How to Hibernate: 5 Wine Collecting Tips from Femi Oyediran
Suzanne Pollak
The annual Charleston Wine + Food Festival is finally less than a week away! No better time to add a few choice labels to your cellar than when you're popping bottles left and right like a regular Bacchanal. Keep your eyes on the prize. Whether you collect wine for personal enjoyment or a long-term investment, our favorite Visiting Professor Femi Oyediran has a few tips to put you on the right track:
1. Trust your taste.
Invest in classics from the regions you already know you enjoy -- i.e. if you love Chianti, try an age-worthy wine such like Fontodi's Vigna del Sorbo, or another great Sangiovese-based wine from Brunello del Montalcino.
2. Research your Investment.
In order to build a cellar that will grow as an investment, stay on top of the labels garnering attention from critics and magazines and/or doing well at auctions. Look to reputable sources for deals on both new and older vintage wines. Pay attention to up-and-coming winemakers; hold onto those wines and watch your investment grow.
3. Create a strong collection.
Buy at least three bottles of the same wine at a time, in different vintages when possible.
4. Store properly.
Get a wine fridge! This will give you control over the environment you keep your wine in. Otherwise, store your wine in cool pockets of rooms in your house (55 degrees F.) where there is little light. Keep bottles on their side, not upright, to prevent cork spoilage.
5. Embrace technology.
Every wine ages differently. Pay attention to apps on your phone like Delectable to see how others are doing with vintages you own. If you don't plan on selling the wines, invest in a Coravin device, which allows you to taste the wines in your cellar without actually opening the bottle.