Cellar essentials for a new collector

[smithys]

Hi everyone,
Pretty new to the wine collecting scene and looking to build on the basics I already have in the cabinet, So I'm looking for some recommendations of essential wines any serious collector must have in their cellar.

I'm a big fan of full body reds, mainly Shiraz, but looking to widen the collection within the cellar.
At the current stage I have a few bottles of each of the wines such as grange, HOG, Bordeaux, RunRig, graveyard, St Henri, and lakes folly, as well as a few others. Capacity of the cellar is 150 bottles.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated,
Cheers

[timmspe]

Rockford Basket Press
Coriole Lloyd Reserve
Best's Bin 0
Wendouree
Tyrrell's Vat 1
Grosset Polish Hill

[rens]

This could be a good pace to start:
http://www.langtons.com.au/wine/ClassificationView.aspx

[catchnrelease]

Wendouree shiraz or cab malbec. Moss Wood, Juniper Estate or any decent Margaret River cab sav.

[sjw_11]

Make sure to include a selection of "cheaper" options as well for mid-term cellaring ... its great to be able to pull out mid-week wines with 4-8 yrs on them rather than only having "date night" wines or the top labels

Examples:
Wynns Shiraz
Darenberg Footbolt
Metala white label
Rockford GSM
Mt Langi Cliff Edge
Lake Breeze Cabernet
Peter Lehman Shiraz
Any riesling!
Most semillons!

[TiggerK]

All the above (inc plenty of Sem & Riesling!), plus...

Craggy Range Le Sol and Sophia
Te Mata Coleraine
Felton Road Calvert/Block3/5 Pinot Noir
Some St Joseph/Cornas/Hermitage French Northern Rhone stuff (if you've already got HOG & Grange, you've got the budget for some great stuff)
John Riddoch Cab (20 Yrs+ minimum storage though)
Tyrrells 4 Acres Shiraz
Giaconda Chardonnay
Hoddles Creek 1er Pinot Noir & Chardonnay
Some funky cool stuff like Sami-Odi, Luke Lambert, Ruggabellus.
A few good Italians, suspect you're a SuperTuscan guy, Sassacaia 2009 really impressed me recently.
Rioja!!

[smithys]

Perfect, thanks for all your help everyone! Got some serious looking to do to try and get as many of these wines as possible!
Just out of curiosity, where does everyone get their bottles from?
Cheers

[Mike Hawkins]

Many people start out with one region / varietal, and given your indication for the bigger reds, perhaps look at rieslings and semillons as noted by others (if you're after diversity). McWilliams Lovedale and Tyrrells Vat 1 are my two favourite semillons, but there are cheaper (and excellent) options. Same for riesling - the Grossets are great, but Henschke, Petaluma and a ton of other Eden and Clare Valley producers make great wines.



Mike

[TiggerK]

Just out of curiosity, where does everyone get their bottles from?

Have a look up the top of this webpage!! Gavin sells a ton of good stuff, (it will be his pleasure to help ), and if he doesn't sell it, you can always use a well known search engine.

[Krusty]

Pinot Noir. If you aren't there now, you likely will be soon.

[simon1980]

Some great ideas above. A few points that may help:

1. The Langtons list is a great place to start for existing classics, and if you can get to one of the classification tastings, you would benefit greatly. It may be a hundred bucks, but you would probably save thousands in the long run, as you will find what you like (and dont) pretty quickly!

2. I would also recommend searching for wines which are not yet as established as the names on the Langtons list. Head, Marius, Ruggabellus, Shaw and Smith and Samuels Gorge are all names off the top of my head offering high quality wine for sub$40 cost...great value compared to the well established names.

3. Get some quality WA Cab in there before the world realises how good it is, and the prices rocket.

4. Try and source some famous wines at cellar door (not market) prices. Maybe give Rockford a call, and ask about how to get a few Basket Press 2010. Also, send a nice letter to Wendouree (hand written) and you may get yourself on the list.

5. Go hard on 2012 vintage wines.

6. Don't assume you will always like big reds. I concur with the comments regarding Pinot.

Oh, and have fun, don't take it too seriously...and don't forget to drink the wines (rather than let them sit there!)

simon1980

[simon1980]

Oh, and I forgot one other...

Unless very rare, or very expensive, always buy two or more bottles of a specific wine. Nothing worse than finding "the greatest wine ever tasted" and then realising you only bought one!

simon1980

[smithys]

Looks like I have quite a few "tasting" nights ahead! Thanks again for all your help guys, always good to get an insight from people who know a lot more than you.
Cheers

[Rossco]

I would also add it really depends on what you want from your cellar. Is it an investment you wish to cash in later in life, or is it for personal consumption.

If it's an investment, then all of the above are excellent choices. However if it's for personal consumption my suggestion would be to put down the wines that YOU like. Obviously make sure they will last (sometimes its on the bottle, or a quick call/email to the winery
Wil confirm the expected lifespan), but always remember you will be drinking them and you may as well drink wines you love!

Oh and absolutely buy 3+ bottles of each wine!

[TravisW]

Before buying all of these great recommendations, can I ask you if you have you drunk much aged wine (esp Shiraz)? It would be a shame to age your bottles past your preference.

Cheers, Travis.

[smithys]

I'm looking for a mix between the two, looking mostly for personal consumption, but also investing as well. I have tried a fair few aged wines and much prefer those wines over the younger ones.
I mostly get my wines from Langtons, does everyone else have a go to store, or does it vary from purchase to purchase?
Cheers

[n4sir]

Just out of curiosity, where does everyone get their bottles from?

Have a look up the top of this webpage!! Gavin sells a ton of good stuff, (it will be his pleasure to help ), and if he doesn't sell it, you can always use a well known search engine.

I mostly get my wines from Langtons, does everyone else have a go to store, or does it vary from purchase to purchase?
Cheers

Smithys, as mentioned to you already in this thread this forum is run by an online retailer who doesn't just do this out of the goodness of his heart - direct mention of his competitors is discouraged, okay.

[smithys]

Sorry about that, wasn't aware of the rules of the forum.