How to Start a Cellar
If you read my last column, you now know how wines age, and maybe you’re inspired to build a wine cellar but don’t know where to start.
The first thing you need to have is space with a favourable environment. Ideally, the space is dark as direct sunlight can harm wines. It must be cool, and if possible, with some humidity. Small and gradual temperature swings aren’t terrible since wines are more sturdy than you might think, but a steady temperature around10 degrees range is perfect.
Once you have found the ideal space, size is another factor to consider. I have never met a collector who has enough of it which is why I caution people from buying wine fridges for long term cellaring. Though ideal for your kitchen space if you want a lot of wine close by, once you start collecting with intention you will find the wine purchases will out number your fridge quickly.
We are lucky in these parts where most houses have a basement where you can cordon off a section to build a cellar, but if you live in a condo you might need to consider off-site storage.
In Toronto there are a few such places where you can rent a “wine locker”. Usually these places will accept wine deliveries, inventory and even insure your wines. They often have a communal space for sharing your precious bottles and they all have 24 hour access in case the urge strikes to open up a bottle of Chateau Not Enough at 2 in the morning!
Next up is considering budget and the purpose of your wine collection. Is it for long term investments where you won’t drink the wines, but plan to age them and sell them at a later date? Or would you simply like to experience how your favourite bottles age?
If the former, and there are some schools of thought that encourage wine as part of a diversified financial portfolio, then more money needs to be allocated for higher end wines. Like many investments, wine does increase in value over time. In fact there is an actual wine “stock market” called Liv-Ex. And as you may have noticed the every day wines on the shelves of the LCBO have increased in price by a dollar or two over recent few years. At the high end, the price increase is often much more per bottle, year over year.
If on the other hand you just want to see how your favourite wines are tasting in 3, 5 or 7 to 10 years, only a few bottles of each are required and the initial capital would be much less. Plus you actually get to drink the wines over time!
Aging wines has the potential to be both exciting and disappointing. Sometimes, when it comes to tasting time, the wines might be faulted or you’ve held on to that special bottle for just a bit too long. Other times you might find a bottle tucked away you had forgotten about, opened it up to taste its aged deliciousness, and wish you’d bought more at the onset.