| When starting your wine collection you should | | | | Beaujolais |
| consider the following things: | | | | 2 - Red Rhone's 4 - Italian Reds 2 - South African |
| 1) How much money do you want to invest in | | | | Reds |
| collecting wine? | | | | 2 - Chilean Reds 2 - Californian Reds 2 - Spanish |
| This will help you determine the size of wine cellar | | | | Reds |
| you need as well as help you to select the proper | | | | 2 - White Burgundies 2 - White Bordeaux 2 - |
| wines to fill it. | | | | Alsatian Whites |
| 2) How much space do you have for your | | | | 2 - German Moseles 2 - Italian Whites 2 - |
| collection? And where are you going to put it? | | | | Californian Whites |
| The ideal conditions for your wine cellar are: | | | | 2 - Australian Reds 2 - German Rhines 2 - South |
| • a constant temperature between | | | | African Whites |
| 7ºC - 18ºC | | | | 2 - Dessert Wines 2 - Sparkling Wines 2 - British |
| • 60% relative humidity | | | | Columbia Whites |
| • a darker area in your home | | | | Vertical Collector - will find a type of wine they |
| • an area with as little movement as | | | | like and then collect all the different vintages |
| possible | | | | (years) of that wine. The idea of this style of |
| • enough space so the bottles can easily | | | | collecting is to have different vintages of the |
| be stores on an angle to prevent the cork from | | | | same wine stacked vertically in your cellar. |
| drying out | | | | Casual Collector - has no rhyme or reason to the |
| If you have the ideal space for your cellar than | | | | wines they collect and so their collection may be |
| we recommend that you go with a wooden wine | | | | very diverse or very specific depending on their |
| rack. They are easy to find online and through | | | | preferences. While this is not the typical method |
| many brick and mortar stores at reasonable | | | | of collecting wine the results will be just as |
| prices and made with high quality materials. They | | | | enjoyable to the collector. |
| offer convenience, expandability, and strength all | | | | When collecting wine it is important to remember |
| in one allowing you to continually change and | | | | that heat, light and movement are enemies to |
| modify your collection. | | | | your collection. To keep these factors to a |
| If you do not have the ideal conditions for storing | | | | minimum we recommend that you also invest in a |
| wine in your home not to worry, there are | | | | small wine rack for your daily and weekly wines |
| incredible lines of refrigerated wine cabinets that | | | | so that you do not have to go in and out of your |
| create the ideal storing conditions for you. They | | | | cellar as often. These racks can be great additions |
| maintain a stable temperature and humidity which | | | | to the decor of your house since they come in |
| is great for your collection. They also come in a | | | | such a large variety of shapes and styles. |
| variety of sizes to match your space and financial | | | | Becoming a wine collector may seem like a |
| constraints. | | | | daunting task but it does not have to be. It does |
| 3) What type of collector do you want to be? | | | | not matter what types of wine you have in your |
| Horizontal Collector - collects a variety of wines | | | | collection just as long as you enjoy them all. |
| reaching across the varietals creating a balanced | | | | If you are just starting your collection and you |
| collection. The goal of this style of collecting is to | | | | are anxious to see it grow without putting in a |
| have a diverse selection that is great for any | | | | large initial investment then we recommend that |
| occasion. A typical horizontal collection would | | | | for every bottle you use, you replace it with two |
| include: | | | | new bottles, following this simple rule you should |
| 2 - Bordeaux 2 - Red Burgundies 2 - "Cru" | | | | have a great collection in no time! |