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So You Have Started Cellaring Wine

This topic came about at the request of a TORBWINE reader. Brad Paton asked for some brief tips based on actual experience gained from when I began collecting wine.

Unfortunately due to the copious quantities of red wine I have drunk since then, I honestly can’t remember back to the days when Moses played front row for the Egyptian opposition but I will try and provide a few tips anyway.

The biggest concern is the possibility of a change to your personal taste. For example when I first started drinking wine I used to drink a fair quantity of c-through of all descriptions. Over time that changed but thankfully the change was very gradual and easy to see coming. Around the early 1980’s my proportion of red wine started growing until by the early 90’s I was drinking almost no white which means luckily I had years to adjust the cellar stocks.

If your taste does change unfortunately there is nothing you can do about it. You hope the change is gradual and that you will have time to adjust your stocks accordingly. If you wake up and suddenly find you hate Pinot and have a cellar full of it you will make the auction companies very happy. There is no real precaution to take against this possibility.

The biggest question is what to buy with the limited funds available. There is no point cellaring wine that will not improve or only improve marginally in the short term. All that does is tie up dollars and cellar space so the objective is to try and purchase wines that will benefit and change with time in the cellar. You can purchase short term drinking wines on a day to day week to week basis. Unless you have a fair amount to invest I also would not be overly concerned with trying to collect verticals either.

The best wines to cellar are those that will truly benefit from time because there is almost nothing more rewarding than an aged bottle of wine that you have stored lovingly. There are many mid range brands of Cabernet Sauvignon that really benefit from time in the bottle, St Hugo is just one good example. On the Shiraz front there are countless fruit driven wines that are very enjoyable young and that will gain little additional complexity as they mature. As these are so easy to drink now it may be worth trying to hunt down some of the more structured wines that need time to show their best.

In terms of the quantity, purchasing six packs is a good way to go. The advantages of six packs are that it allows a balance between variety in the cellar and the ability to do occasional checks to see how they are progressing and still capture most of them in their peak drinking window.

With regard to the price of wines, it’s worth buying some extra special bottles, even if it’s only one or two occasionally. By doing so, when there is a special occasional down the track, there is an aged bottle worthy of the celebration available. Frequently many of the really top wines also escalate in price. Only fifteen years ago Hill Of Grace was less than $30. That’s just one example of many. Unfortunately it’s not as simple as that because frequently there are outstanding older wines available at auction for less than their current vintage cost today. It’s worth keeping and eye out for these too.

Mailing lists for limited release wines are also worth considering, Rockford and Wendouree to name just two. Buying these direct is far cheaper than purchasing from the secondary or retail markets.

Balance is key; the last thing you want is a cellar of wine that all taste the same so even if you are a red bigot, there is Cabernet Sauvignon and GSM as well as Shiraz. WA and Victoria as well as SA. Even within SA there is the Eden Valley, Coonawarra and Clare as well as the Barossa and McLaren Vale.

Finally, you can play it safe and go for well known household brands which will be safe but in many cases boring. Or you can try some lesser known brands which will offer some excitement, some bargains, some wow wines and some disappointments.

Happy cellaring.