While having a cellar full of great wine is a wonderful thing the advice I have given many people over the years is that the cellar needs to be a well “working cellar”. There are several aspects to that comment, one is, as I mentioned before, having a range of wines for all occasions and at different stages of their development so you can draw on great wine at any time for any reason.
Perhaps as important, or even more so, is the need to keep accurate records of what is in the cellar. You can have all the wine in the world but if you don’t know what you have then you will never know what to drink and when. Having the ability to see a detailed list of the wines you have and in what quantity you have them is an invaluable tool in building, then maintaining, a proper working cellar.
The benefit of an accurate cellar records system where you are able to select the wines you may want to drink at any time can’t be stressed enough. If I have any advice for people wishing to build a properly curated and well stocked cellar then it would be, buy wines for the future, not wines you necessarily like right now. Keep your wines in a proper cellar facility where the ideal conditions are assured and, keep good accounts of your wines at all times. It is the three keys to making sure you will always have great booze to drink and are able to see them at their peak of development.
ROSCOE