| Make each wine bottle a jewel of your wine collection |
Make each wine bottle a jewel of your wine collectionWhat makes a great wine collection is not where you keep it (although it’s very important) or how many bottles you own, but which wines you have and certainly you attitude towards them. There is no reason to start the collection purely for the sake of collecting something. Different types of wines require different attitudes and handling.
One of the main things to remember is that there is no point in collecting wine which you don’t like (Unless you are planning to resell the bottle later). Although high scoring and famous wines usually denote quality, it has nothing to do with one’s personal taste. Big scores do not guarantee that the wine was produced in a style you like. This means that apart from rating and notoriety you have to think about your personal taste, when choosing a bottle for your collection. As soon as you have decided on your preferences, you might want to think about the collecting strategy. It will not only make your collection more valuable, but will also add some fun. There are thousands of different strategies to choose from. Some people just want first-growth Bordeaux, while others prefer wines of one winery produced in consecutive years. Label art can also become a criterion if you only want bottles with flowers or animals drawn on them.
Another thing you have to consider is whether your chosen wine can be aged. Unfortunately, it is extremely hard to come up with general rules about how long any given wine will age or whether it will age at all. But it is generally accepted that tannic, acidic, well-structured and complex wines are the ones that tend to age well. Tannins, the natural preservatives that come from the grape’s skin, will soften as time passes. It will round up the wine, bringing out its best bouquet and balance. For example, Cabernet ages best. Chardonnay, when it is oaky, not only ages, but really needs a few years to even out. Merlot needs high levels of Cab in the blend to age well, while Syrah rarely ages particularly well. In order to find out more about aging wine, you might want to read more about particular types, wineries and vintages. When buying a new bottle for your collection, it is worth considering which wine you already have in the collection. It is probably unwise to buy only young wines, which require years to come around. Try to focus on purchasing wines that are ready to drink, allowing you to wait patiently until the rest of your wines mature. Finally, if you want to make your collection truly valuable, you might want to invest in cult wines. These are “trophy” wines. They are meant to be showcased. Cult wines are rare, because their batches were produced in truly small quantities. To conclude, watching and tasting your favourite wines as they go through the life cycle is one of the greatest joys of collecting wine. In order not to spoil this experience, make sure you choose the pieces of your collection carefully. |
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