THE ART OF COLLECTING FOR CONSUMING
- Not all wines age well. Collect wines that have at least 5 to 10 years aging potential. The real fun in collecting is seeing how these wines develop over time.
- Proper storage is critical. Do not keep good wine in an over-heated apartment, and especially not in your kitchen. Invest in a temperature controlled wine fridge if you do not have a cool, dark room that stays a consistent temperature all year, 55 degrees is ideal for white and reds.
- Mix it up. Collect a balance of styles and colors – red, white, dry, sparkling and sweet.
- Best Red Wines To Collect - Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinto Noir, Bordeaux Blends. Best White Wines To Collect - Champagne, Riesling, Sauternes.
- Take advantage of local wineries, tasting rooms, and social events to open your palate before narrowing down your preferences.
- Best regions to collect. Bordeaux, Napa, Burgundy but that’s is you have money to burn. Try other regions for great buys and good wine like Loire Valley, Rhône, Sonoma, and Oregon.
- Know the best grape growing years. Use the https://www.wineenthusiast.com/wine-vintage-chart/ for help.
- Try to buy at least 6 of each wine so that you can open one bottle when you buy it, one maybe 9-12 months later and so on.
- Keep an up-to-date inventory. As your collection grows you may want to invest in a cellar management system. Join or form a wine club with your friends. After all wine, is about sharing, exchanging opinions.
- Remember to drink your inventory…. So you can buy more.
WINE BUYING TIPS
We buy everything else online, so why not wine? Before you click “add to cart”, keep these things in mind:
Most online wine and liquor stores have wine clubs, sales, and free shipping offers–perfect for saving hundreds of dollars and expanding your options. Check for gift baskets, beautifully packed with hard-to-find items or things that could take you hours or days to put together. You can even buy futures online. Futures, or en primeur, are wines that don’t exist yet but will. Wineries let customers pay up front in order to offset debt, and those forward-thinking customers usually end up saving on wines that may hit the market at double or triple what they paid. Online futures sales have opened up the market, which in the past. was only available to a few. |
Make sure the store can ship wine to your state.