How to declutter your wine cellar (or wine rack)
And drink better in the process . . .
Following hard on the heels of my self-imposed #givingupstockingup challenge I thought I’d address the issue of What to Do About Those Undrunk Bottles in your Wine Rack.
There may in fact be a significant number given most people - at least among my crowd - are drinking less.
Wine doesn’t have sell-by dates - most is drunk within 24 hours of the bottle being purchased - but better bottles tend to have drink by dates.
I suspect I’m not alone in having several bottles that have exceeded that. They’re usually the better ones as the temptation is to save them for a special occasion which generally never comes because you worry that they won’t be up to it. Which they quite possibly won’t but the longer you leave them the less likely that is.
Contrary to general opinion wine doesn’t automatically improve. It peaks then slowly goes downhill. Not all wines peak at the same time - whites can actually outlive reds - and people’s taste differs. Some. like my late husband, adore very old wines, half of which were well past it in the view of the rest of the family. Others, like me prefer fresher ones.
How long your wines will last also depends on your storage conditions. Assuming you don’t have a cellar they are best kept at a cool but stable temperature (so the garage isn’t great). I keep mine under the stairs which is not ideal either but good enough for wines that aren’t stored for more than a few years.
In theory. I have bottles that have been there for 10.
Most wines fall into 3 broad categories.
Bottles to drink straight away
The kind of bottles you buy for everyday drinking. Your house wine, if you like. A wine you’re happy to drink a lot of. Probably under £10 (or $15), maybe snapped up on special offer. You’re less likely to have these hanging around. It may be more a question of resisting the temptation to drink nothing else.
Better bottles which will probably benefit for a year or two’s cellaring but could be drunk now.
The kind of wines you’d serve or take to a dinner party. Special bottles you’ve splashed out on, brought back from a trip, or been given as a present. Bottles which spark joy to coin Marie Kondo.
Bottles that are not ready or which you suspect are not ready to drink yet.’
You may well keep those somewhere else if you’ve bought them en primeur (before they are released) but if you have them at home they may get tucked away at the back of a cupboard. That may be the best strategy for the time being but don’t forget that they’re there.
So how do you go about sorting them out? Everyone’s different - just think how many ways people choose to arrange their book shelves. Within these categories you may want to sort your wines by colour or style (light/full-bodied/sparkling) or by origin - French/Spanish etc - but here’s how I’d go about it.