I love having a huge pile of wine in my closet. It’s an arsenal of joy that figures into my life so often, and so enjoyably, that I wish I had started collecting as soon as I legally could have. I’m going to dispel a couple of nasty misconceptions about collecting wine, set down a few reasons why just about everybody would benefit from having a nice stash of wine on hand.

Here’s my word of caution for the post: The wine business is still crowded with tweed-jacket sporting wine merchants selling “blue-chip” wines like they’re the only ones out there. Don’t get caught up in their game. Buy wine because you love it, not because they said to. And don’t think that cellaring wine is a big ego-stroking contest. There are plenty of reasons to build your own personal stash – and showing off doesn’t need to be one of them. A wine collection can be built on almost any budget and, after doing it for a year or two, you’ll wish you had started earlier, too.

Buy Wine for the People and the Occasion
Collecting wine is more of a social act than a solitary hobby. Pulling that cork should be an occasion. It doesn’t need to be momentous. A bottle of a nice, crisp Vinho Verde with a simple salad, a night around the table with friends and an old bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape – either way you’re building a memory:

“Remember the night we had that wine?”
“Damn, I sure do.”

So, for the occasion:

Pile up a bunch of inexpensive, food friendly reds and whites.
These are guilt-free drinkers and there are more and more of them available every day from just about every wine-producing region in the world. Check out funky whites from Spain, Austria and Australia. As for the reds, Provence,  the Côtes du Rhône, the Languedoc, all over Italy

Put away a few crowd-pleasers .
For those nights when you just want the wine to turn heads. These aren’t necessarily the most food-friendly wines, so I tend to use them when light apps and lots of visitors are a part of the plan. These wines have the broadest appeal. With a little guidance, you’ll convert ardent beer-only friends and have the wine intelligentsia nodding knowingly in your direction. Put away a few big, jammy reds from Australia, butterball Chardonnay from northern California, or some tropical Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Stick to small artisan producers and huge bang-for-the-buck wines.

Put away a few big-hitters.
These wines are for those nights when the wine isn’t an accent, for when you want to put it front-and-center. Have a few fellow cork-dorks over for a glass, or plan out a big food-and-wine extravaganza and pull out all the stops. Pulling a bottle from your collection is much more satisfying than shopping on-the-fly. These wines can be young and delicious – and many of them will age well for a few years to boot. After you’ve been stashing wine away for a bit, you can start to pull some older bottles out. Stay on the lookout for Cru bottlings from Beaujolais, Riesling from Germany, and village level red & and white Burgundy from great vintages like 2005 and 2006. If you’ve got a bit of extra dough to spend, pick up a Napa Cab from a good producer, a couple of bottles of Bordeaux, Cru Burgundy, or some Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Also keep an eye out for spiff wines from small producers known for their quality and for their caché. For the love of Pete, pick up a couple of half-bottles of dessert wine. Serve it at the end of a meal with a hunk of cheese and you’ll become an instant wine pairing wunderkind. What kind of cheese, you ask? Give us a ring or shoot us an e-mail. We’ll help you pick it out.

Buy Wine to Age It
Aging wines is only one reason to have a bunch of it on hand. It’s a big one, but not the most important consideration when trying to figure out what to buy. There’s quite a bit of wine out there that completely changes its character as it gets older; and there’s plenty of technical info out there that will explain why this happens.  For now you should just take my word for it. If you’re already enjoying wine, aging a few bottles adds another dimension to the experience. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get a few bottles every month that will come into their own two to three years down the road.  After a few months of stashing the vino, you’ll come to enjoy the chase almost as much as you enjoy the uncorking.

Here are a few wines to help you get started:

Ponsenato Pinot Grigio “Le Coste”, 2006 – $9.75
Casa del Bachiller Macabeo, 2006 – $9.75
Kistler Chardonnay “Les Noisetiers”, Sonoma Coast, 2007 – $62.50
Jade Mountain Mourvedre “Ancient Vine”, Contra Costa County, Evanghelo Vineyard, 2005 – $14.95/bottle
In Fine Rounge, Côtes du Ventoux, 2007 – $11.75/bottle
Per Linda Monteoulciano d’Abruzzo, 2006 – $9.75/bottle
Owen Roe Abbot’s Table, 2007 – $24.50
Vieux Télégramme Châteauneuf du Pape, 2005 – $36.25