Buying a grand of wine for individual consumption is very different from buying it with the purpose of investing. In the case of investment, you need to know some things to make profits from your investment. To begin with, let us look at the difference between collecting and buying wine.

A person who buys wine has the intention of drinking it. On the other hand, a person who collects wines intends to make profits from selling them after their values have appreciated. However, some cases involve a combination of intentions where you intend to consume as well as to sell some of the wines.

Going back to wine collection, there are a few tips to help you decide on the kind of wines to add in the list of your collections. Have it in mind that your main aim is to make profit and the following factors would be appropriate for your decision making:

1. Prices

You first need to analyze the price trends, auction history and retail price of every wine you intend to collect. The prices of vintage wines tend to be higher due to two reasons:

• The cost of their manufacture includes the cost of grapes, the marketing cost, labor and the amount spent on growing every variety of grape under rigorous standards.
• Vintage wines’ value is highly perceived considering its scarcity, its region, provenance and novelty factors.

1. Lifespan and Cellaring Period

You should also be aware of the cellaring period of each and every wine. There are those wines whose consumption would be only within 1 to 3 years while there are others like Cabernet Sauvignon whose lifespan is 20-50 years and more.

1. Pedigree and Provenance

A collector should look into the wine’s source, storage, life cycle and even the genetic characteristics. He or she should know the cellar conditions and the shipping conditions as well.

Other factors you need to consider the vintage reports, tasting notes and winery details.

Tips for Building Your Wine Collection

Assessing your budget and disposable income

Purchasing wine for collection will involve several costs, which may or would include investing in proper storage facilities, expert consultation charges as well as insurance.

Finding a source you can trust

Ensure that before you buy your wine from either a wine cellar, auction house or online merchant, there should be experts to vet the bottles’ authenticity.

Checking the packaging

Packaging would really affect the lifespan of your wine. Take an example of wine bottles with longer natural corks and those with synthetic or rather shorter corks. The ones with natural corks would age and taste better compared to the other ones since the bottles are always air-tight.

Insuring your wines

Get an insurance cover for your collection so as to cover your bottles against breakage, theft or natural disasters.

Keeping track of the collection

Ensure you are keeping track of each and every bottle noting down the cellars they are stored in, the bottles that were opened, as well as the tasting dates, not forgetting the tasting notes in details.

Balancing the mix of prices and vintages

As a new collector, you should try and have a mix of vintages and prices. In this case you would consider having both white and red wines as well as the older wines or mature vintages. Consider also having sparkling wine or vintage champagne as well.

Being cautious of wines that are counterfeit

Be aware of the counterfeit wines. To be safe, you should look for a professional who would help you in spotting the tell-tale signs on the labels, the corks and even the sediments  in the older wines.

Having all the necessary documentations

Have with you all original documents including purchase receipts, seller details and auction catalogue. You can also jot down the initial conditions of the bottles and the vintage years and take pictures too.

Frequently assessing and appraising your collection

The taste may change as time goes by and therefore you need to periodically assess your wine collection and look for a professional who would routinely appraise your collection. Also, make sure you maintain the logbook for the cellar.

Knowing how you would resell your bottles of wine

You can resell your wine bottles to either other collectors or wine lovers. Some examples include wine exchange or online auction.

Helpful Resources In Building A Great Collection

1. You can find several online resources, which would help you in building a profitable wine collection. They include:
2. Using a wine investment app or cellar tracking system to help you manage your portfolio
3. Using auction websites and Liv-Ex in tracking market data
4. Checking the guides on vintage score for the updated scores
5. Meeting collectors at a specific auction and exchanging tasting notes. You can also meet at a forum such as the Nepa Valley Forum or tasting room. You should also attend one or two testings at wineries and even private sales.
6. Look for a wine expert from whom you would acquire personalized services, discover other collectible wines and also improve your wine collection.
7. Establish networks with winery owners, industry experts and sommeliers.
8. Go through several wine-related podcasts and books which would help you sharpen your strategies on wine ollection.

Coming up with a wine collection would be very stressful if you do not involve experts, and also if you do not do proper research and look for guidelines on how to start one.