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Collecting fine wines is becoming an increasingly popular hobby, so it’s important to know your stuff if you want to pass beyond the beginner stage where you’re vulnerable to misinformation. This is particularly true these days, since fine wine fraudsters have also increased in number. This means that it’s essential that you can trust the traceability of the wine you buy. Some wines will now only sell directly from the chateau, so if you’re new to the hobby and you’re already spending a lot of money then it might be a good idea to make your way down to the vineyards.
What Do You Like?
Many experienced wine sellers and connoisseurs will be so intent on telling you about the wine you’re drinking that they can easily impose their own taste preferences on your experience. Although advice and guidance is always useful, particularly when you’re a beginner, you shouldn’t buy wines according to someone else’s preferences. Buy the wine you enjoy.
What’s You Budget?
Let’s be honest, it’s an expensive hobby – and there’s always someone ready to spend that bit more than you are. You don’t have to win every bidding war and you don’t have to impress everybody you meet, so work out what your budget is and stick to it. If you enjoy yourself then it isn’t the end of the world if you don’t make as much from your investments as you’d like, particularly if you drink and enjoy the wine, so don’t predict you’ll make your budget back in profit as an excuse to spend more than you can afford. Once you’re more experienced, you’ll be in a better position to calculate the investments – but you won’t become experienced if it becomes too expensive an interest for you to keep up.
Are You Using Deals?
Two tips for getting cheaper wine are buying by the case and keeping an eye out for end-of-vintage deals, but you must be careful. You might also be offered deals at auctions or online, but it’s easy to be defrauded so if it seems too good to be true then it probably is.
What’s Your Storage Solution?
Some people make use of their closets and basements to store their collections, but you need to make sure the temperature is right for the wine and, if it is, that it’s constant. It’s very easy to get wrong, and there’s a lot at stake, so don’t risk ruining or devaluing your entire collection. Your luxury wine storage solution should guarantee you long-term peace of mind, so go professional if you need to. For example, Octavian Vaults will ensure that your wine is kept in the optimum conditions to ensure that it matures as a wine, and as an investment.
Are You Still Learning?
Fine wine tells a story with historical and geographical implications as well as sociocultural implications. It’s a huge subject, and the story is still being told. However, you can take solace from the fact that nobody knows the whole story. There’s always more to learn, and more ways to enjoy learning it – so let your hobby take you on a voyage.