Do you have aspirations to build a great wine collection but don’t know where to start?  Have you collected a few bottles but are unsure about how to build what you have into a cohesive collection?  Here are some tips and hints to help  you out.

The best way to start is to educate yourself.  Before you’re ready to spend your money on a bottle worth aging in a wine cellar, you need to figure out how to pick out a good one.  Read books, articles, and blogs on wine.  But don’t forget that the best way to learn is through practice.  Be proactive in your learning.  Visit wine stores and talk to the knowledgeable employees.  Go to wine tastings and talk to the employees there–they are often a wealth of information that most people ignore, and they love to tell you about the differences between vintages and varietals.

You also need to lean what wines you like.  There’s no sense investing time and money into a bottle of oaked Chardonnay, only to find out that you really don’t like oaky wines.  Now, it’s easy to decide whether you like or dislike a particular bottle.  It’s harder to remember what bottles you like and what bottles you don’t when you’re in the wine shop ready to purchase.  The best way to quickly build up an inventory of your tastes in wine is to keep a wine notebook.  Whenever you taste a wine, take a few notes on it.  Use a simple rating system (1-10, for example), so that you can easily tell how you felt about a particular wine.  When you’re at the store facing hundreds of bottles, a wine notebook will help you have purpose and direction.  If you can’t try a particular wine before purchase, check out online reviews.

If you have a wine cellar or a wine cabinet or refrigerator, it’s imperative that you learn about wine aging.  Some wines age better than others.  Some should age for only 2 years, while others can benefit from 20 years of aging or more.  Besides reading and talking to experts, a good way to learn about aging is to tag your bottles.  Buy several bottles of the same varietal and vintage.  Tag them with the date that you stored them.  As you open each bottle, take notes!  (Remember that wine notebook? This is another thing it’s good for.)   Another benefit of buying in bulk is price.  Buying a case of wine (12 bottles) is usually more cost effective than buying those bottles individually.  But 12 bottles is a lot, so make sure you like the wine before you buy a whole case.

Don’t forget that wine is supposed to be fun.  Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try new varietals.  If you love Merlot, branch out a bit and try other reds–you might find yourself falling in love with Spanish Rioja or even California Cabernet Sauvignon.  But if you find that there’s nothing you like better than a buttery Chardonnay, feel no shame in stocking your wine cellar with dozens of bottles of the stuff you love.  It’s your wine collection, after all, and it should be a reflection of you.

Building a wine collection can be a pleasurable and interesting pastime that you can enjoy for the rest of your life.  Having knowledge of wine, and a collection that reflects that knowledge, is something wine collectors get a great deal of satisfaction from.  But there’s no sense in putting time and money into wine collection unless you have a proper place to store it.  Wine stored incorrectly won’t age well, and you’ll find bottle after bottle of your hard-won collection opening up rancid.  Check back for our next post on the right way to store wine.

We’ve all had it happen: the moldy cork, the bug in the glass, the wrong wine.  There are some things that are clear reasons to send back your glass or bottle.  But what about the less obvious problems?  These 5 tips tell you what is–and isn’t–ok in restaurant wine service.

1.  Size (and shape) matter.  At family-style restaurants (especially Italian), you might be served wine in small, stemless tumblers.  This is part of the cultural experience and is perfectly acceptable (and a fun way to drink wine!)–but ONLY if you’re drinking inexpensive table wine.  If you’re springing for the good stuff, it should be served in a glass that will bring out its full flavors.

Another thing you want to watch out for is restaurants that serve wine in those ridiculously small 6-oz glasses.  To get a proper pour, they have to fill the glass nearly to the brim!  This leaves no room for the swirling and sniffing that are part of proper wine enjoyment.  Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about this one except politely mention to the management the benefit of a regulation-sized 12-oz tasting glass.

2.  If you ordered a bottle for the table, the waiter should have you taste the wine, regardless of your sex, age, or whether you’re paying or not.  Here’s what to do:  When the wine is presented to you, make sure the bottle is the one you ordered.  The waiter will open the wine and place the cork on the table next to you.  DON’T smell the cork!  You can’t tell anything by smelling it, and it makes you look like an amateur.  All you need here is a visual inspection.  Make sure the cork is wet on the wine side and dry on the other side.  This is pretty much the extent of what you can tell from the cork: even if it is moldy, as long as the wine side is mold-free, the wine is probably fine.  There’s one exception to this rule: very expensive wines sometimes have a label printed on the cork.  Make sure the info on the label matches that on the bottle, especially the vintage.

After you’ve inspected the cork, place it on the table next to you.  The waiter should dispose of it.  Next, taste the wine.  If you want to do this step like the pros, read this post for a how-to.  If all you want to do is make it through the tasting with your dignity intact, just sniff and then sip the wine to make sure it isn’t rancid.  What you’re looking for is a smell like a moldy basement–this indicates that the wine is corked.

3.  If you’ve ordered a bottle, you should expect the waiter to fill the wine glasses as they empty.

4.  You should NOT expect the waiter to bring an ice bucket for your bottle of white wine, unless, of course, you ask for one.  White wines should be served at between 45 and 50 degrees F, depending on the varietal–much warmer than a near-freezing bucket of ice water.  If your wine is served too cold, the flavors will be masked and it will taste overly acidic.  However, if you order Champagne or another sparkling wine, the waiter should automatically bring you an ice bucket, as these wines need to be kept very cold for best taste.

5.  You should never feel pressured by your waiter to spend more money.  If he or she is filling your wine glass to the brim, it’s probably to get you to buy another bottle.  If you ask for a wine suggestion, he or she should offer more than one, at different price points.  If you order a bottle of wine that the restaurant has run out of, your waiter should suggest another in the same price range.  Establishments that are focused on getting you to spend more money are generally not trying hard enough to ensure your wine, food, and service is tip-top.  If you feel pressured to spend more than you wanted to, or judged for being budget-conscious, don’t go back to the restaurant.

6.  Always remember that you are the one paying for your wine, and you should expect service that reflects this.  But be forgiving: restaurants are hectic places.  If your favorite bottle of wine isn’t available, don’t stress–it’s a chance to try something new.  If your waiter isn’t at your elbow when you drain your glass, fill it yourself–he was probably dealing with a picky customer.  As long as the service is generally good, don’t let a small error ruin your night out.

Want to know what to do when you’re the one opening and serving the bottle of wine? Or learn more about wine glasses? Our Wine Storage Education Center has all the info you need.

If you’re interested in scoring great deals on wine and prefer your PJs over your formal wear, you should check out online wine auctions.  Whereas live wine auctions are most useful to that select group of wine collectors that is in a position to drop thousands of dollars an hour on wine, online wine auctions are great for every casual wine collector.

Online wine auction houses allow you to bid on your own time, meaning that you can do your research before you buy a whole case of something you’ve never tasted.  They allow you to look for something specific or browse easily.  As the auction progresses, you can also easily keep track of what other bidders are offering.  Most auction sites even give you the ability to automatically track your bids, so you don’t have to worry about constantly checking the auction to keep track.  And don’t forget the PJ factor!

If you’re interested in using online wine auctions, make sure to read the fine print.  Delivery of wine is prohibited across some states.  Some sites may charge extra for usage fees.  And make sure that the shipping costs won’t add more to the price than you’re willing to pay.  With a little research, online wine auctions can be just as safe as live ones–and a whole lot more user-friendly.

Here are a few online wine sites to get you started:

Wine Bid: Wine Bid is the largest, most popular wine bidding site.  It offers lots of collector-quality bottles, many at great prices.  You can browse their plethora of bottles without registering.

Ebay: The old standby now sells wine too.  Ebay ranks highly because of their trustworthy, easy-to-use interface.

Wine Commune: Wine Commune has been around for more than a decade.  Its searching feature is extremely user friendly: it allows you to find the specific bottle you’re looking for and then compare prices from thousands of sellers.  Like Ebay, it also has  ”buy now” option for those without the patience to bid.

If you’re just starting out collecting wine, you probably find wine labels more than a little daunting.  How do you pick through all the fine print and strange words to get the information you need?  What’s just advertising and what’s useful to know?

Although every wine bottle is different, and labeling practices differ between countries and even wineries, there is information listed on every bottle that will help you find out more about the wine in the bottle.  Let’s decode it:

Wine maker or winery: Usually in the largest font and often at the top of the bottle (though it can be located in the middle or bottom too) is the name of the company that made the wine.  In the French label pictured here, the winemaker is Jo Pithon.

Vintage: Contrary to popular belief, vintage does not denote the year the wine was bottled, but rather the year that the grapes were harvested.  Some wine makers may wait several years before turning grapes into wine.  Here, the vintage is listed as 1994.

Appellation: The bottle will always list the country or region where the grapes that made the wine were grown.  Appellations can be as broad as “The Napa Valley” or as specific as the vineyard the grapes were grown in.  But beware: just because the wine label lists a certain appellation doesn’t necessarily mean that all the grapes that went into the wine were grown there.  Most regulations allow from as much as 15% of the grapes to be grown elsewhere.  Here, the appellation is listed in the middle of the label as Coteaux du Layon St. Aubin. This information is also listed near the bottom of the label.  The word Controlée after the appellation means that the area the wine was grown in is defined as a wine-growing region by French law.

Varietal: Many, but not all, wine labels list the varietal, or the specific kind (or kinds) of grapes that went into the wine.  Most Italian and French wines (like the one pictured) do not list the varietal, because their wine laws dictate that the wines from each region must be made from traditional varieties.

Ripeness and Quality: Some wines list information about the ripeness of the grapes used.  They may also list information about the quality of the wine.  This is common in wines from Germany and Austria (but wouldn’t it be helpful information from all wineries?)

Other: Much more additional information is often available, what it is depends on the bottle.  If a wine is estate bottled (made from grapes grown in the winery’s vineyard), the label will usually say so.  The wine’s alcohol content and the size of the bottle will usually be disclosed.  In the U.S., the back label of the wine will contain the Surgeon General’s warning regarding alcohol consumption and whether the wine contains sulfites.  The back label also, of course, carries the description of the wine, but you can usually disregard this as advertising hype rather than useful information.

Next time you purchase a bottle of wine, take a second look at the label.  You can learn a lot about the wine in the bottle if only you know where to look.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past decade, you know about the “green” revolution.  If you’re interested how the eco-movement affects your wine, read on.

1.  What does “green” really mean?

“Green” is a pop culture term, so it doesn’t have an “official” or standardized meaning.  Though you can usually count on “green” wineries to at minimum use organic grapes (more on that below), many wineries are really upping the eco-friendly ante.  They are using alternative sources of energy (like solar), making a big effort to conserve water, and recycling production materials.  Some are really going back to the earth by using traditional, rather than chemical, methods to maintain soil health.

2.   What does “organic” really mean?

When we think organic, we think of small farms, but in the age of health food superstores, the meaning of the term “organic” isn’t that simple.  Wines labeled organic are made from grapes that have not been treated with chemical pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, or fertilizers.  But be careful: while USDA-certified “organic” or “100 percent organic” wine, in addition to being made entirely from organic grapes, doesn’t have added sulfites, wine labeled “made from organically grown grapes” may contain them.  But what’s the big deal with sulfites?

3.  What are sulfites, and why do I care if they’re in my wine?

Sulfites are chemical compounds that occur naturally in all wines.  They are also often artificially introduced, either to stop fermentation at a certain point or to preserve the wine and prevent oxidation.  Sulfites have been added to wine for hundreds of years, but have recently become a hot-button issue because of their allergy-causing properties.  In fact, sulfites are one of the 9 top food allergens.  Asthmatics and those prone to migraines are at special risk.  If you’re concerned about sulfites, make sure the label says, “no added sulfites.”  But be careful: many many foods contain sulfites, and most producers are not required to put that information on the label.

4.  What about “local” wines? You probably won’t be able to find many wines that are both organic and produced locally, but just buying ones that are local can lessen your carbon footprint.  Locally produced goods require much less fuel because they don’t have to be shipped long distances, and buying them also supports small businesses.  Plus, buying wines locally means that often, you can talk directly to the farmers, who will know much more about how the grapes are grown and the wine is produced than your local grocery store clerk will.

5.  Does it taste better? Of course, it’s silly to think of “organic” as a synonym for “good.”  But according to a recent UCLA study, organic wines in the mid-to-high price range (over $25) scored higher than comparable non-organic wines.  Here are two possible reasons: 1.  The absence of chemical additives improves taste.  2. Organic grapes are often of higher quality, and in fact, many vineyard choose to use organic grapes for the taste, even if they aren’t running a “green” operation.

6.  Is it more expensive? Here’s a real shocker: organic wines above the $25 barrier are priced, on average, 7% lower than their non-organic counterparts.  What gives?  Organic wine became popular in the 70s, and because of less-than-stellar production practices, tended to be of poorer quality and also to turn to vinegar faster.  Modern organic wines don’t have these problems, but the stigma persists.  In fact, many wineries that produce organic wine tend to ignore the fact on the label–and are able to charge 13% more for their superior product.  So cash in on the organic deal–at this rate, the false “hippy wine” stigma won’t last.

Grocery stores are definitely the easiest places to get wine.  After all, you’re already shopping–why not take a quick trip down the wine aisle?  But once you’re there, it can be bewildering.  With no descriptions and no expert advice, you can end up never straying outside of your comfort zone of those bottles you know you like.  Even worse, you can end up choosing a bottle based on the label, and as we all know, you can never judge a book–or a wine–by its cover.

If you want to expand your wine knowledge, a wine shop can be the perfect place to start.  Wine shops are well-stocked with a far bigger variety that you see at the supermarket, and what’s more, their sales associates usually know what they’re talking about.  They can help you find the perfect wine to accompany that Sunday dinner, or clue you in to inexpensive bottles with expensive taste.  Their expertise can help you develop your wine knowledge, and help make picking out a bottle of wine a more enjoyable experience.  If you’re in the San Diego area like Vintage Cellars, click here for a list of San Diego wine shops.  An expert opinion might be closer than you think.  Happy learning!