How do you build a wine collection?

Here are 10 tips on how to think when building your wine collection.

1. Taste, taste, taste! Going to wine tastings and festivals is an excellent way to sample many wines without spending a fortune.
2. Learn what you like! There's no point in collecting wines that you don't appreciate yourself just because others like them. Learn to recognize things like countries, regions, or perhaps which grapes you enjoy.
3. Plan. How much money can you spend? How much space do you have? What will you use the collection for? Set guidelines, such as how many bottles you'll have at most from a certain region.
4. Buy more red than white. White wines don't develop as long and therefore you'll need to drink them faster.
5. Buy more than one bottle. At least two bottles of each wine to have the opportunity to see how the bottle's contents develop and to have one in reserve if the contents are bad.
6. Store wines that work with the food you like. If you mostly cook Italian, invest in wines that pair well with that. If you like fish and seafood, it might be smarter to collect white wines.
7. Buy more than one vintage. Wines develop differently and if you have several vintages at home you can follow the wine's development and also see how the wine's taste varies from year to year.
8. Buy wine from different price ranges. Don't just focus on one price class but spread your purchases. Buy expensive wines in younger vintages and let them develop in your wine cellar.
9. Organize your collection, so you choose the right wine for the right occasion. Place your finest wines a bit to the side so they're not accidentally drunk on a Tuesday night with blood pudding.
10. Take notes and collect information. Your notes can lead you to your favorite wines and help you find the right ones. Use a wine diary or a website to save your notes, and that's exactly what Ma Cave is for.