Starting a Wine Collection

New To Wine? Welcome!
1

Hello Everyone,

I recently started a Wine collection and would like to get some input, advice and inspiration on how to proceed from here.

I have mainly focused on Riesling (based in Germany, a selection of some Riojas (favourite Wine at the moment) and a couple of Bordeaux subscriptions (based on some advice from a wine seller).

My goal is to have nice wines to enjoy at home and my maximum will be around 200 bottles (have ~60 now, but also consuming 1-3 per week). Ideally I am looking for some recommendations of classics to add or nice younger drinkers. Price wise I am ideally looking between €40-60, with the occasional splurge on something great (e.g. chateau mouton subscription).

So far, my collections features the following:

Pfalz, Riesling
2x 2017 Dr. von Bassermann-Jordan Ruppertsberger Hoheburg Riesling trocken
1x2018 Dr. BĂĽrklin-Wolf Forster Riesling
1x 2018 Dr. BĂĽrklin-Wolf Riesling trocken
2x 2018 Dr. BĂĽrklin-Wolf Ruppertsberger Hoheburg Riesling
2x 2018 Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Wachenheimer Goldbächel Riesling
4x 2016 Dr. BĂĽrklin-Wolf Wachenheimer Riesling R late release

Rheingau, Riesling
2018 Peter Jakob KĂĽhn Hallgartener Hendelberg Riesling trocken
6x2019 Peter Jakob KĂĽhn Riesling Jacobus
1x 2018 Peter Jakob KĂĽhn Riesling Quarzit

Rheinhessen, Riesling
2x 2019 Kühling-Gillot Niersteiner Pettenthal Riesling Großes Gewächs

Red
France
Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
1x 2018 Château Haut-Tropchaud
1x 2018 Château Poesia
1x 2018 Château Tour Saint-Christophe
2x 2019 Alter Ego
4x 2019 Château Mouton Rothschild
2x 2019 Château Pontet-Canet
1x 2016 Le Marquis de Calon SĂ©gur
2x 2018 Le Marquis de Calon SĂ©gur
1x 2018 Château Meyney
1x 2018 Château Laroque Bordeaux

Burgundy
1x 2017 Domaine Chandon de Briailles Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Aux Fournaux

Germany
Rheinhessen, Cabernet Sauvignon
2x 2016 Weingut Thörle Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot réserve

Portugal
1x 2017 Prats and Symington Douro Chryseia

Spain
1x 2015 Bodegas Viña Vilano Ribera del Duero
1x 2015 Bodegas Viña Vilano Ribera del Duero Roble
1x 2012 La Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri Rioja Gran Reserva
2x 2016 Viñedos de Páganos Rioja El Puntido
1x 2007 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia
1x 2011 Bodegas Muga Rioja Gran Reserva Prado Enea
2x 2011 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904
2x 2013 Baron de Ley Rioja Gran Reserva
1x 2016 Bodegas LAN Rioja D-12 Tenth Edition
2x 2015 Bodegas LAN Rioja Reserva Viña Lanciano
1x 2010 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial
2x 2016 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Dalmau Reserva
1x 2015 Bodegas Muga Rioja SelecciĂłn Especial Reserva

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thank you for your help and input!

1 Like
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Well wait for it… there should be plethora of info coming your way…

My recommendation for Bordeaux is to start with buying current vintages available with a low price point to determine if you like the style. Remember Bordeaux has different grape types contained within. My first go to was 1996 Cantemerle and a Rosso case from Acker (NYC retail shop) I also had the job where by I was tasting a lot of 1997/1998/1999 California Cabernet. Start a tasting group with friends, taste blind. go to many tastings where you live. And remember HAVE FUN!!!

Best of luck
Mike

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You will reach your 200 bottle limit much more quickly than you thought possible, so take your time. Rather than buying on other’s advice, you will be much better served tasting and only buying what pleases your palate. Unfortunately, Covid is limiting some of the tasting opportunities with retailers and tasting groups, but that really is the best way to find out what you want to cellar. In the mean time, find a good retailer and try some mixed cases of wine. Good luck - it is a very fun journey!

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Nothing from Italy. Nothing from Rhone. You need more stuff. Assuming you’re in continental Europe I guess it’s not easy to find decently priced stuff from the US, AUS & NZ.

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Wow so honored to see our Chateau Tour Saint Christophe on your list! Have you had our earlier vintages before?

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I Agree with Jud and Brent.

  1. You will reach you 200 limit way earlier than ever anticipated. I started my small collection about 2 or 3 years ago now, and my collection seems to have grown at an exponentially fast rate since then, and is continuing on this path. I don’t remember the original number I had set for myself but it was around 200, and trust me it’s very tough to stick to any particular number.

  2. Italy (particularly Piedmont and Tuscany) and Rhone were 2 of my favorite areas when I first got into all of this and still are. Be sure to explore those!

  3. Attend tastings, and visit the producers yourself if you can. Visiting any producer is still one of my favorite activities, and is always an amazing learning experience.

As far as a buying strategy goes. What I did when I first started out, and I still do to some extent, is learn a bit about a particular region, grape, or producer and then buy a couple of wines from whatever I was learning about. I would taste them and see if I liked them, and then move on. As time has gone on I have narrowed my focus a great deal as I now know more about what I like and don’t like. I have my favorites which I buy in larger quantities, and still have plenty of areas, producers, and grapes which I’m exploring which I buy smaller quantities of to learn more about and see if I like them.

I definitely suggest investing in a wine fridge for cellaring some wines. Also, there are some great books and podcasts out there to help you learn more, and will help guide your purchasing decisions. Enjoy and have fun!

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Almost all of your wines will benefit (in the opinion of most) from significant age. I think the first questions you need to answer for yourself is whether these (Bordeaux, German riesling, Rioja) are the types of wines you like best, and whether you prefer them young, middle-aged, or old. There’s no substitute for your own palate. Try finding a merchant or a tasting group that can give you some access to trying other types of wines (like those mentioned above) to see if you like them better, and to trying some of these same types of wines after 5, 10, 20, or 30 years of cellar time.

This is important not only to guide you in what to buy and when to open it, but also in determining the storage space you need. If you determine that you really like these wines, and that you like them best after 20 years of cellar time, but you want to buy them on release and age them yourself, then a 200-bottle capacity will only support drinking 10 bottles per year, for example.

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As others have noted most of the wines your collecting will benefit from at least 5-10 years age, and in many cases longer when it comes to Bordeaux. I think there are a few other questions. If you’re limiting your collection to 200 bottles due to space, then I would suggest that you diversify what you have to allow for shifting in your palate preferences. Knowing that balance is important, I’d also allow for you to move into some categories and areas of the world where you do not have wines now.

For short-term aging 1-3 years:
1 bottle of Champagne €40-50 every 2-3 months. It is something I would expect over time for you to shift towards liking the more you drink wine.
Check out wines from some less popular regions. Buying something you don’t know about and trying to understand it is part of the journey.

For mid-term aging 4-10 years:
Given that you like Bordeaux I would really encourage you to check out Super-Tuscans, in particular Merlot.

Buy yourself some Cru Beaujolais. I would suggest:
3x Coudert Fleurie Clos de la Roilette Cuvée Tardive
3x Château Thivin Côte de Brouilly

3x 2008 Dom Perignon - You may not like Champagne now, but they will live long enough for you to have them well-aged by the time you do like Champagne. This was the advice someone gave me when the 1996 vintage was released, and I bought one because I thought it was too much to spend on a wine I knew I did not like in the summer of 2006. However, just 5 short years later I loved Champagne and I WISH that I had bought the 3 bottles they suggested.

3x 2016 Vietti Barolo Castiglione - Save them until they’re at least 10 years post vintage & open when you know you like Barolo or Barbaresco.
3x 2016 Produttori del Barbaresco - Each of these should be well in your budget.
2x Dal Forno Valpolicella Superiore - This may be a splurge, but stick a couple bottles away until you realize you like Valpolicella.

Long-term Aging 10+ - 20+ years:
Barolo, Brunello, Burgundy, Barbaresco, Hermitage, and any other classic region. Splurge & buy 1-2 bottles from well-known producers while they are still attainable even though they are a splurge, they may not be affordable in another 5-10 years. Top tier producers like: Chapoutier, Gaja, Comte Georges de Vogüé, Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier, Conterno, Biondi Santi, JJ Prum, or Bruno Giacosa.

1 Like
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Lots of good advice already, you may find it interesting to see how a wine evolves over time. When you find a wine that you like buy at least 6 of a youngish vintage and open one every couple of years. And remember to make some notes to look back at.

Enjoy.

10

Hello Everyone!

Thank you all for the helpful advice.

I have followed some of the tips in the thread and added a couple of different bottles to the collection:

2016 Barolo:
3x Vietti Barolo Castiglione (ordered a 0,375 bottle of this to try it, which resulted in the purchase of 3 additional bottles.

2x Conterno Fantino Barolo Sori Ginestra
2x Elio Grasso Barolo Gavarini Chiniera
2x Luigi Pira Margheria

Champagne (as per the tip in the thread):
2x Dom Perignon 2008
2x Taittinger Comtes 2008 (I have bought and shared one of these with a couple of friends - it was phenomenal.)

Beajoulais
2x Thivin CdB 2019
2x Marcel Lapierre Morgon 2019

Italy:
1x 2015 Lisini Brunello de Montalcino
1x 2017 Felsina Chianti Classico

France:
1x 2015 Bernard Levet Cote Rotie Maestria

Now at approx 115 bottles of 60 Wines according to Cellartracker🍷

Keep the good advice coming :slight_smile:

Thanks for your help!

Best regards,

@Howard K: No, I haven’t tried it before, it was a recommendation from a local wine shop, looking forward to trying it!