Savouring a bottle of fine wine is one of life’s great pleasures. If you love wine and enjoy sharing it, then curating your own private wine cellar will lay the foundations for years of drinking pleasure and this guide can show you how.
When considering building a collection of wine, people tend to choose what they like. However, just because you enjoy red wine from the renowned French region of Burgundy, for example, doesn’t mean you should only buy Pinot Noir. With this in mind, here is a guide to creating your dream wine cellar.
Starting your wine journey
Building a varied collection will make the journey all the more interesting. Buy a few cases from several wine regions and you will be rewarded with a diverse portfolio to enjoy. Get advice from a reputable wine merchant who can advise you on alternatives based on your tastes.
Joe Fogg is the Head of Private Clients for London-based merchant Cru Wine which is, this year, celebrating its 10 anniversary of advising collectors, enthusiasts and investors.
“Consider building a varied portfolio of wines from different vintages and regions from across the world. These should include the classic French regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne but also lesser-known fine wine-producing countries that offer excellent drinking and great value.
Joe adds: “Our experts are passionate about fine wine and can offer advice on the regions, producers and wines to seek out. We create bespoke portfolios for every client based on their preferences and budget.”
A bottle for every occasion
A well-planned portfolio with medium and long-term pleasure potential will continue to grow in its own right. When the wines start to reach maturity you will have all the bottles you need for every occasion, be that an extra special bottle for your anniversary, a magnum of vintage Champagne for a wedding or sharing a selection of your hand-picked bottles over dinner with friends.
Having a love of fine wine is a reason for starting a collection, however, this passion can come at a price point. It’s important to consider how much you are willing to spend. You want to have enough wine to make it interesting, but you don’t have to pay a fortune
From the classic regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy, Cru Wine’s top tips would be Grand Puy Lacoste from the underrated vintage of 2017, now drinking perfectly and bursting with Pauillac charm and character. Louis Jadot Corton Charlemagne is a good bet for the exceptional value it offers versus its qualitative peers – drinking now but will keep and is very versatile with many fish and meat dishes. Champagne is a must-have for your home cellar and Grand Siecle Iteration N°25, NV is a delicious choice displaying notes of nectarine, pear, citrus and autolytic aromas of pastry and brioche.
Outside of France, try Matarocchio – 2016 produced beautiful wines in Tuscany which balance ripeness with freshness and structure. This 100% Cabernet Franc from the renowned Antinori estate is a dark and sumptuous beauty, with superb complexity and nuance. Cantena Zapata’s Adrianna Vineyard Mundus Bacillus Terrae is one of the finest Malbecs money can buy and a showcase of this variety’s ability to produce truly world class wines in Argentina. Its beautiful floral aromatics, red fruit flavours and structure make it the perfect pairing for chargrilled steak and chimichurri. Botanico from Familia Zuccardi is Argentina’s answer to Chablis. Clean, fresh, mineral and excellent value versus its northern hemisphere peers.
Drink fine wine for free
Savvy wine collectors can even drink fine wine for free! Look to buy three cases of one wine, wait for the wine to reach its optimum maturation and then sell two and the money you make could pay for the third.
Cru Wine is the UK’s fastest growing wine merchant and recently appeared in the Financial Times 1000 list for a fourth consecutive year.
“We offer competitive prices thanks to our close relationships with respected producers and suppliers built up over a decade,” says Joe who has helped hundreds of wine lovers to curate enviable portfolios of wines.
Top tips for collecting wine
- Build a varied portfolio of fine wines from across the top regions including Bordeaux, Champagne and Burgundy. Cru Wine also recommends including some bottles from Italy and the New World.
- Smart collectors also look to Argentina, Spain, California, Sicily and other less-traditional wine regions for high-quality wines.
- Buying wine when it’s first released, known as en primeur, means you are getting it at the cheapest price. You will need to wait for it to mature to its optimum drinking window, but this will ensure you have some amazing fine wine for future enjoyment.
- Provenance is key when building a portfolio. Buy from a reputable fine wine merchant and keep it stored in a bonded warehouse to ensure your wines are maturing in the optimum conditions which are regulated for temperature and humidity. When the wine is ready to drink you can get it delivered to your home and keep it in a wine fridge or cellar. It’s important to store your wine properly at home.
- Wine-savvy collectors might consider buying two or more cases of the same wine, one to keep and the others to sell and help to subsidise the bottles you drink.
- Do your research on the producer and wine. Look for wines that are well-regarded by international wine critics with positive reviews and high scores as this will influence the market perception of a wine.
- Be patient. Building a cellar takes time and will include a mixture of wines drinking at different times from three to five and even 10 years’ time.
- Keep an inventory of the wines you own, where they are stored and the optimum drinking time.
- Enjoy it! Collecting fine wine is a pleasure to be shared and enjoyed.
To discover more, visit cru-wine.com
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All imagery courtesy of Spiral Cellars.