Building a 36-bottle cellar, with ChatGPT
Building a 36-bottle cellar, with ChatGPT
"Starting a 36-bottle cellar of fine wine is a great way to begin your journey into the world of wine collecting," says ChatGPT ...
Hello wine lovers,
I've definitely spent some time thinking about the wines I bought in 2022 and the ones that have left my cellar as we approach the new year (of the š).
What could be more beneficial than sharing Alexis Lichine's 36-bottle starter cellar, which I discovered in his 1978 "New Encyclopedia of Wines & Spirits"? Then, with all of this ChatGPT news, I modernised it a littleā¦
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It must have upset many writers, this ChatGPT. Possibly, because of the idea that their job can be easily replaced by some AI in a matter of seconds.
It didnāt upset me ā perhaps because I am not really a writerā¦ It got me excited that maybe AI could write this newsletter for me, or better still, give us some decent investment advice.
As ChatGPT no longer accepts customers, I gave Chatsonic a go.
So far, a bit general and outdated. I prodded some more.
The data seems to be taken from this Liv-ex blog post.
But the 2009 seems overpriced now. Hmmā¦ are we going to have any luck with our new AI friend?
In the episode Collecting and Investing in Wine ā Part One of the podcast The Wine Conversation, Elin McCoy talks to Jamie Ritchie, Worldwide Head of Wine for Sothebyās, about investing and collecting wine.
Ritchie offers interesting insights into how to go about collecting wine, and how it is important to decide whether you are buying to enjoy or invest or a combination of the two.
Some pointers from their conversation when putting together your yearly wine budget:
The starting point is around $5,000 to be invested in 6- or 12-bottle cases. The reason for 6- or 12-bottle cases is to enjoy wine throughout the years. Thereās nothing more annoying than liking one wine and realising youāve only got 1 bottle!
Ritchie suggests dividing the (yearly) budget into three categories: (1) Everyday - whatās your everyday drinking volume (2) Special Occasions and (3) Rare Occasions. Each wine should then be scheduled for the occasion of consumption and lifespan left. Make sure that thereās something to ādrink nowā in your cellar ā otherwise, you may find it frustrating when spending a few thousand $$$ and not even having wine for dinner. One-third of each is a good starting point.
Another consideration is to buy wines you actually enjoy drinking. Red or white? Sparkling? You donāt want too much Champagne if you mainly enjoy drinking Bordeaux. You must factor in your current taste, but donāt forget your interests will evolve ā so you donāt want to go too large in a certain region or label. Keep an open mind.
If you collect wine just for price appreciation, you just want to select wines that appreciate the fastest. Rarity/scarcity and vintage quality are probably the two largest drivers ā but also, as was the case for grower Champagne, some relatively lesser-known regions or winemakers can also appreciate quickly due to a surge in popularity. However, Ritchie advises buying what you enjoy drinking ā by region or grape variety and by price point.
Think about which wines are scarce. Bordeaux will always be available, even in the best vintages ā Burgundy, on the other hand, is produced in such small quantities that it should be prioritised if you want to have it in your cellar.
How does that compare with the advice from our AI buddy?
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Starting a 36-bottle Cellar
Of course, many of my readers already have a substantial wine cellar ā but as itās the new year, I think itās about time to take stock of what was added to the cellar last year and expand the horizons on both everyday or investment wines.
What Ritchie said about āthe future youā and how likely itāll be that you wonāt enjoy the same wines youāre drinking right now is something that Iāve never considered. And, looking back, in the past three years or so, I have certainly shifted to enjoy whites more than reds. Yet, my purchasing record is somehow all red & sparkling. WHYYY??!!
I resolved to change this, and expand my horizons and, more importantly, diversify my portfolio.
I found this starter cellar in a very old thrifted book called āNew Encyclopedia of Wines and Spiritsā written by Alex Lichine in 1978. Itās a bit outdated, and it defeats the first rule set out by Ritchie to buy in 6- or 12-bottle cases, but I found it very useful nonetheless as a starting point, when thinking about diversification.
Letās go through the list.
4 bottles of rosĆ©, the all-purpose pink wine, to be served chilled. Choose a Tavel, Provence, Anjou, or California rose ā not more than three years old.
My first comment about this 36-bottle cellar is that it gravely lacks sparkling wine. Whatās worse, it reserves 4 bottles for rosĆ© wine! I know this might sound extreme, but I donāt think I've ever bought a bottle of rosĆ© in my life and I am not planning to start now. (So much for widening my horizonsā¦)
I think this section should instead be for sparkling wines.
Among my everyday favourites, here are two that stood out this year for me:
Villa Parens Gran Cret Ribolla Gialla Blanc de Blanc
Any other wine from Villa Parens will be equally fantastic. Pick any other (say their aged Sauvignon white wine) and you wonāt be disappointed.
For the investors and collectors, Iād suggest a couple of Champagnes from the Champagne edition and a couple of English Sparkling Wines:
4 bottles of red Burgundy, inexpensive: Macon, Beaujolais, Moulin-a-Vent, Fleurieā less than two or three years old.
This is another category that doesnāt really resonate with me. I know a lot of people enjoy Beaujolais ā and a great deal of improvement has happened
in the region regarding the quality of the wine. However, I think there are more interesting inexpensive reds. Among those, Dolcetto is one of my very favourites (you know I am a fan of wines from Piemonte). Hard to find, because itās produced in the same area as Barolo and a lot of wine producers have decided to only leave a small production mainly to be sold in the local market (and by the local market, I mean Piemonte, not Italy).
Claudio Alario Dolcetto di Diano dāAlba DOCG.
There is no one in Alba that is more passionate about Dolcetto and that makes better Dolcettos than Claudio Alario (and his son). They have three SorƬ (or sunny vineyards) namely: Montagrillo, Costa Fiore and Pradurent (Superiore). What a fantastic wine for such a tiny price!
3 bottles of red Burgundy: Pommard, Nuits-Saint- Georges, Vosne-Romanee, Clos de Vougeot, Chambolle-Musigny, Beaune, Volnay, Chamberlin, less than ten years old.
Investing in Burgundy has become quite the feat both in terms of allocations and prices ā however, you can find a list I compiled with a few great value-for-money options. For example:
More on 2021s later this monthā¦
More on the accessible side, Domaine Georges Glantenay is a fantastic choice. They avoid the limelight of wine criticsā scores but Corney & Barrows imports them in the UK ā which is quite an endorsement from one of the top Burgundy-specialist merchants. They own small vineyards in Volnay, Pommard and Chambolle-Musigny. Incidentally, I have recently received an email from Corney & Barrow about a dinner Celebrating Women in Wine, with Sarah Glantenay and other winemakers.
Domaine Georges Glantenay Volnay Les Brouillards 1er Cru 2017. C&B writes: āOn the palate, the domaineās trademark supple red berry fruit makes for excellent approachability, whilst incisive, staccato tannins provide definition. Fine earthy minerality persists through to a long finish. Lots of ageing potential here.ā Similarly, their Volnay village is accessible when young, yet retaining elegance. I love it so much that I sell it via my shops (via AZYA, for mainland China customers only).
4 bottles of white Burgundy: Chablis, Chassagne-Montrachet, Meursault, Pouilly-Fuisse, or Puligny-Montrachet, each preferably bearing a vineyard name in addition to that of the parishāsuch as Les Preuses, Blanchots, Vaudesir, Les Clos, Vaillon, Fourchaume, or Montee de Tonnerre for the wines of Chablis; Les Perrieres, Blagny, or La Goutte d'Or for Meursault; Les Pucelles, Les Combettes, or Les Chalumeaux for Puligny-Montrachet. Vintages: less than five years old.
A Chardonnay example from the same āValue for Burgundyā piece:
2 bottles of red Bordeaux: a shipper's bottling of Saint-Emilion, Saint-Estephe, Saint-Julien, or Margaux, or preferably an inexpensive chĆ¢teau-bottled Claret from one of the Cru Bourgeois.
The shipper's bottling is now (mostly) out of fashion. However, some very reasonably priced St. Julien (Ch. Saint-Pierre 2016), St. Estephe (ChĆ¢teau Cos Labory 2016, ChĆ¢teau Phelan Segur 2016) and St. Emilion (ChĆ¢teau Larcis Ducasse, 2016, 2019 or 2020 and Clos Dubreuil 2019) just to name a few.
3 bottles of chateau-bottled red Bordeaux (for great occasions): Beychevelle, Cheval-Blanc, Calon-Segur, Cos d'Estournel, Haut-Brion, Lafite, Lascombes, Latour, one of the three Leovilles, Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild, Palmer, Pichon-Longueville, Prieure-Lichine or Talbot. Any good vintage of the last 20 years.
Not much more I could add to this ā perhaps La Mission Haut-Brion?
2 bottles of red Italian wine such as Barolo, Valpolicella, or Chianti.
Two bottles only for the whole Italian reds category?! I definitely think Barolo, Barbaresco, Valpolicella & Chianti/Bolgheri each deserve a separate category.
Hereās some ideas for the Barolo from previous newsletters:
More on the 2019 Barolo later this monthā¦
3 bottles of white Italian wine: Verdicchio or Soave.
While Soave has finally managed to crawl out of the hole it dug itself into, I am not sure it should be worthy of being added to this list. In the UK, you canāt go to a wine tasting without finding Pieropanās Soave (rightly so).
However, Iād pick a Gavi to put in my cellar. I discuss this grape in one of the first articles I wrote (scroll down to Vol.2: Wines of the week), after attending two Gavi masterclasses. Itās a wine that is wonderful young and may have ageing potential similarly to that of Riesling. Among the ones I tried, this one stood out:
Run by three women, from the start they believed in the uniqueness and potential of this fantastic Cortese grape. This wine was appreciated by other fellow Gavi producers in the masterclass. That means something.
Also, Lugana (Veneto), Ribolla Gialla (Friuli Venezia-Giulia) and Grillo (Sicily) are well worth your attention.
2 bottles of Spanish red Rioja wine from a good wine, such as BilbaĆnas, Marques de Riscal, or MarquĆ©s de Murrieta.
The most traditional Rioja producers are well worth stocking up on, such as some MarquĆ©s de Riscal back vintages. They are so incredibly affordable for their quality, that to me itās a no-brainer.
And because of the incredible value for money, Rioja is one of the regions I look out for when buying everyday wine. Among my favourite Rioja winemakers, thereās Roberto Oliban and his Tentenublo project. Jane Anson calls him the Robespierre of the wine world; he is much more interested in making extraordinary wines from single crus rather than volume blends.
Quantity is extremely limited.
Tentenublo Wines 1 bottle of Spanish white Rioja Tarragona.
I am really not familiar with these wines. If you have any suggestions ā please pop them in the comment section below!
1 bottle of sweet wineāBarsac or Sauternes, either from a shipper or, preferably, a chĆ¢teau-bottled wineĀ such as Climens, Coutet, Filhot, Guiraud, La Tour-Blanche, Rabaud, or the very expensive ChĆ¢teauĀ d'Yquem. Vintages: less than ten years old.
I hope you had some sweet wines during the holidays?
While sweet wines have been on the decline for a variety of reasons - consumers are increasingly health-conscious, difficult to pair with food, preference of the younger generations, and inconsistent production - the fact remains that sweet wines are great bargains.
Hereās the one I mentioned in the recent Sauternes piece:
I love these self-sacrificing winemakers, that nowadays continue to make sweet wines more for themselves as the worldās demand for them has collapsed. Take, for example, Valpolicella ā many know Amarone and Ripasso wines, but no one really knows about Recioto, which is what was originally produced in the region. No winemaker counts on making money from Recioto and so they make it how they like, without being driven by market dynamics.
2 bottles of young Rhine wines (less than five years old): Hattenheimer, Hochheimer, Niersteiner, RĆ¼desheimer, Schloss Johannisberg, Schloss Vollrads. Wines bottled by the grower at the estate are indicated in Germany on the label with the words erzeugerabfiillung or aus eigenem lesegut. These are preferable. A vineyard name in addition to that of the district is likewise desirable. Labels often have the word auslese (selected) or spatlese (late-picking) after the name of the wine. These are usually sweeter.
I really do wish Riesling would make a comeback in the UK.
If you, like me, are a big fan of Riesling, head to Maida Vale, to this fantastic little shop called The Winery with one of the most interesting selections of German wines. The owner is half-German and therefore has great connections there, sourcing small-production niche Rieslings and else. Whatās more, every month, they organise informal wine tastings at their shop, giving the chance to try 6 winesā¦
1 bottle of young Mosel wine less than five years old such as Bernkasteler, Wehlener, or Zeltinger.
Same as above.
1 bottle of Loire Valley wine, such as Pouilly-Fume, Sancerre, Saumur, or Vouvrayā not more than seven years old.
This is a region Iāve discovered only in 2022, but I have yet to visit. I do enjoy the steely elegance of Pouilly-Fume & Sancerre. Watch this space.
1 bottle of dry white Bordeaux from the Graves district, either from a good shipper (in which case the price should not be high) or a chĆ¢teau-bottled Graves such as Domaine de Chevalier, Couhins, Haut-Brion Blanc, Carbonnieux, La Tour-Martillac, Olivier, or Saville-Haut-Brion.
I am sure that Graves makes some fantastic wines ā but for the sake of diversification why not scout other regions?
2 bottles of Alsatian wine, such as Riesling or GewĆ¼rztraminerāless than four years old.
Alsatian wines, you either love them or hate them. In recent years, they have (rightly) gained more popularity ā but they are not my cup of tea.
If you like the style (and oxidation) of these wines, you can explore Friuli Venezia-Giulia in Italy also.
Do you want to know what my AI sommelier at Chatsonic advised? Hereās the list of 36 fine wines to age:
2010 Domaine Trapet Chambertin-Clos de BĆØze Grand Cru
Yes, somehow it came up with only 30ā¦š¤·āāļø
Thank you to those who made it to the end! I hope you found this insightful. If you did ā why not share it?
Sara Danese
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DISCLAIMER:
My investment thesis, risk appetite, and time frames are strictly my own and significantly different from those of my readership. As such, the investments covered in this publication and in this article are not to be considered investment advice nor do they represent an offer to buy or sell securities or services and should be regarded as information only.
Great piece! Thank for writing it. Do you think itās amazing that the old article you pictured was from 1978 and most (?) of it still holds true? It would be great to know what is now incorrect eg I appreciated your comment that āshipper bottledā is no longer fashionable.