'How Should I Build

a Wine Collection?"

If you’ve got the wine “bug,” that is, you are increasingly enjoying wine, discovering new favorites, and exploring different wine styles, then you probably have started to think about building a collection of wines at home. Like every other hobby, you can go about it with a budget that is small, large or someplace in the middle, depending on your financial means and level of interest. What I like about wine collecting, however, is that the amount you spend on the individual wines is not as important as the diversity of wines in your cellar.

A wine collection should be practical. It does not have to include expensive or rare wines, or even vintage wines. It does, however, have to consider your own taste preferences in wine, your most frequent choices of dishes when dining in or out, and the palates of guests entertained in your home. It’s up to you to decide how much weight to put on each of these areas, but a wine collection works best when a fair amount of thought is given to them.

It is senseless for me to provide a list of specific wines for anyone’s cellar unless this basic information is known. Rather, for anyone thinking of starting a wine collection, I give you the following popular wine styles and the reasons why I believe they are commonly found in many wine collections. I don’t care whether you spend an average of five dollars or fifty dollars a bottle to start your wine cellar collection as much as I care that each of these categories below is adequately represented so that you have a wine to match your needs at any time.

Sparkling Wines:

Champagnes and sparkling wines complement many dishes, including some of the most difficult ones, like those high in salt, heavy cream, and fried foods. Also, good to have at hand for any celebration that arises.

Sauvignon Blanc or Riesling:

These white wines contain bright fruitiness and (usually) moderate alcohol levels, which work well with salads and vegetarian dishes. A good, dry Riesling is always a pleasant surprise to pour for guests, with or without a complementary food.

Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, or Tempranillo:

If Pinot Noir is sometimes considered the red wine for white wine drinkers, then Sangiovese and Tempranillo, popular Italian and Spanish grape varieties, respectively, are red wines that all red wine lovers appreciate. The slightly higher acidity levels in all three, along with a low to moderate level new oak aroma, help them go well with many foods.
Cabernet, Merlot, or Meritage: If you enjoy beef or lamb on a regular basis, any one of these wines is a must for a complete wine collection because of a moderate to high tannic structure that works well to cleans the palate after each bite. Meritage style wine is a domestic version of the French Bordeaux style, a blend of primarily Cabernet and Merlot.

Syrah, Zinfandel, or Petite Sirah:

These hearty and rich, dark fruit-flavored wines tend to have higher than average alcohol levels, but when balanced with the bold fruitiness, create nice accompaniments to grilled foods, stews, strong cheeses and fine cigars.

Late Harvest or Port Style Desert Wines:

Sweet wines usually come in half bottles, and are sipped slowly to help you slow down and appreciate life, the end of a fine meal, or both. Pairing with either an equally sweet desert or, in contrast, a salty dish, like nuts or cheese, can be quite satisfying.

As mentioned before, when building your wine collection your own preferences for wine must be considered. I have not included all styles of wines in this start-up collection, but rather given you the wine styles that all good wine collections include.
 
 
 
My recommendation for this week is:

White:
Dry Creek Vineyard Estate Fumé Blanc DCV3
Dry Creek Valley, 2004
The thirty-three vintages produced by the mature vines that made this wine contribute an elegant style that balances herbal aromas with sharp citrus flavors. $25.00

Related Information

• Dry Creek Vineyard