Wine, wine, and more wine

It has pretty much grown into an addiction. I don't think I've cracked open a bottle in over a week, yet I just bought 10 more bottles today and have 10 more sitting at my parent's waiting for pick up. Today was an order consisting of the2004 Elderton Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 Arrowood Chardonnay Réserve Spéciale, 2006 Failla (Failla Jordan) Syrah Phoenix Ranch and 2006 Bodegas Alto Moncayo Campo de Borja Aquilon. Did I HAVE to buy those wines, of course not! I already have 58 bottles in my wine fridge and am drinking far slower than I am buying, but here was my thought process. The Elderton is one of my tried and true wines that I consistently enjoy, especially the 2004 vintage. I just remember liking it better than the '05 which is what I find at the store. It was also several bucks cheaper than what I can get it for at the store. The Chardonnay and Syrah were named in Wine Enthusiast's must have wines for 2008 and the Aquilon was, well, Aquilon for 30 bucks cheaper than you can get most anywhere. I should really slow down on spending or maybe just buy a bottle a month of something from the Wine Enthusiasts top wines list, but I just love knowing that I can have a great bottle whenever I want.

Some people buy and store wine for an investment but, for me, that is what the stock market is for. I store my wine and buy several bottles of my favorite wines because I want to enjoy them over the years. I look forward to trying a bottle of a wine I'm collecting once or twice a year and seeing how the wine has matured. I'm a hedonist at heart and I just want to be happy. Wine makes me happy and you just can't put a price tag on happiness.

So when you buy as much wine as I do, you want to be able to store it properly. You don't know how long it will take you to go through all those bottles but as you do, you want them to be in the most drinkable shape possible. You may think that you could just pick up a bottle from your neighborhood wine store, but wines for a particular vintage are a finite commodity. If you find a bottle of wine that you just love, it is probably a good idea to pick up several and store them unless you want to pay even more for it in the future if the supply goes down and the demand is still there. For my really wonderful wines, like the Aquilon and the 2004 Elderton Cab, I like to have some in reserve just in case.

I rarely buy bottles at the store anymore. Retail is just too expensive and the best deals are found online. For example, I just had to pick up 4 bottles of the Single Vineyard Elderton Cab on CinderellaWine.com because it was selling for almost 20% less than anywhere else online. WineLibrary.com and WineAccess.com are also great sites to find great deals. Just like you'll never know when a good stock has dropped to a good value, you'll never know when these sites will run specials on your favorite wine so when it does I make sure to take advantage of it!

That's enough about my wine habits for now. Until the next time, happy drinking!