I might agree for shorter term, but if it’s a wine for longer aging, say more than a year or two, it definitely makes a difference. I’ve run the numbers, and also have enough practical experience to be confident that storage does matter.
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How much of your money would you wager on being able to pick correctly from a blind tasting of bottles that spent the five years from release at 55 in a Eurocave versus a box in a closet that is 66-74 degrees over the year?
Let’s say you got 2 to 1 odds to pick the six bottles (three of each) correctly.
Would you bet an amount of money that mattered to you (whatever that number is, we don’t need to get into it)?
Not trying to be testy about it, just genuinely curious how confident you are.
Five years? Every penny 
Now, 65 is a lot differently than 75…
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Blind tasting is a waste of money.
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Partially agree if you cellar delicate wine, but many are built to be slightly neglected and abused. My dad keeps his wine collection, mostly BDX and New World Cabs in 67-74° basement in Vietnam for the last 20 years, and they all came out fine, albeit more developed than the usual 55° aging curve. His rationale? The cost of cellaring wine at perfect condition exceeds the pleasure you get from perfectly cellared wine, and he doesn’t have enough patience to wait 20 years to open a bottle.
It boils down to your cellaring philosophy, personal taste and your drinking habits. I store my bubbles straight up in a 64° closet because I like my bubbles young, extra brut and plan to drink within 7 years. I do keep a few cases of cellar worthy still wine off-site tho.
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What little I know about Vietnam, I’m surprised even a basement stays that cool!
Really well said. Great post.
I 100% agree with your father, except that 20 years somehow seems to just fly by. Even if you don’t want to cellar wine for 20 years, there’s a 90% chance that you are still going to for at least a few bottles. But at 65-70F, there’s still a very good chance that well made wines are showing well. I had a 1994 Sokol Blosser Pinot Noir last year and it was dynamite after 25 years of very imperfect storage.
Though if I was cellaring higher pH wines, I would be more likely to worry.
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It’s 8 meters below ground and well insulated. Keeping it 67-74 is basically free from residued AC cooling while 55 will rack up 3-4k a year on energy alone.
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A) Terroir is not magically contained to the vineyard level. Obviously there is terroir variation within ‘vineyards’.
B) There is also producer-level variation. Terroir doesn’t have to be the only factor shaping a wine for it to exist.
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Why is someone a ‘try hard’ for saying that a given wine that is not very enjoyable on its own would be more enjoyable with food? Do you not think that is ever true?
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@Warren_Taranow has it right. Checking a box of great wine from your collection on a trip is awesome. So much better than spending time and more money to procure inferior beverages for your nice vacation.
Of course it depends on various factors for a given trip and obviously there are some that aren’t suited or don’t need it, but I think that’s true on a lot of trips.
Including business trips. A great bottle of yours with a coworker friend for a corkage fee at dinner after a day of work is terrific.
Check a box. Or put two bottles in the middle of your suitcase in those bubble wrap bottle protectors. Maybe a stemless Riedel. It’s a damn good thing, better than a lot of you realize.
And most of us have way more wine than nice occasions to drink it. So it’s also great for making a dent in your collection.
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My dad didn’t have to be neurotic about keeping his wine at perfect condition for 20+ years when his little terroirist has been commiting wine infanticide the moment he turned 13. 
My latest victim this week was 2007 Stag’s Leap Cask 23, and at 18 years old of “improper storage” it deserved a standing ovation.
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Wine/food pairings? Snort. Wine is best enjoyed when drunk solo.
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So what do you do with them? Commit infanticide?
How do you virtue signal when no one sees you?
Sounds like a tree falling in an empty forest.
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10 wines counts as a “mega-tasting” already? Oh boyo… 
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You’ll never Finnish going through that many wines
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A little brett never heard hurt anyone . . . .
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Ten constitutes Otto’s appetizer, the palate and his note pad are just getting whet! His olfactory senses are getting loose. The brain waves are in high gear. Let’s go!
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Good wine is often just as enjoyable as great wine, and sometimes more so.
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