Barolo And The Biggest Misunderstanding Concerning Collecting Wine 

Barolo is made entirely from the Nebbiolo grape, one of the famous grapes of Piedmont region in Italy; certainly Barolo is one of the wines this region is famous for.  Barolo is full bodied and has great flavour complexity and aromas (for instance, licorice, tar, tobacco, chocolate, roses, spice, vanilla, strawberries, etc.) and has been dubbed the “king of wines.”  Borolo is high in tannin, acidity, alcohol, and very dry.  Barolo wines require aging to soften the tannins.

I would like to next discuss wine collecting and the misconception many people have about it.

Many people are under the impression that wine cellars are only for rich people.  This is simply not true.  While a certain investment is required, it is much less substantial than you think.  Of course you can spend plenty of money if you wish; however, it is not necessary.

For instance, a wine cellar does not have to be a huge or elaborate collection of wine.

Some years ago I was over at my friend’s condo. Being a bachelor at the time, he had a condo with a total square footage of about 1200 square feet.  Once all his furniture was in, there was not that much space left, even though he lived alone.  He had a wine collection though.

He had a small room where he collected his wine.  He purchased a wine cave which is a device that ensures your wine stays at a constant temperature and humidity, essential for properly storing wine.  His real secret to keeping a modest collection was that, in addition to keeping a collection of wines for aging purposes, he had a collection of every-day wines, so when he wanted to crack a bottle, he could do s, without disturbing his collection wines. 

It was amazing: although he had little space, he was able to have a nice wine collection and kept it stocked. 

The bottom line is: You’ve got to know what wines are going to benefit from aging, and put those aside, and you’ve got to ensure you’ve got a supply of every-day wines on hand that you can consume at any time.  The great thing about using a wine cave, like my friend did, is if you want to expand your collection, you can always get larger cave at a later date, or get another cave and use both. 

For some people they might want to actually use a some room in their basement fo a more traditional wine cellar.  There is certainly no problem with this either.

The point is: collecting wines can really be done by anyone.

There are many aspects to cellaring wine and Chris Miley's WINE CELLAR SECRETS is a great resource I would highly recommend, in this regard.

Why?

Not only does it provide comprehensive yet easy to follow, step-by-step instructions on how you to build your own wine cellar and how to have your own wine collection, it goes way beyond and is very thorough:

For instance, it covers:

The 5 insider secrets you MUST know to store your wine successfully

Which wines to cellar - Discover which wines have the best cellaring potential.

The wines that age best - A chart is included to guide you.

The ideal temperature to store your wine and what will happen if your wine is subjected to wide temperature fluctuations.

The ideal wine serving temperature for different grape varieties - Avoid the most common mistake … one that will hide the wine's true character.

The part that humidity plays in storing your wine and a quick trick to increase the humidity in your cellar!

The stages a wine goes through as it matures and ages in the bottle - If you open it too early you could be in for a surprise … not necessarily a pleasant one

Cork, and the causes of cork taint and how to avoid it.

And much, much more!