Thread: Do you buy wine to drink, or to invest/collect?

Tom Troiano wrote: I also question whether anyonee pays the prices you sometimes see advertised. For example would anyone really pay me $1,000 per bottle for '89 Haut Brion? I feel certain somebody would but that somebody would not be me. Glenn

Mark Kogos wrote: Since I am trying to drink less nowadays, almost everything I buy goes into the cellar with the intention of bring it out when it has reached its peak. A friend of mine however has taken to buying 2 cases of key wines he likes en premier (particularly key classified growths from Bordeaux) with the intention of selling one case a couple of years after they arrive. In some cases (pardon the pun) he has ended up effectively...

James Dietz wrote: Sometimes drinking a bottle that is now worth $700 is a little shocking, but since I have never paid such a price, I can just revel in the value I am getting. Agreed - and I think the only way I could bring myself to drink it, is by focusing on what I paid.

Two quick thoughts stemming from other posts in this thread: First - I do recall being approached by a wine shop owner and asked if I'd sell some wines he knew I had. I mentioned that I did not have a license to sell and he suggested that that would not be an issue. I realize don't go to that shop as much as I used to. Second - while the best wine I've ever had did have some age on it (20+ years), I've most often been...

Wow..some great replies....thanks for sharing your thoughts everyone! -Mike

Noel Ermitano wrote: I tend to buy only wines ready to drink. No cellar or no attention span?

ChefJCarey wrote: Mark Kogos wrote: Since I am trying to drink less nowadays, almost everything I buy goes into the cellar with the intention of bring it out when it has reached its peak. A friend of mine however has taken to buying 2 cases of key wines he likes en premier (particularly key classified growths from Bordeaux) with the intention of selling one case a couple of years after they arrive. In some cases (pardon the pun) he has ended...

I buy some wine to drink now, and some with idea of cellaring for improvement. I've never bought with idea of selling, though I have bought NOW because I felt it was likely to appreciate, and I'd rather buy (for later drinking) at the lower price.

Mike Veilleux wrote: When you make a wine purchase, are you often thinking "I can't wait to drink this", or do you ponder "I wonder how much this will improve with age so I can drink it at it's peak" Those two answers can often occur simultaneously. If you are thinking investment....how do you determine which wine is worthy of an investment, and which is not? The short/snarky answer is something...

I have always bought wines that I intended to drink but having an interest in a wine store it has been easy for me to sell off some wines I've owned over the years that have attained astonomical prices and I don't even particularly like. To each his own palate!