Five Year Checkup: How have your tastes shifted?

I don't think I've had any big shift changes in my tastes in last 5 years (15 years would be different story). I think in my buying/appreciation there have been changes:
Champagne- I've liked for a long time, and always bought. 10 years ago I began to appreciate RM labels, and thought that was the way. Over last 5 years I've reappreciated grand marques, while expanding my appreciation of the RMs. Basically, drink more Champagne (and top quality Loire petillant, cava, etc).
"Natural" wines- don't love them all, some are more interesting than tasty,others mindblowly good
Orange wines- ditto
Price changes (and MAYBE palate changes ) mean more Beaujolais and Loire reds, more whites overall.
I care even more about food meets wine.

After decades of drinking mainly the same stuff, my palate preferences shift every so often. I think that is to be expected of most anyone. These days, I buy a lot more Burgundy than Bdx, and I actively pursue older vintages than before (i.e., before I'd be fine with a 10-15 year old Bdx or a 10-12 year old red Burg; nowadays, it's 20 years and older for both).

Best,

N

To Sam Platt: What are WRT whites?

To Sam Platt: What are WRT whites?

Abbreviation of 'With respect to'

These days, I buy a lot more Burgundy than Bdx,...

Isn't there a saying that if you really like wine, you'll end up in Burgundy (or words to that affect)? I've certainly found it to be true. It'll be interesting to see what price does to this axiom.

Isn't there a saying that if you really like wine, you'll end up in Burgundy (or words to that affect)? I've certainly found it to be true. It'll be interesting to see what price does to this axiom.

Yes, I am familiar with that old saying. In my case, however, I weave in and out of phases where I buy/drink more of this or that for a year or so, then, fall into finding something to explore or revisit. I went through a Burgundy phase (meaning I started buying/drinking more Burg than Bdx and other regions) several years ago, then obsessed over aged Rioja for a few years, then revisited Bdx (my natural default) for a while, and, now, am back in Burgundy. I believe these "switches" occur due to palate fatigue - after some time drinking wines from a certain region, the palate seeks something new or different.

Best,

N

I buy and drink pretty much from the same French, Italian, German and Spanish regions as I have for the last 20 years, the only "discoveries" in the last 5ish years which spring to mind being NW Spanish wines (like Bierzo, Valdeorras and Albariño) and Etna and I drink a lot more from French appellations like Jura, Jurançon, Fronton and Marcillac.

However, I have developed much more of a taste for lively and mineral younger wines for regular drinking, which doesn't match the contents of my cellar where the average age must be 15+ and increasing as time passes. I stopped buying wines for the long haul over 5 years ago and now concentrate on wines for drinking young within 3 years or so.

Tim, my cellar, too, is beginning to be divided between the old boys and the newcomers, the latter being mostly for current drinking or only mid-term cellaring. I think it's a reasonable configuration as one grows older. For me at this point, common sense says that any wines that should be drunk old probably should be bought old.

And I, too, have developed a taste for "lively and mineral younger wines," very recently having embarked on a love affair with Sicilian whites and reds, especially those from Etna.

No huge changes for me in the last five years. Here in Canada, I feel we are more limited by the selection brought into each province, as we are extremely limited in terms of what we can bring in from outside our province. So with that large caveat out of the way, there are still no ideological or taste-related shifts or new regions I'm really exploring. I've always liked to try lots of different wines, and that hasn't changed. Certainly rapidly increasing price in many regions (e.g., Napa, Bordeaux) have continued my largely ignoring these regions. I'm still largely into French and German wines, with a smattering of Italy, Spain, NZ, etc. I''m Eurocentric in my tastes and have always been that way. I'd love to buy more Washington (mainly Bordeaux blends) and especially Oregon (pinot), but our selection here sucks, and one can only bring a small amount back on each trip.

I keep thinking I have enough wine, and want to buy less, but that doesn't always happen... This year for sure!

In many ways I have never generally been a fan of (most) big, rich, thick New World wines.

So, the biggest change is an interest in, even if they don't always work, in the "natural" wines of the Loire Valley, Arbois, etc. I even subject my friends to Donkey and Goat and Broc Cellars wines.

GIven that over the past five years I've gone from modestly-paid grad student to well-paid grad student to post doc to professor, frankly, my tastes have gotten more expensive: which is to say, I've gone from thinking that a qpr buy in $5 - 8 range was completely satisfying for weekly drinking to expecting the compexity offered by qpr wines in the $10 - 12 range for weekly drinking.

Also, the amount of New World I drink has gradually dropped over that time, to the point where I'm only buying 1 or 2 New World wines every 2 - 3 months. Which is to say, my preference for Old World has only gotten stronger.

I've developed a real appreciation of what is being done on the North Fork of Long Island.

Fewer Australian and Zins.

As I really settle into the Florida lifestyle, more whites and lots more rose.

My biggest change as I get older is to drink less but better wines. I am no longer thrilled to find a decent wine under $10. I get crazy over a very good wine in the $20 -$25 range. And the occasional splurges into seriously good wines are getting more occasional.