CELLAR DWELLING
Starting (and stocking) a wine cellar.
In the wine trade, we joke that the average aging time for a bottle of wine is 17 minutes — or the amount of time it takes to get the bottle home and pull the cork. The fact is that, for most people, storing wine isn’t a major issue because we buy for immediate consumption. That said, buying, drinking, and now collecting fine wine seems to have attracted a whole new breed of devotees. Even during economic slowdowns, the phone lines at fine wine shops continue to buzz with customers angling for their allocation of the coveted labels. And this year, more than ever, I’ve received calls from more than a dozen club sommeliers seeking advice about how to inject new vigor into their wine lists, or, for those with active wine committees and impressive collections, to come up with creative events and tastings to showcase their liquid riches to members.
To me, it’s not at all surprising that wine collecting has gained such momentum in the last several years. First, wine itself gained momentum, edging out spirits as the beverage of choice in many cases, thanks to its feel-good virtues — great food-enhancing flavor and natural shareability (it’s not sold in a single serving size), and even health benefits of moderate consumption.
In many markets, wine and wine tasting have become the corporate social activity. Wine schools and events in New York, where I work and teach, are packed, frequently with executives who bring a client to learn a little about wine, while having a good time. Sure, activities like golf are still strong with the corporate set, but wine is more inclusive, because you don’t need a great deal of gear or skill and you can enjoy it right away, anywhere, in any weather.
WHY CELLAR WINE?
Cellaring refers to keeping wine in medium- or long-term
storage to give it time to improve in the bottle and develop complexity, in
the same way that some cheeses, brandies, and cigars evolve and improve with
age. But it’s not for everyone or every wine. Most wine sold in the United
States is meant to be consumed within two years (for whites) to three years
(for reds) of the vintage year on the label. And if the wine isn’t going to
get better, why wait? Enjoy it while its fruit and flavor are fresh and
vibrant.
However, with the appropriate wine styles, the effects of aging are well worth the wait. The colors of both white and red wine converge with age toward that of iced tea (or tawny port), while the aroma gradually loses its fruit character and develops layers of exotic scents with kaleidoscopic complexity. In reds, the scents and flavors tend toward earthy, mushrooms, leather, and dried figs; in whites, toward toasted nuts and dried apples. Gradually, the texture of both whites and reds smooths and softens — think of the progression from Shetland wool to cashmere. In whites, the acidity softens as the fruit mellows, while in reds both the tannin (the component that gives them that dry, chalky feeling) and the acidity soften as the fruit mellows.
To get a sense of the taste impact of aging wine without having to do it yourself, buy two good quality ports — a late-bottled vintage (LBV) port such as Taylor Fladgate LBV and a tawny port like a 20-year-old Fonseca. Open both at the same time and pour a taste of each. (Your two open bottles will keep for several weeks, so don’t sweat the leftovers.)
Look at them, smell them, and taste them side by side. The LBV will show its youth — vivid violet color, the scent and taste of ripe, juicy plum and berry fruit, and a texture that grips your mouth. Now, try the tawny. Its color will be amber-brown and transparent, like iced tea; the scent, like nuts and caramel; and the texture, satin-sleek. The difference between these two wines is the amount of aging. You may find it difficult to believe, but the fact is that, when it was young, the tawny port looked and tasted exactly like the LBV.
If you want to explore the sensory impact of bottle age in wine without sweetness, try a pair of Spanish red Rioja wines — one a basic Crianza and the other a gran reserva. The basic Crianza will have a vibrant plum flavor and scent, while the gran reserva will feature fruit, but so much more, too — spice, tobacco, leather, earth — all scents that develop as the wine ages.
For me, buying wines is an investment in pleasure. I look forward to the joy that they will bring to me, my friends, and my family when they are at peak. In the English tradition, I bought a case of vintage port from my son’s birth year that we look forward to sharing on his 21st birthday. My 1990 Château Palmer will one day be just reward for the blood, sweat, and tears spilled picking grapes in that hallowed vintage year. (Trust me when I tell you that picking grapes is really hard work.) And my little cache of Krug Vintage Champagne will be a delicious reminder of the liquid that lured me off Wall Street and into the world of wine.
Ready to experience wine at its best? Lattice-like built-in racks above the kitchen fridge are beautiful, but they are not the place for fine wine. The warm exhaust from the compressor will have your collection “cooked” in short order. But you don’t need to put an elaborate climate-controlled addition on your home. (Although you can, if you like.) And you don’t have to spend hours poring over wine catalogs trying to figure out the Next Big Thing to invest in. All you need is a taste for wine, a small storage space, a little patience, and some basic rules of the wine-cellaring game.
WHICH WINES FOR THE CELLAR?
The wine styles that actually improve with bottle age in proper storage
conditions are vintage port from Portugal, classic French red Bordeaux and
Burgundy, the top California Cabernet Sauvignons, top Italian red wines
(chiefly what I call the Killer B’s — Brunello, Barbaresco, and Barolo — and
the best of the category called Super Tuscans), and classic dessert wines
like French Sauternes and German late harvest Riesling.
Big reds generally age well, thanks to their high levels of acidity, alcohol, and flavor concentration, all of which act as natural preservatives. But I also think the classic French white Burgundies — consisting of Chablis, Chassagne-Montrachet, Corton-Charlemagne, Meursault, and Puligny-Montrachet, all of which are 100 percent Chardonnay — from the top wineries and vintages develop mind-bending complexity after five to 10 years.
I also love to age classic German Riesling Kabinett and Spätlese wines for at least five years. And I have tasted some bottle-aged Austrian Rieslings and Loire Valley Chenin Blancs (labeled as Vouvray or Savennières) that were absolutely extraordinary.
Finally, there is champagne. Although it generally comes to market aged and ready to drink, champagne’s high acidity gives it real stamina in the bottle. With age, the wine becomes subtler and less effervescent, more like a world-class white wine than a bubbly. If you are looking for something a little different, try them. You don’t want to age them forever (who’s got that long, anyway?), but in five to 10 years’ time, you’ll have an amazing drink on your hands.
In addition to their ageability, most of the wine categories mentioned here have something else in common: They are expensive. Without a doubt, buying wines like these justifies an investment in proper storage so that your expenditure, and your patience, will pay off in pleasure.
THE CELLAR
The cellar itself can be almost anything. The most amazing one I’ve ever
seen was on the country estate of a club member in New York. The family had
called me out to do a private wine tasting in honor of Mom’s 40th. This
cellar sported months’ worth of master carpentry to accommodate more than
6,000 bottles, including large formats like magnums and jeroboams — the
equivalent of about two regular bottles and four regular bottles,
respectively — and a computerized scanning system at the door. Every bottle
was bar-coded on its way in, then swiped past the scanning eye on the way
out, for instant inventory updates.
Then there is my little collection of 400 bottles, resting in the cool of my basement in the boxes they came in, right next to the Shop-Vac and the decommissioned NordicTrack. My inventory system is in my head, and as long as many bottles of champagne and my prized 1990 Château Palmer are visible when I walk by, all is right with the world.
The temperature and humidity are two important elements in a wine cellar. Fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit is considered the ideal cellar temperature at which to preserve wine for very long-term storage, but you could end up twiddling your thumbs for years waiting for your wine to achieve peak condition. It is a matter of personal taste, but I think that most of the collectible categories, in great vintages, begin to taste delicious in 10 years. (Exceptions: top California Cabernets and top French red Burgundies, which are ready after seven years or so, and vintage port, which needs at least 15 years.) Unless your cellaring time horizon is very long, a cellar temperature as high as 65 degrees is fine, as long as it is pretty consistent. As for humidity, about 60 percent is considered ideal to prevent corks from drying out. A dry cork can contract or even shrivel, allowing air into the bottle and prematurely oxidizing the wine. In very humid cellars, the bottle labels sometimes mildew a bit — not a problem, except from an aesthetic point of view. But then again, an age-worn label has character.
If you have a cool basement, you should buy a racking system. Racks and bins allow you to store the wine on its side, with the label facing up, so that the cork is kept moist and so you can identify the bottle without having to disturb it.
The rack and bin options are many, from budget do-it-yourself component kits made of wood, plastic, or metal to custom redwood bin cubes and racking systems that should be installed by a carpenter. In either case, you simply buy as much bottle capacity as you need to accommodate your collection. Some good racking suppliers are the Wine Enthusiast, International Wine Accessories, and Kedco Wine Storage Systems.
WINE STORAGE UNITS
If you don’t have a suitable basement, you have a few options. The
aforementioned suppliers, among others, sell refrigeration units that
maintain a constant cellar temperature (warmer than your refrigerator) for
your wines. They range in size from countertop models to very large cabinets
that hold several hundred bottles. Don’t bother with the small units sold in
appliance superstores; they’re usually just refrigerators that actually
reduce the humidity in the air. The true wine units either maintain the
ambient humidity or increase it by taking in the warmer exterior air and
condensing its moisture inside.
Companies such as EuroCave and Vinothèque offer basic
industrial units, but you also can opt for finished wood, glass doors,
interior low-temperature lighting, and so on, if it’s going to be a visible
focal point of your house. You can get units that maintain one compartment
at refrigerator temperature (for champagnes, maybe) or support two cellar
temperatures, to have whites at ready-to-serve temperature (around 48
degrees) and reds at cellar temperature (55 to 58 degrees). Just be sure to
check the electrical requirements and measurements of the space where you
plan to put the unit, and check the clearance needed around it for the
compressor exhaust to vent.
BUILDING A WINE CELLAR
If you have several thousand bottles or think that eventually you will,
you should consider building a wine cellar. You need a space, though, that
you can both insulate and ventilate without disrupting whatever is nearby.
These types of cellars are not weekend do-it-yourself projects. Most are
custom designs involving many trades: electrical/HVAC and insulation, at the
very least, as well as the millwork and carpentry, lighting design and
engineering, interior design, masonry, and so on.
But beware of “cellar-design services” offered by mail-order equipment companies. They can provide ideas and some basic specifications, but they are the equivalent of computer design-a-kitchen software programs you can find at many home-improvement warehouses.
Anyone who has tried these knows that problems can arise when the “designer” never sets foot on the site to do the critical things like measuring, checking ventilation patterns, and sourcing power. Work with contractors who know what they’re doing. Your local fine wine shop should be able to give referrals.
Andrea Immer’s latest book is Wine Buying Guide for Everyone. She is one of only 10 women in the world to hold the title of Master Sommelier.
WINE SHOPPING
A good buying policy is to choose only wines that you’d appreciate in
liquid terms — meaning in your glass rather than in cash. So don’t buy wines
that aren’t to your taste or pay prices so high you couldn’t justify popping
the cork. You can go for the classic collectibles (French red Burgundy and
Bordeaux, vintage port, top California Cabernet, and top Italian reds), but
you usually will pay top dollar. Few trophy wines are worth it if you’re
strictly looking at taste (the “impress-your-date/client” factor is another
matter). My focus here is on worthy alternatives — wines that you can
actually get your hands on, that are worth the price, and that will age well
but also taste good before your kindergartner graduates college.
One final practical hint: Buying for the cellar usually means case lots, or at least multiple bottles. Ask about case discounts, and if they’re available, go in with friends on full cases to get the best price.
Italian and Spanish Reds
In general, Italy’s classic red wines (Barolo and Barbaresco from
Piedmont and Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti Classico Riserva, Vino Nobile
di Montepulciano, and the so-called Super Tuscans from Tuscany) are prime
cellaring candidates because the last few great vintages (1997, 1998, and
1999) are cycling into the market.
Also:
• Chianti Rufina Riserva, Fattoria Selvapiana, Tuscany. Try to get the 1997
vintage, but 1998 and 1999 are fine, too.
• Ruffino Riserva Ducale Chianti Classico gold label, Tuscany. The price has
crept up of late, but it’s still a value
compared to many French and California classics. Again, 1997 if you can find
it.
• Rioja Reserva, Bodegas Muga, Spain. This is an absolutely world-class
cellar candidate — spice, leather, intensely
concentrated, but still balanced.
New World Reds
• Pinot Noir, Calera, California. This venerable Pinot Noir has
always rewarded five to 10 years’ aging.
• Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz, Australia. This remains one of my
all-time favorite wines both for drinking and
cellaring in any vintage. It ages beautifully for up to 10 years.
• Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley, California. The style is
elegant, but year in and year out, it has
remained a good medium-term ager — seven to 10 years.
• Kendall-Jackson Great Estates 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. It may
be hard to find, but so worth the
effort. I am placing a bet, as this is a first vintage, but I think it will
go the distance. And it’s packed with that “Napa”
signature — blackberry fruit, mint/cedar scent.
• Geyserville (Zinfandel), Ridge Vineyard, California. Few California
Zinfandels age well. This one ages beautifully.
French Reds
Beyond classic Bordeaux and Burgundy, try:
• Cahors, Chateau Lagrezette, Southwest France. It’s a blow-your-mind-spicy
wine, and will age beautifully.
• Cornas, Clape, Northern Rhone. This Syrah-based wine ages nicely for eight
years or so, in proper conditions.
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