Many of us already know the joy that collecting wine can bring. From watching a collection grow to finding new, exclusive wines to add to your impressive assortment, having a wine collection in your home is a great way to truly enjoy your passion for wine.

However, if you have yet to start your wine collecting journey and need a few directions on how to set off on the right foot with your new venture, let us help you. We have had over 35 years of experience working alongside some of the most dedicated wine collectors in the UK, and have picked up a few helpful suggestions for those wishing to partake in wine collecting.

Determine Your Budget

Deciding on the scale of your wine collection can be an extremely daunting decision to make, but as with all luxury hobbies, it is essential to set aside a budget to ensure that you can achieve your goal.

Although this may feel a little limiting at first, you need to be able to picture where you would like your collection to be in many years’ time. If you are looking to make this hobby something that you invest a lot of time into, it may be worth setting your budget a little higher to allow for any expansion plans that you may have for the future. If you don’t expect to have many wines in your collection or simply want to save space in your home, you can afford to set your budget a little lower.

How much you want to spend on your hobby is entirely up to you; whether it is the price of the wine that you are purchasing or even the cost of a custom wine cellar to store them in – you are in full control; just make sure you have some form of budget in place.

Choose Your Wines

Many people believe that a wine collection must be made up of the most expensive wines that can be found. Although there are some people who dedicate their wine collecting habit to finding those wines with an exceptional pedigree, many people tend to set their sights a little closer to home; namely wines that they enjoy.

Wine collecting should be heavily focussed on what the collector likes; after all, it is all about enjoying and celebrating the wonderful wines that the world has to offer. You may prefer heady reds over sparkling whites, aromatic chardonnays to full flavoured merlots – whatever your preference, there are no right or wrong wines to collect.

We would, however, recommend including more than just the wines that you consume regularly. Try branching out and including some varieties that you wouldn’t necessarily reach for on a regular basis; wines which may come in useful at future dinner parties when trying to pair your delicious cheese, meat or fish dishes with appetising wines.

Think Merlot, Sauternes, vintage Bordeaux, Gevery-Chanbertin or a Californian Pinot Noir; have a wine for all occasions in your collection.

Decide on Your Purpose

There are many different reasons why you may decide to start a wine collection, so it is essential that you establish why you want to commit to this before embarking on your collection journey.

For some, it is simply to have easy access to a selection of wine that they can use regularly; whether with their food or as an enjoyable treat. For others, it’s more of a serious hobby and will be seen by collectors as an investment.

The reason why you want to start wine collecting will often be reflected in how you implement the two pieces of advice that we have listed above. Both can affect how you budget for your collection; the more casual wine collector will most likely spend less on their entire collection than those who are doing it for investment, and the types of wine that you have in your collection will often be determined by the purpose of your collection.

Whether you need a small cellar to start off your lavish wine collection, or a room dedicated to your portfolio of wine, be sure to think of all your options for wine storage solutions before embarking on one of the most satisfying, prolific hobbies in the world.