Greetings and salutations!  So, congratulations are in order: you have gotten the wine bug.  You have also decided to make the leap of starting a wine collection.  You have an unavoidable urge to set a prized bottle or three away for tasting down the road rather than subjecting it to the whimsical thirsts of the cretins that are members of your significant other’s book club (this is not a pretty scene—or so I have heard!).  In short, you are about to join thousands of passionate wine enthusiasts in your quest.  But what steps do you need to take?   How can you maximize the odds that those special bottles will reward your sacrifice and patience rather than tasting like last month’s vinegar when you uncork them?

 

You are in luck—this month’s Chapter will reveal a few pieces of advice for you and your budding collection.

 

Perhaps it makes sense to first discuss ideal wine storage conditions.  In order to properly age a bottle, you should seek a cool, damp and dark location.   Assuming for discussion’s sake that you do not have a cave handy, then a cool basement, a dedicated wine cellar or a wine refrigerator may all be possibilities for your cellar.  Most wine experts will tell you that ideal temperature to store your precious juice will fall into the 55 to 59 degrees Fahrenheit range, although a growing number of dissenting voices have argued that seasonal variances of 5 degrees or so are not harmful to your stored bottles.  Next, wine thrives with moisture, and a humidity factor of approximately 70 percent is considered ideal to keep the all-important corks moist and fully functional for long-term storage.  Two absolute “don’ts” are attempted long term storage in either a garden variety refrigerator or an attic or other location that gets extreme heat and dryness.  You may as well pour the valued bottle down the drain now and get it over with.   Finally, light is a real enemy of long-term wine storage, so make sure you don’t subject your wine to direct sunlight or even bright bulb lights if at all possible.

 

If you live in a cool climate where the temperature rarely exceeds 70 degrees, you may be able to get away with storing your collection without a lot of expense or planning brain damage.  A cool closet under the staircase, a basement corner that keeps dark or even a hidden away cabinet may do the trick for a basic storage location.   However, if you live in the Southwest or other places where the heat soars to Satanic levels in the summer months, you need a better plan.

 

In that case, the first question is what size of a collection do you covet and can you afford?   A modest collection of up to 50 bottles can easily be protected with a no frills, dedicated wine refrigerator.  These appliances address all three ideal conditions by regulating the temperature at approximately 55 degrees, the humidity at 60-70 percent and the dark by limiting the light with either solid doors or with darkly tinted glass doors.  You can obtain a stand-alone wine refrigerator or one that is designed to be neatly tucked under your cabinet with a front exhaust.  Depending on your tastes and desire for bells and whistles such as multiple temperature zones, etc., you can spend from $500 to well over $2,000 for a dedicated wine refrigerator.  If you feel ambitious and have the room to spare, several manufacturers make wine coolers to hold as many as 180 to 200 bottles, a substantial collection.  Although there are many sources of information for wine coolers, I recommend that you peruse www.wineenthusiast.com to get a good idea of costs and features.

 

For some collectors, only a true wine cellar will do.   A wine cellar can be as modest as a converted closet all the way to a dedicated cellar room in a basement of a palace.   Again, one needs to determine the goal for a wine collection.   In either case, a dedicated wine cellar must control both temperature and humidity and strictly limit the light exposure to the precious wine bottles.   On the lower end of that scale, a closet with proper modifications can make a fine wine cellar.   These modifications include a virtual cocoon of insulation to protect the humidity and consistent cool of the cellar.   A stand-alone wine cooler with capacity suitable for the cubic footage of the cellar must be installed, along with proper venting of that cooler to allow the cooler to work at maximum efficiency and consistency of temperature and humidity.

 

One piece of practical advice for you wine sleuths who live in brutally hot climates—give a good deal of thought to the venting of your wine cooler.   As remarkable as these units are, they are typically designed to reduce the temperature approximately 20 degrees from the source air from which they draw.   Simple math would tell you that in order to maintain a steady 55 degrees in the cellar, your source air must not exceed 75 degrees.   No problem, unless of course your August ambient temperature is a balmy 108 degrees and your home’s A/C unit is stressing to keep it under 78 inside!

 

The really fun part of putting together your wine cellar is designing the racking and display.   To the uninitiated, you would be amazed at the different requirements of various bottles for storage.   Options in designing your dream cellar may include one or more rows of display racks to show off your personal favorite bottles, larger racks for magnum storage, slightly larger racks for Champagne and sparkling wine and some Pinot Noir bottles and using space-efficient “x-racks” to be accessible for daily drinkers.   A reasonable sized closet can easily be redesigned to hold 500 bottles or so with a little planning!  But who’s counting?   If you don’t have a local friendly wine store in your neighborhood, then there are some amazing wine stores you can seek on the internet to design your dream cellar with your help.  Examples of such merchants include the site referenced above and www.winehardware.com, among many others. The only limitations to the design of your cellar are (1) your imagination and (2) the ever present SMM [Small Matter of Money].

 

That’s quite enough for this month’s ramblings, and without further ado here are this month’s delicious recommendations:

 

Value Wine No. 1:   The Everyday Argentinian

One outstanding development I have noticed is the increasing occurrences of wine festivals across the country.   On a recent weekend excursion I was fortunate to attend a local low country wine festival and was introduced to several very good wines, the best of which is this month’s Value Wine No. 1, the 2011 Trivento Reserve Malbec.  This Trivento beauty is from the Mendoza region of Argentina.  Retailing for a remarkable $11, the 2011 Trivento exhibited many of the best characteristics of the varietal:  concentrated dark fruit and cocoa, with just a touch of pepper, and an overall balance that is surprising at this price point.  A recent month’s Wine Enthusiast named the Trivento Reserve Malbec a Best Buy, and awarded the wine a very respectable 89 rating. This Argentinian would pair beautifully with a grilled T-Bone steak.   Highly recommended by your humble Wine Bargain Sleuth and his fellow wine festival tasters!  At this price, grab several bottles and set them down for a year or two.

 

Value Wine No. 2:  Unique White from Oregon

This month’s Value Wine No. 2 is yet another delicious wine from Oregon, this time a lovely Pinot Gris from the Willamette Valley: the 2012 Apolloni L Cuvee Pinot Gris.  If you are a fan of Italian Pinot Grigio, you should give this domestic cousin a try.  The flavor profile of the 2012 Apolloni Pinot Gris has a crisp citrus feel, with tastes of lemon, orange peel and pear.  A unique vanilla quality also gives interest to this alternative white.  This Apolloni offering would pair beautifully with a seafood salad or a lightly grilled white fish such as orange roughy.  The most recent edition of Wine Enthusiast awarded the Apolloni L Cuvee a solid 90 rating, and named it an “Editor’s Choice” for the month. While the prospects of fall’s cool nights are in the future, for the present I highly recommend this affordable Pinot Gris, which retails for $19.

 

Worth a Splurge Wine of the Month: A French Kiss from Loire

While the perception is that outstanding French wines are becoming more and more dear and unobtainable, you clever wine bargain sleuths know that with a little extra work one can enjoy the greatness of the French grape without financial regret!  In that light, this month’s Worth a Splurge Wine is the 2011 Saget La Perriere Pouilly-Fume Le Domaine.  This delicious French import eminates from the Loire region.  The Saget La Perriere is primarily based upon Sauvignon Blanc, unlike the similar-sounding Pouilly-Fuisse wines from Burgundy which are primarily made of Chardonnay.  This highly complex white is definitely a food-friendly wine, and would pair wonderfully with grilled fish or even a cedar-plank salmon.  The 2011 Le Domaine is a rich, balanced white which rewards one with a creamy lemon curd impression, followed with yellow apple fruit flavors and a rich minerality.  With a little time in your glass, the Saget La Perriere seems to gain body and substance, treating you to a long, sexy finish that lingers for a surprisingly long time. Apparently Wine Spectator shares the favorable impression of your humble Wine Bargain Sleuth, awarding this terrific Pouilly-Fume with an outstanding 92, and remarking that the wine “has a lovely mouthfeel.”  If you are one that doesn’t view white wines as particularly luxurious, this white will likely change your mindset.  The 2011 Saget La Perriere is available for $35 and is definitely worth the splurge for a special occasion.

 

Thought for the Day:  The Wine Bargain Sleuth 2.0

            This month marks a major overhaul of The Wine Bargain Sleuth with our new beautiful, more user-friendly website.  What started over 20 months ago as a whim and a hope that my voice might be heard in the noise of cyberspace has resulted in my everlasting gratitude to those who have read our blog—and then told their friends about it.   I am both humbled and amazed that well over 1200 readers visited our site last month alone.   Thank you all!   As a token of my esteem, I hope you enjoy the new features, better search features for archived Chapters and recommended Value Wines and Worth a Splurge Wines and a more attractive layout with photographs.  If you have thoughts and ideas for improvement, please give us your comments.  Our goal is to make The Wine Bargain Sleuth your favorite wine website, plain and simple.  We promise to keep doing the things that have caused you to spend a few minutes out of your busy month with The Wine Bargain Sleuth.

Until next month– Cheers!

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