Questtion for Cellar! Software Users

John, I've been using Cellar! for about 2 years and have never been able to make the profiles work correctly.... I've essentially resorted to setting up individual profiles for each bottle on those that I plan on keeping long term. I frequently buy 1/2 or full cases, so it is not too bad... I also use the duplicate feature for wines that I buy multiple vintages of which helps somewhat.

Good luck!

Gary

Gary - Have you gone into Tools>Preferences>Drink Profiles and created profiles there?

I do basically what John does, but I give them more generic names. When I add a wine I take my best guess about that particular wine whether it's a 10, 15, 20 year, etc. wine. By not labeling the profiles things like Bordeaux, I'm less likely to make those kind of generalizations when assigning. I also find it helpful to check for online tasting notes for more input about longevity.

But I also assume that for many of the wines, the guesses will be inaccurate and I will eventually revise the individual wine profiles.

Dale M.

Hi Dale, yes I've set them up but they never seem to take when entering new wines. I've even asked for help from their suport and haven't been able to make it work.... oh well....

"JB" wrote in news:JfUBd.4782$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net:

John, I use Cellar! for my even more modest 200 bottle "cellar". I gave up on the drink profile and don't use it at all. I let the default apply to every wine.

I suppose I keep the "drink profile" in my head and make the decision based on what I think at the time I am selecting a bottle. But, that has to be easier for me with 200 bottles--many of them 6 bottles of the same wine--than with 500 or more bottle.

I recommended Cellar! to a friend yesterday and he asked about the "drink profile" feature so I copied this thread into an e-mail to him. Great timing.

Did you see that an update is coming out real soon now?

Bill

Gary,

I think I can help you with your problem. After you select the Drink Profile from the pick list you have to click on the arrow on the vertical bar that appears between the old profile and the one you selected for the new wine. If you don't click on this arrow then they don't change. It took me awhile to figure this out.

John

Bill,

I saw the upcoming Cellar! upgrade posted when I downloaded information on wineries last night. I've been pasting information from Wine Spectator reviews into the "Notes User Fields" to give me some idea on the quality and how long to cellar the wine. Also, enjoyed reading your TNs in a recent post. Keep it up. I too rely on information from others on deciding which wines to sample. Trouble is, many of the wines mentioned are not available where I live. I have noticed that my range of wines that I enjoy is rather narrow. I seem to lean more to cabernets, Bordeaux's and Rhone style wines. I had an 2001 Elyse Petite Sirah and it just didn't do anything for me. As for my scoring system its rather crude. My wife defines her likes and dislikes by whether the wine has "wang" or not.

John

I've used Cellar! for years and have posted frequently on the software as my preferred choice (this after being a software reviewer for Ziff- Davis Online Software Library for seven years). I particularly like the tight online integration of the latest iterations. Enter a wine which comes from a winery not in your database and the program asks if you want to go online to find it--usually a brief list of possible choice show up and you find your winery data. Need TNs on a wine, Cellar! will fetch it online and usually offer you a vertical so you can even compare vintages of a particular wine. Pretty neat stuff.

I will confess, however, that I don't spend a lot of time with the profiles management. I've configured for a handful of premium bottles in my cellar, but in most instances I go with the default--it seems that between my anticipated longevity and my consumption rate for my cellar, the profiles would be so much wishful thinking.

Now, as for your dillemma that many wines mentioned aren't available where you live, let me suggest some online shopping. If you live in the US (and enjoy one of the states that doesn't consider you serial murderer for enjoying wine), there are a lot of great and reliable sources for wine that isn't availalbe locally. Some to explore are Zachy's

Ed Rasimus Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret) "When Thunder Rolled"

Ed Rasimus wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Ed, I got Cellar! last year and may have seen a post from your about it. I think it meets my needs well.

I particularly like

Yes, it is quick and almost has the winery online. Occasionally, I'll miss the naming convention and the winery won't be found.

I do a good bit of shopping online. The Ohio wine market is not very good. I have shopped at most of the online shops Ed mentioned. I also like Pops

Bill Hogsett

Ed,

I happen to live in one of the backward states that doesn't allow the purchase of wine over the internet. It did at one time and I took advantage of that but legislation closed that opportunity a few years back. I am following the recent Supreme Court test case about the constitutionality of this.

My wife and I are spending a week in Napa this spring so I'm looking forward to visiting several wineries and purchasing some wine to bring home. Got any suggestions for me?

TIA.

John

As strange as it might seem for an American wine lover, I've never set foot in Napa, or for that matter any of the CA wine regions. I've been fortunate enough to have lived in Europe for a number of years where I got to travel through Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhone, Alsace, the Champagne region, Rioja, Jerez, Tuscany, the Mosel and Rhine, but no experience in US wine growing country.

My advice (worth every penny you pay for it) is to let your own experience be your guide. If you've got some favorite Napa growers, seek them out. If you've got some fantasy tastings, make them happen. Otherwise, simply acquire a good guidebook and let serendipity happen.

As for buying, I've honestly got to say that in general I've found winery prices to be higher than many well-stocked wine merchants. You can certainly gain access to some wonderful wines at the vineyard (or buying direct if that's a state acceptable option), but prices found at a good local dealer are often lower.

We've got some participants in AFW who are much more familiar with Napa than I--but I've still got time to make the journey. Now, to get out and buy that Lottery ticket...

Ed Rasimus Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret) "When Thunder Rolled"

What state are you in. It matters for my response.

I spend a great deal of time in wine country. I would suggest that you think in terms of the wines that are not available where you live and concentrate on them. Winery prices range as high as 100% greater than store prices. In one case I have purchased a wine in discount stores for less than $18 that the winery was asking $80 for. Most wineries also try to unload overstocked wines to make way for the new vintage and you can get some very cheap purchases that way. You can also look for cheap second labels at wineries. It is possible to get some cult wines at suggested retail rather than the big big prices that cult wines bring if you can get into the winery. There are a number of wine stores around the area that sell the local wines very cheap. Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa is one such place. But mostly concentrate on wines that are not available where you live.

Sonoma County is a much better visit than Napa now days. Very little traffic, you don't have to pay for your tastings at many places and they are much more hospitable. Bill

Arkansas

Thanks for the advice about where to purchase wine. I'll try and stick to sampling at the winery and purchasing at a local wine store. We'll be spending most of our time in Yountville. Got any suggestions for this area?

TIA

John

If you are a cabernet fan, you may want to try Grgich Hills. It has always been one of my favorites, and we recently returned from San Francisco with a bottle of Grgich Hills Yountville Selection Cabernet 1997 which was fantastic. They also make a good chardonnay, if you like big, buttery, oaky chards and a decent Fume Blanc. Don't care much for the Zinfandel, as it is too fruity and not enough of the spice I love in zin. Don't remember the dessert wine, though they make one.

Used to be that you'd find Mike Grgich (owner) pouring in the tasting room as often as not, but not sure if that's still true since he's been in Croatia making wine.

Cheers, Gary