Beginners often find that collecting wine can be a very fun and exciting hobby – especially as you research new wines! If you are looking to collect wine, you may end up spending a bit more money than you planned. Wine collecting is a great hobby, although it can be very expensive. If you are just starting out, the tips below may come in very handy to help you get started.
The first thing to do, is find a place to store your wine. You can store your wine at home, although you’ll need to have a location with the proper amount of space and cooling temperature (between 50 and 65 degrees F). You will also need to determine what types of wine you are planning to collect. There are several options to choose from including many variations of red and white wine.
The most popular types of wine are made from a variety of different types of grapes :
- Riesling (Rees-ling)
- Gewürztraminer (Gah-vurtz-tra-meener)
- Chardonnay (Shar-doe-nay)
- Sauvignon blanc (So-vee-nyon Blah)
- Syrah (Shi-raah)
- Merlot (Mur-loh)
- Cabernet sauvignon (Kab-er-ney soh-vin-yohn)
- Pinot noir (Pee-noh nwahr, OR Pee-noh)
- Malbec (Mal-bek)
- Zinfandel (zin-fuh n-del)
- Sangiovese (san-joe-ve-zee)
- Tempranillo (tem-pray-nill-oh)
You will also need to find some merchants with good quality and refinery to purchase your wine from. While beginners are often starting in their local grocery store, we recommend the following locations once you start to broaden your horizons:
Southwest Wine Cellar
Participation in wine tastings and trade shows are an excellent way to increase your knowledge base and meet other enthusiasts. Here, you can meet other people who are into wine collecting, and get to know local traders. You should also strive to learn as much as you can about wine. You can learn a lot about wine on the Internet, or by reading magazines and newsletters dedicated to wine. By doing so, you can also learn more about storage, buying wine, and even cooling your wine.
To better prepare your wine for storage, you can try tasting different varieties. This way, you can identify which wines you need to age more, as well as how to distinguish tastes. You may also want to learn how to identify the flavor quality or even take a course to become a Sommelier. As you may already know, there is a difference among rare vintage wines and wines that are instantly processed.
As beginners, you should avoid purchasing in bulk until you know for certain which types of wine you wish to collect. When you visit a wine trader or winery, you should let them know that you are a collector. This way, he or she can inform you whether or not the wines you are collecting are available in his inventory. If you hope to collect wines from other areas, he or she may be able to give you contact information for finding the wines you are interested in.
Keep in mind that wine collecting isn’t all about fun – it’s also a great way to eventually start your own business!
By attending wine shows and tasting events to learn more about the different brands, and also find wines that will bring in higher profits. Once you have collected some rare bottles of wine – you can start selling and watch your profits soar.
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