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Wine is a beloved drink among so many people, and is often the drink of choice whether it be alongside a delicious home cooked meal or ordered at the local bar.
If you consider yourself a bit of a wine enthusiast but find the idea of starting your own personal collection a little bit daunting, we don’t blame you. With so many things to take into consideration, it can be hard to know where to start.
Lucky for you, we’ve used our knowledge and expertise to create a guide to starting your very own wine collection and how to do it right.
Make A Plan
One of the first things to do when considering a wine collection is to make a plan.
Making a plan is essential for starting things off right, and will give you a sense of direction when piecing it together. You’ll want to think about roughly how big you’d like your collection to be, which will come in handy when trying to find storage options.
You’ll also need to think about how financially stable you are, and if you have the disposable income to be purchasing all this wine. Wine can be an expensive game, so consider if you have the spare funds to make this a reality before investing.
Once you’ve got a plan in place, your next step is to buy some wine.
Start With Wine You Enjoy
The key to any successful wine collection is to start off with wine that you actually love the taste of and plan on drinking.
It’s all well and good to build a collection of aged, valuable wines or wines for a wine investment, but if you’ve left out your favourites then what is really the point?
We recommend getting a few bottles of wine that you know you’re going to drink and enjoy, and going from there. Don’t lose focus of what tastes you actually enjoy, and don’t spend a fortune on a collection that you are never going to touch.
It should also be noted to not get too ahead of yourself by buying too much, too quick. A collection of wine is something that is very personal, and not something that should be rushed.
Start small and grow your collection organically.
Try Before You Buy
Like with most things, it’s always better to try wine before you buy an entire case of it.
There’s nothing worse than investing in a whole case of something that you don’t end up liking and having to try and get rid of it.
Buying a single bottle and trying it out first will give you the chance to decide exactly how much you like the wine before ordering an entire case, making it a more educated decision.
One thing to also consider is that tastes change, so don’t bank on loving the same wine for years and years. As much as you might love the taste now, we recommend keeping your love for it at a 2 case maximum.
Keep An Inventory
Once you’ve started purchasing a couple of bottles and your collection has slowly started coming together, it's important to keep track of what you’ve got in stock.
It may sound silly if you’ve only got a couple of bottles, but once the collection starts growing you’ll be thankful that you’ve got a log of everything you have and where it’s stored.
When making the list, we recommend making a note of the brand, type of wine, quantity, location and maybe even the taste of each bottle.
Don’t forget to take items off as you drink them as well, or you might end up with a much smaller collection that you thought.
Invest In A Wine Cooler
There is little point in putting together a collection of beautiful, expensive wines if they are just going to sit in the cupboard.
To enjoy or stop wine at the optimum temperature, you’ll need to invest in a high quality wine cooler.
At this point, you should know that different wines require different temperatures to be enjoyed, and storing some wines at the wrong temperature can actually ruin them.
It might be tempting to have them out on display in the kitchen, but this will not bode well for the wine.
Investing in a built in or freestanding wine cooler is not only a very practical option, but they are also a fantastic form of storage from an aesthetic point of view.
With beautiful transparent glass doors and interior lighting, a wine fridge is perfect for both storage and display reasons. The ability for dual temperature zones makes it easier to store different kinds of wine, and some wine coolers can even have the option of 3 separate zones.
We offer a wide range of freestanding, built-in and integrated wine coolers to fit any space. If you’d like to learn more about the coolers we offer at Elite Fridges, feel free to get in touch.
Don’t Over Handle Your Wine
As tempting as it might be to bring out your prized bottles to show off to friends, this could end up having disastrous consequences.
We all know that wine can be very fragile, and frequently getting bottles in and out of the wine cooler can end up ruining the wine. Movement and change in temperature can both have effects on the body of the wine, and this is not something you’ll want to risk with an expensive bottle.
If you’re dying to show off a prized piece in your collection, take a picture or have the documentation on hand.
We recommend keeping the receipts or other documentation for any wine you purchase, especially if the bottle carries a large price tag. You never know how much it may be worth one day.
Go To Auctions
Buying and selling at auctions is a great way to add some rarer and more expensive bottles to your collection.
When looking to buy wine at an auction, there are 3 important factors to look out for, casing, label and wine level.
Wines that come with the original casing are usually the most wanted and desirable items at auction. The bottle itself has to be presented in immaculate fashion, with the labels, capsules and corks in pristine condition.
You should also look out for the level of the wine, making sure it is up into the bottle’s neck and hasn’t been touched.
Summary
When it comes to starting a personal wine collection, each one is going to be very different. These are just a few tips that will help you to get the ball rolling, and factors to look out for when thinking about storage options.
At Elite Wine Refrigeration, we stock leading brands including Dunavox. Dunavox is well-known for its reliable, well-made designs - we work closely with Dunavox to provide some of the best storage solutions for our loyal customers.
DX-194.490BK, DX-181.490 and DX-166.428 are a range of storage cabinets that we stock within our Dunavox collection, all of which we recommend to those who have just started collecting wine bottles.
Made with the finest quality materials, our Dunavox storage cabinets have proved to be popular among our customers. To find out more about Dunavox, feel free to speak with a member of our team today.
Collect what you like and have a good time doing it - it is your collection after all. If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of wine coolers or our wide range of products, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
