Cellar Your Wines Properly by Building Up a Home Inventory

It’s been said that the typical American cellars a bottle of wine for an average of 15 minutes – which is the amount of time it takes to purchase it at the grocery store, drive home and open up the bottle.

Properly cellaring (or aging) your wine – particularly red wine – is important because it allows the flavors of the wine to develop and the tannins to soften. This could be the difference in turning a good red wine, which is perfectly drinkable now, into a great wine.

Why don’t Americans allow more cellaring time for their wine? I think there are two major reasons. First, Americans want instant gratification. This is the land of fast food, 24-hour grocery stores and high-speed internet. When we want something we want it now, so buying a wine and putting it away to enjoy a year or two later goes counterculture to many wine drinkers.

The second reason for little or no cellaring time is essentially because of a lack of what I call “home inventory.” Many Americans stock no more than a bottle or two of wine at home at any time. Then when the first dinner or social event comes along they immediately use what’s on hand, and that bottle they planned to save for next year is already gone by next weekend.

While I can’t solve the need for instant gratification problem, I can offer a suggestion that will help you build up your wine inventory.

Start by purchasing your wine in larger quantities. There are plenty of good, everyday wines available that fall in the $7 to $9 bottle price range. With a nearly universal 10 percent discount you can easily pick up 12 bottles for under $100, tax included.

After you’ve consumed, say, the first two or three bottles, replace them with three or four more, perhaps with something a bit pricier that you can cellar for several months. If you continue this practice, you’ll start building up a nice home inventory, which is great to have on hand for friends, special meals and social gatherings.