Taste Your Way to an Affordable, Well-Stocked Wine Cellar

Does the phrase "wine collector" conjure up anbargains. Take the road less traveled and try
image of a millionaire living in a large home with awines you have never heard of. For example, the
temperature-controlled room dedicated to holdinglow-priced premier red of Portugal, called Bairrada,
fine wines?or South Africa's Pinotage might be unfamiliar, but
It shouldn't. If you buy wine, you are a winethey often deliver as good a quality and taste as
collector.the more expensive wines of California or
First off, you don't have to have a special roomAustralia.
dedicated to storing your wine. As long as you2. Find understudies for your favorite wines and
keep your stash in a quiet, dark, coolish placeyou can save 20% to 30%. For example, when
where bottles can lay on their sides, you have ayou need a stand in for Chardonnay, try Spain's
wine cellar. It could be under the bed, on thetop white, Albarino, or let Malbec from Argentina
closet floor, in a refrigerated cooler, or in ago on stage, and give Cabernet the night off.
basement room.3. Buy the "next door neighbor." Seek out wines
Secondly, you don't have to be rich to stock yourfrom up-and-coming areas adjacent to famous
"cellar" with fine wines; you just have to bevineyards and save a bundle. These well-made
smart. The operative concept is taste the wineswines are easy on the wallet and offer real value.
and decide for your self. Doing your own tastingSo start tasting Merlot-based blends - not from
"homework" is an essential part of accumulating apricey St Emilion and Pomerol - but from their
wine cellar that you will enjoy.neighboring areas.
Be aware that higher price does not necessarily4. Sniff out the "wanna-bees." Megastar Tom
mean the wine is better or that you will like itCruise went from being paid $75,000 as a
more than a less expensive wine. I live by thewanna-be to getting $75 million for his three
motto, "if you can't taste the difference, don't"Mission Impossibles." Your mission, if you accept
pay the difference."it, is to find those budding megastar wines before
In general, you will stock your cellar with threethey become famous and unaffordable. For
categories of wine. First are the table wines youexample, a bottle of Elyse Cabernet, sold for just
drink within the first 12 to 24 months, before$14.50 in 2000, and is now at $56 and climbing.
they lose their youthful fruitiness. These are your5. Ask specifically for "second labels" of famous
favorite everyday wines for under $15 a bottle. Ared wines from Bordeaux and Cabernet and
whopping 90% of the wines produced in theBordeaux-like blends from California. These are
world fall into this category!premium wines made from grapes that just
Next are the mid-priced wines that can be drunkweren't quite good enough to go into the top
now, but will benefit from time in bottle. Thesebrand, but they are dead ringers for their more
are special occasion wines costing $15 to $25 aprivileged cousins -- only they're about one-third
bottle. Keep them for about five years and theythe price.
will have slightly more varied aromas and flavors.6. Buy famous wines in poor vintages. World-class
These reflect 9% of all the wines in the world.wine producers have to ruthlessly cull out poor
And the last 1% of your stock is reserved forgrapes in off vintages to make excellent wines.
rare wines. It's not for everyone, but collectingStill yet, off vintages are priced lower than wines
some special vintage year bottles -- the agefrom an ideal growing season. Their loss is your
worthy ones that only get better with age -- cangain.
be a fine investment.Remember, you can be a wine collector and not
Here are six strategies to use so you don't havehave to pay a lot for the pleasure. Follow the 6
to empty your wallet in order to fill up your cellarstrategies provided and they will give you
with your favorite wines.affordable drinking now, and in the years ahead.
1. Experiment with less familiar grape varieties for