WINE TAGS:
Every bottle in your cellar should be tagged with certain information. This will vary on individual taste. I recommend you have the producer, country of origin, year it was bottled, price, quantity and year it was purchased. (The recorded purchase price allows you to see the savings you will acquire after keeping the wine for a couple of years). If you have tasted the wine before you should add a personal comment and ranking scale. This information will speed up your decision process when choosing a wine from your cellar, and eliminate opening something that might be stored as a investment or special occasion.
RESEARCH:
When purchasing a expensive wine or a wine you would like to store for a couple of years, it is always a good idea to do your homework. I suggest finding the best years the product was produced. This depends on weather conditions for the grape and the wine maker. You can find this information in a 1996 pocket encyclopedia of wine. Hugh Johnson writes one every year and it is very easy to use. It is small so take it with you when purchasing wine. I also recommend reading the wine reviews. Even though wine is predicated on personal taste, the reviews give you a good understanding of a wines world wide standing as well as flavours you should expect. The Wine Spectator is a good 'review' magazine, but sometimes it tends to concentrate too much on the wine produced in the United States. It is always a good idea to talk to liquor store or wine shop staff. Quite often they will be able to offer some interesting information on products or propose suggestions.
RULES TO START WITH:
To set up a 'functional cellar' the two rules of thumb are:
1. Choose a set amount of money you are going to spend on your cellar
2. Research the wines, before you go to the wine store.
Your choice of wines might change once you are in the store but do not go over budget. After purchasing your wine put them in you cellar/closet for a month -- and wait that month. This exercise is not meant to torture but instead, to mentally prepare you for 'collecting'. After waiting a month, every time you consume a bottle of wine it must be replaced with two bottles of greater or equal value. This bottle replacement rule has saved many expensive bottles from being opened at the wrong moment.
Go To Page: 1 2
