Are you planning to start a wine collection?If so, you must learn the basics for starting one, like having a reliable wine cellar built to store your wines in. Here are a few tips for starting a wine collection in Orange County, California.
Wine Collection Tips for Starters
How to Start a Wine Collection
Wine collecting is a fun hobby, but without the right knowledge, you could simply be throwing money away. You can’t go out and buy a bottle of wine and then keep it just anywhere. To be a proper wine collector, you need to do it the smart way. Here are a few basic tips for beginner wine collectors:
1. How Much Are You Willing to Spend?
Wines(good ones, anyway)do not come cheap. If you want to start a wine collection, you need to decide how much you intend to spend on this hobby. A good starting place is about $1000. Of course, you do not need to spend it all at once. Purchase one bottle at a time. There are plenty of good wines on the market that cost around $25 to $30each.
2. What Wines to Buy?
The truth is, there is no rule on what types of wines should be included in your wine collection. Collecting wine is about enjoying wine. Therefore, you need only consider which wines you want to drink. Ideally, a wine collection should be varied; but to start,stock up on the wines that you enjoy the most.
How do you know which wines you will like? Before you start purchasing wines, you need to taste them, to see which ones you like. Avoid purchasing a bottle of wine based merely on the scores or tasting notes, because these are based on someone else’s palate, and not yours. If you live in a region with wine tasting rooms, make an appointment with a winemaker. You can also go to public barrel tastings, to check their wines. Another option is to visit local wine stores. Generally they offer tastings, so that you can sample the wines that they have.
A good tip to keep in mind is, should you find a winery that you really love, try joining its wine club or mailing list. Do this with caution, though, because unless you are totally committed and want lots of vintages, you can sometimes get stuck with clinkers. Winery clubs and mailing lists come in handy when you’re looking for discounts and great deals. Before wines are bottled, wineries offer discounted “futures.” These are upcoming vintages that are sold at 10 to 20 percent below their final bottle cost. If you want to take a chance on a vintage despite not knowing its true bottled character, this can be a good deal.
Other sources of wines on discounted rates and deals include local wine auctions, and the internet. The problem with this is that you can’t always be sure of how the wine you ordered was handled. If you buy online, it is very easy to get ripped off. The best option is to buy wines directly from the winemaker. You can also get good deals by buying wines by case, or by taking advantage of sales and end-of-vintage deals.