Once you’ve decided to build a wine cellar or buy a wine fridge you’ve crossed a line.  You are no longer just a “wine drinker”,  you are now a “wine collector” and you’ve joined a growing sub-culture.

This also means you may be subscribing to one or more of various wine magazines such as Decanter, The Wine Spectator, and The Wine Advocate.  You may be participating in on-line blogs,  and reading the musings of Robert Parker, Jancis Robinson, Steven Tanzer and James Suckling.  Have you discovered websites such as winesearcher.com or winezap.com? By now you are probably way beyond the casual jaunt through the wine store looking for the burger-friendly quaff of the evening.

Once bitten by this bug, it’s very hard to find your way back.  You may come to anticipate and plan regular stops at the wine store, to comb the shelves of the fine-wine section for an undiscovered gem that you can lay down in the cellar and serve at your daughter’s 21^st birthday , -or pick up the latest LCBO auction catalogue and start checking off lots of old Burgundies, Bordeaux and vintage Champagne that appeal to you as you envision the “perfect cellar”.

These are all symptoms of a condition I often refer to as “Vinocollectoritus Extremus” and I’m afraid it’s incurable (subject to financial considerations).

Whether you’ve got room for 50, 500 or 5,000 bottles, what do you actually fill the cellar with?

After years of buying what other people suggested was great wine (including well respected wine writers and collectors who were far more experienced than me), I adopted the following maxim: “Buy what you love and love what you buy”.   It’s really that simple.

I have learned the hard way that you can’t just assume that because someone else loves a particular wine or wine region or vintage, that you will too. Very much like music, different wines and wine makers will have different levels of acceptance and appeal to different people. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve picked up a case of wine that I’d never tasted (but highly recommended by some wine guru) – only to find out by the time I’d uncorked the first bottle, I really wasn’t thrilled with the wine, yet there it was taking up valuable space in my cellar.  Of equal concern was the amount of money I had tied up that could have been put to better use.

Another weighty issue for the new cellar owner is whether to continue buying wines to drink now or to buy wines for long term aging.

I suggest you do both. There are many occasions on which to enjoy an “event” wine that you’ve had biding its time, waiting to be consumed – months or even years  – on birthdays, anniversaries, family gatherings – occasions on which you want to bring out a great, well-aged fabulous wine or champagne. Those are moments to be cherished and remembered.  Accordingly, many people keep the bottles as mementos of the occasion.

Having a supply of well-aged “event” wines is the real reason that most people buy or build a proper wine cellar.   On the other hand though, having a readily available supply of nice drinking, affordable wine to consume with a chicken, a burger or pasta without breaking the bank is the other side of the coin.

Inasmuch as one might  love to drink Chateau Latour every time they feel like uncorking a bottle, it is unaffordable and impractical for most of us. 

The most difficult question to answer when contemplating the stocking of a new wine cellar, is just how much money one should spend on a bottle of either everyday table wine or collectible wine for long term aging.

As to price point: find your “guilt” level.   As my brother says “one man’s floor is another man’s ceiling”.

While I may find that spending $30-60 per bottle for my burger wine acceptable, there are many people who would feel guilty or uncomfortable spending that amount of money for a drink to have with dinner.  As to collectible, vintage wine, all bets are off – the sky’s the limit, but there are values to be found at every level.

In Ontario where we have a monopolistic system controlled by our provincial government. Having no competition and high alcohol taxes translates to wine prices that in most cases are substantially higher than in many places in the U.S.A.

However, if you decide to stock a cellar – whether age worthy collectors’ wines or every day burger wines, prudent selection and a lot of tasting and research will yield a guilt-free cellar that will fulfill any wine lover/collector’s expectations.

Another key element to consider when stocking a cellar is what ratio of white to red wine should be and from which wine producing countries or regions?

From my own experience, I can honestly say that what I collected 20 years ago is different from what I collect today.  My tastes have been honed and focused.  I no longer buy wines just because an “expert” told me to.

Although most of my purchases are variations on the same themes of Bordeaux, vintage Champagne, some California and Italian reds and whites, I generally buy wines that I have tasted in many vintages and which consistently thrill me and entice me to buy in subsequent vintages.

The choice of red or white wine has a lot to do with what you like to eat.   The pairing of food and wine is a highly subjective  and personal process.   I tend to agree with the traditional school of thought – white wine with fish and poultry and red wine with meat .  Having said that I would serve a light bodied red wine such as red Burgundy or Pinot Noir with poultry – especially turkey.

Champagne with everything - especially seafood.  There are many people who disagree with this position and will often serve fish and seafood with red wine or with white meats. I was recently at a superb wine dinner which included a fish course and a seafood course, each served with a red wine .

Your food preferences will determine the ratio of reds to whites in your cellar. As I mentioned,  I tend to serve champagne (both vintage and non vintage) in place of white wine with a fish or seafood course . Accordingly, the champagne bottle count in my cellar far exceeds the white wine count.  But given the fact that I tend to serve much more meat than fish or poultry, (usually tenderloin or New Zealand lamb chops), red wine – primarily Bordeaux – dominates my cellar.   Like music, there is something for every taste and no two cellars will be the same.

As to which varietals to focus on when building a cellar, that is an even more personal preference issue.

From Chardonnay to Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir to Cabernet Sauvignon, the choice of wines based on varietal selection is as vast as the number of producing regions.  However, the basic rule of thumb for any wine that I buy is that it should havegreat balance between the acids, tannins and fruit and not be excessive in any one of those component parts.

Another key element is that the wine should express its terroir – its birthplace – the soil, the air, the climate of the vineyard and region of its origin as well as the expertise and artistry of the winemaker who has grown the grapes, cared for them in the vineyard, harvested them, and blended the final product. I don’t want a Cabernet Sauvignon to taste so ambiguous that it could have come from some anonymous wine farm in California, Chile or Spain. Wine should never just taste like alcoholized fruit juice in a glass. That to me is the distinction between “wine” and “great wine”.   From experience, I have found that great wine can be bought at all price levels.

Half the fun of collecting is the discovery process – the tasting, the reading, the hunting for big game at the wine store. The other half is drinking it with friends and family over a great meal, and watching everyone around the table smile as they sip the nectar that you have poured for them after much thought and contemplation.

Brian Greenglass was born in Toronto and has been an avid wine collector for over 20 years.

When not doing his day job  (commercial real estate) he gears his travels largely to focus on food and wine.

Brian and is often seen wandering through restaurants and their kitchens, and vineyards from Napa to Tuscany , looking for the culinary holy grail.  We are delighted to have Brian with us at theperfectconnections and look forward to his reflections on food and wine from around the globe.

Beer is made by men. Wine is made by God.

- Martin Luther