1.The optimal temperature to store wine is between 8 and 18 degrees Celsius, with most experts agreeing that 13 degrees is just about perfect.
2.Wine should always be stored on its side. Keeping it this way ensures the wine remains in contact with the cork, preventing it from cracking and drying out, thus letting in air which will kill the wine. One school of thought suggests that it is best to store the wine at an angle, ensuring both liquid and air is in contact with the cork - it is kept moist, but if it expands, air rather than liquid passes through it.
3.The fill level of wine is a good indicator as to how well it has been stored. The ideal bottle will have a level ‘in the neck’ however the older a wine is, the more acceptable for it to have a ‘high shoulder’ fill - and sometimes even lower.
4.You don’t have to be super-rich to start a wine collection. Fantastic wines can be bought for $10 a bottle, you just have to do your research! Yes, if you want to buy the best vintages from the best producers it will certainly cost you plenty, but there is a great deal more to wine than the extreme end of the scale!
5.A useful tip if you keep a number of bottles - put an ID tag around the neck of each bottle so you can identify it without disturbing the wine.
6.Wines can be bought everywhere, from supermarkets to wine merchants/ dealers and at auction. Never underestimate how helpful a friendly wine- dealer can be; they will always be able to offer you advice, whatever your budget.
7.There are excellent websites out there which will help you track and manage your wine collection. This author is particularly fond of Cellar Tracker which has both an excellent free service and very helpful paid-for features.
8.Always keep any documents regarding the wine you collect as they are useful for demonstrating a wine’s provenance. A Lafite whose history can be tracked since the day it was bottled is a much safer bet for a buyer than one with no documentation. Of course, you might never sell the wine on, but just in case...
9.If you have anything more than a few bottles, it is very much worth having your collection regularly appraised by a professional. Firstly this will help to gain an idea of value for insurance, and also may help you make decisions on what to buy and sell at that point, as values can alter dramatically over time.
10.Wherever you live, it is likely that there is a local wine collecting group. As with any type of collecting, it is enjoyable to have other people around who share your passion, so get out there and get talking!
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