caused me to fall of the wagon a week ago. What a shock eh...

I think there is going ot be some wife approved Champagne purchasing coming up as well. We're pretty low on champers & it's her favorite (though she won't admit that) wine.

Trades are not a violation of Wine Probation. I do a lot of that myself.

It was Donnhoff that caused me to fall of the wagon a week ago. What a shock eh...

Which one? 07 Brucke?

[David M. Bueker]

Nope - an assorted 6-pack of the 2007 Grosses Gewachs wines.

I had already ordered the 2007 Brucke in June when I placed my 2007 vintage DI order.

I have followed this thread periodically since its inception and must now admit that I am "opposed" to its very principle.
Not that there is anything wrong with moderation, but I find myself in accord with St. Augustine's plea:

"Give me chastity and continence, but not yet, Lord, not yet."

Best (and yes, smiling)
Rogov

[David M. Bueker]

Continence? Yikes!

Continence? Yikes!

Chastity you can deal with, but not continence, I see...

This message board is part of the (my) problem. You all keep writing about this wonderful wine and that wonderful wine and curiosity is part of what drives us (me). I'm spending a week in New York, as I do every few weeks, and it's like being loose in a candy store. So many great things tempting me right and left, usually cheaper even than in their countries of origin. But, finally, after three weekly aborted stock market recoveries, the penny has dropped about the coming recession (i.e., it's not going to be confined to the financial world, but will strike everywhere) and I have entered "bunker" mode. Over the last five days, I have jettisoned every single opportunity, temptation, desire, inclination, to buy anything whatsoever. From now on, while the malaise lasts, I have decided to stop buying. And not only out of fiscal responsibility: when so many are losing their jobs and experiencing distress, to keep buying out of caprice would feel like fiddling while Rome burns. There are always people in bad shape, but things seem to have taken a quantum leap for the worse. I have enough good things in the cellar, but suddenly the wine world seems bleaker, diminished, and I feel less like reading the posts on this board because they will torture me with vicarious pleasure. Aaargh!

Continence? Yikes!

Not the continence of which you're thinking, David.
I believe you have that already, unless you see a botle of Donnhoff!

I confess to having put myself in the way of temptation by going to a store tasting yesterday, over 200 wines, including things like Cristal, Dom Perignon, good baroli, etc. I restricted myself to tasting only about 100 (...pause for applause), and only 7 moderately priced bottles went home with me, most of which filled a niche that actually gets depleted (Barbera, these the Austri from San Ferolo). Ok, I really didn't need the bottle of 2004 Keller Spat #26, which I know would NOT have caused David to be incontinent in any sense of the word.

Charles

[David M. Bueker]

I know Charles (hence the winking guy), but it was too hard to resist.

So I picked up the first half of my 2007 German direct import orders. Thankfully they were ordered back in June prior to the initiation of this thread & thus immune!