Dreweatts Collecting Guides | Starting a Wine Collection

Quick tips

• Try as many wines as possible.
• Get yourself on mailing lists and accept tasting invites.
• Go off-piste when ordering from restaurant wine lists. 
• When on holiday, try as many local wines as possible and visit local vineyards.   
• Buy odd bottles as well as full cases.
• Don’t limit yourself by buying from one merchant or auction house.
• Don’t expect fireworks every time you open a bottle… there will always be disappointments along the way. 
• However unsexy it may seem, make notes on your wines.
• Try not to judge a wine on how much it cost… once you open it, it is too late for regrets.
• Buy a good set of glasses.
• Treat yourself to larger format bottles for special occasions.
• Don’t forget those sweet wines.
• Seek out small champagne growers and give them a few years extra bottle age after buying. 
• Learn about the person and vineyard behind the label.
• It’s a marathon not a sprint.
• Research the provenance of mature wines. 
• Call Dreweatts for any wine advice or if you would like to start a cellar.

Ageing and storing

Firstly, divide your future cellar in your mind between short, medium and long-term ageing. These can bridge all price brackets.

To simplify:

• Short-term - up to 5 years
• Medium-term - 5-10 years
• Long-term - 10+ years

Your buying decisions can then be organized around these dates. You will then have to think about where you are going to store your collection.

If at home, either a dark cool room with a consistent temperature or a wine fridge. If you choose instead to store your collection at a professional wine storage facility, there are many merchants who offer a storage service and the warehouses they use also offer facilities for private accounts. If buying from multiple merchants, I would advise to consolidate all your wines into one private account. 

Where to start?

The majority of wine is made to be drunk within a few years (with a recent study concluding that 95% of all wine in Australia is drunk within 20 mins of buying it!). Instead, focus on wine that is not released for immediate consumption.

Then you need to decide which regions/grapes you particularly enjoy. If it was me, for red wine I would recommend Bordeaux. It has been a solid opener for many cellars. It is a simple region to understand. The wines are widely available, and they often age well across many price points. They can also be enjoyed at all stages of their evolution. Price does not always indicate quality - Cru Bourgeois wines are from the best vintages and offer tremendous value.

For white wines, the majority will need to be drunk within 10 years. Start with buying younger or recently released vintages. Although they don’t offer the magnificence and complexity of their noble cousins in Puligny or Chassagne Montrachet, the wines from Macon and St Veran in Burgundy offer outstanding value and will age well for up to 5 years. Many of the best Burgundy growers own vineyards there and are worth seeking out.

While these may not seem particularly adventurous starting points, they are great places to start when filling those first few holes in your wine rack!

BUY AT A FUTURE AUCTION
We hold traditional live auctions, as well as online bidding on two platforms, and offer collectors the opportunity to sell or acquire rare single bottles, individual cases or whole collections. 

View Auction Calendar

CONSIGN TO A FUTURE AUCTION
To consign to a future auction or to arrange a free auction valuation, please contact the department at: wine@dreweatts.com

Or complete our free online valuation form here