New Year’s Resolution: Buy Wider, Buy Smarter
Submitted by THE WINE SCHOOL OF PHILADELPHIA
This is typically the time of year when we all engage in a bit of reflection: What we did right over the course of the past year, what we could have done better, and how we plan on making the most of the coming year. And if there’s one thing most of us can improve on in 2008, it’s to become more open-minded wine-buyers and more strategic collectors. If you fall into the former category, then make 2008 the year you experienced one new grape varietal or region each week: The wine world is expanding at breakneck speed, and the more open-minded you are to wines from unexpected grapes or unfamiliar parts of the world, the more drinking pleasure you’re likely to have. And the more exciting it’ll be each time you pull something off the rack or out of the cellar.
If you fall into the latter group, then make 2008 the year you hedge your bets. Too many friends and acquaintances of mine buy a single bottle of such-and-such a wine and then simply hope for the best when the time comes to open it up. Which is the wine equivalent of a sky-diver not having a reserve chute. Corks fail regularly, after all, or bottles age and fade before they’re expected to. For any number of reasons, there’s no guarantee that the juice in the bottle will be what you expect it to when you finally pop that cork. So buying double, as it were, is not a reckless expense; it’s just smart wine-collecting.
Of course, the most clever people will fashion their wine lives to fit into both those categories. So drink well, drink widely and wisely, and make 2008 a vintage to remember.
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