Cellar strategies

I thought I would share with your readers how I have built a mixed cellar, based on independent reviews, with the help of Decanter. I started subscribing 20 years ago and decided then that each month I would buy a few bottles rated at 95 points or above (then 5 stars), for the cellar – or under the stairs at that time – setting myself a price limit of £x per bottle. At the same time, I would purchase a few bottles of ‘weekday wine’ for the kitchen rack, rated at 90-94 points (4 stars), with a lower price limit.

While Bordeaux, Burgundy and Italy perhaps dominate, as a result of this approach I now have an eclectic cellar of white, rosé, red and sparkling wines, and have just added Georgian orange/amber wine, following your April 2021 issue ‘Expert’s Choice’. Adopting this simple approach has led me to a world of new discoveries, from Italian Schioppettino, through Greek Limniona to Spanish Mencía and Provençal Tibouren (and that is just the European angle!).

Using your suggested drinking windows has also enabled me to build a balanced, yet eclectic, cellar, divided into three camps: drink now; drink in the next couple of years; tuck away. This has also led me to discover and support small merchants around the UK, who have particularly welcomed new clients in these troubled times. It has also helped me to be bolder in ordering more adventurous – and sometimes cheaper – grape varieties in restaurants too. Thanks, Decanter.

Aidan Paddick, Ashford, Kent, UK

You’re very welcome. If it were possible for a publication to blush, we would.