Bob's Blog: Give it Air
OPINION: “Have a look at this” said a good friend as he passed me a cutout from The Times with the heading “The wine gadget sommeliers say can make your £10 bottle taste better”.
A hoarder is someone who can't bring themselves to open their treasured bottles of wine, while a hedonist can't resist opening them.
I store my precious wines in two large temperature-controlled cabinets. I recently went to add another bottle to my collection but both cabinets were full. I shuffled the bottles around to no avail. Clearly, I needed to sort through my best bottles to make room for recent purchases.
Confession time. I don't keep a record of wine in my cellar. I have no idea what my cabinets contain, apart from two slabs of Chinese tea. Time for a stock take, or in my case, shock take. By my guess at least 25% of the wines in my cellar are well past their 'best by' date. 2004 Gisborne Sauvignon Blanc anyone?
Hi, my name's Bob and I'm a hoarder.
Don't do as I do, do as I say. If you have more than a couple of dozen bottles, download free software from cellartracker.com or use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of your precious bottles. Don't let them go past your 'best by' estimate. In the event of a fire or a burglary your insurance company will insist on seeing wine cellar records. I have been told by one Insurance Investigator that few people keep cellar records.
