How to collect wine

Research shows most Americans drink wine within a few days of purchase, but there are those who collect bottles of wine with an eye toward even better enjoyment in the future. For wine is much like you or me: It ages.

Good wines start out with a youthful energy that can almost be overpowering. Flavors are often bold, without nuance. You might taste a lot of tannin -- an astringent, bitter sensation (like swigging a mouthful of strong black tea). But tannins are necessary because they provide the "bones" on which the wine can grow to a nuanced maturity when it will be at the peak of flavor, aroma, substance. This is when you realize that wine is worth every dollar you spent on it. Unfortunately, wines grow old and, just like us, they eventually die. Old wines are capable of winning respect even past their prime because there's often a special quality to them. It never hurts to open an old bottle and taste to see if, miracle of miracles, it's still good. Just keep a younger bottle handy in case the oldster is DOA.

Watching and tasting a wine go through its life cycle is one of the joys of wine collecting. I recommend you get a notepad or book to write down your notes as you taste a wine through the years.1. Have the proper storage -- a cool, dark place away from light, heat or sun. A kitchen is not the place for storage. If you're thinking basement, make sure the space isn't too wet (the paper labels can rot off). Living in an apartment? No problem. I use the bottom shelves of my linen closet. If you're really serious about collecting, consider buying a wine refrigerator or setting up a wine "room" with its own climate control system.

2. Collect only what you want to drink. There's no use keeping wines you don't like simply because they may have a certain reputation. And when it comes to buying, be adventurous: Try wines you've never had before. If you like 'em, buy 'em.

3. Consider different collecting strategies. Some people just want first-growth Bordeaux. Others may want a vertical of one winery, meaning they have wine from consecutive years. Some may even collect based on label art -- all flowers, all animals, whatever.

4. Drink your wine when it's ready. Too many people let bottles sit and sit and sit until they die of old age. Some wines can age for decades, wines like expensive reds from Bordeaux and California, Sauternes and even some Burgundian whites. What wines don't age? Cheap wines, wines meant to be drunk fresh and young. Consult a wine guide or your merchant about aging -- and remember aging is also affected by your storage conditions. If you don't have an ideal space, take my linen closet, factor in fewer storage years.

5. If you are buying wines, especially expensive wines on the auction market, make sure you verify the prior ownership and storage conditions if you can. If you buy a bottle at the church auction -- a bottle kept in Aunt Minnie's sideboard for 40 years -- you may be disappointed (especially if it's a straw-wrapped bottle of $4 Chianti!).

6. Keep a perspective on how much you're buying and how much you drink. Some collectors have so much wine that they never get around to drinking all their wines in peak condition. You know some pricey wines are going to rot right now on some collector's shelf. That's a shame.