Whether you’re a wine aficionado, a beginner or somewhere in between, your knowledge, love and enjoyment of wine will grow immensely once you have a collection under your own roof. So, clear out the basement and let the fun begin.

Although, today, very few private wine cellars are housed in actual subterranean caves, cellars still provide their owners with that primeval sense of dimly lit solitude.

Why have your own cellar?

As retired businessman Peter James says, "My cellar is not pretty, neat or organised. It’s more a place where I can escape to and not easily be found."

Apart from the obvious convenience factor of always having great wine to hand, there are a number of reasons why South Africans are increasingly investing in their own "caves" in which to store their beloved vintages.
 
When properly stored, wines not only maintain their quality but many actually improve in aroma, flavour, and complexity as they mature. "So many wines need time to show what they are really about," is how Hartenberg Estate’s roving ambassador and wine accumulator, James Browne, puts it.

Property developer and wine enthusiast Graham Blackshaw continues: "You can’t really collect wine without having your own cellar. It gives you the opportunity to buy and store wine optimally for enjoyment at a later date when the wines are at their best. It also provides you with your own playroom to escape to."
  
As an extra bonus, you can also save money. Imagine the joy of ceremoniously opening a rare and expensive 15-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon that you bought for less than a 10th of its current price at your local wine merchant and have personally nurtured in your cellar.

Getting started
 
You can start almost anywhere. Peter started off his collection in a broom cupboard before progressing to a proper cellar. As a general rule, though, look for a place where the temperature is relatively cool – 16°C is ideal, but warmer temperatures will still work as long as they are kept constant. Unless you have space underground, consider investing in air conditioning.

Bright light and vibrations should also be avoided and, if possible, the humidity should be between 50 and 80 percent to avoid corks drying out. Shelving is an important consideration as it’s crucial that you store your bottles horizontally, again, to prevent the corks from drying out.

There are a number of different shelving options available and for small spaces diamondshaped wine-storage bins – as stand-alone or wall units – are ideal. If space is a constraint and the construction of a cellar impossible, consider purchasing a wine fridge, a purpose-built temperature-regulated fridge for storing wine, which costs in the region of R2 300.

Choosing your wine
 
Although a personal choice, when it comes to stocking your cellar, I’d consider establishing three categories between which the wines can move as they age.

Fifteen percent of my cellar would comprise "ready-to-drink" wines: white and red everyday quaffers, special-occasion whites (Sauvignon Blancs, Chardonnays, Chenin Blancs), older reds (you may have to spend some money on these), and sparkling wines.
 
Fifty-five percent of my wines would be ones suitable for consumption within three years: wooded whites (Chardonays and Chenin Blancs) and medium-to full-bodied reds (Pinot Noirs, Merlots, blended reds).

Finally, the last 30 percent of my cellar space would be dedicated to wines that will be ready for drinking in three to 10-plus years: whites such as Rhine Rieslings and good Semillons age well, as does a Noble Late Harvest.

As for reds, go for quality; experiment with newer producers but remember that a proven track record normally makes for a sound investment. Apart from simply buying wines on impulse you may want to consider collecting wines along a certain theme, as does boutique wine shop owner Caroline Rillema, who focuses on South African blends and Pinotage.

It could be Shiraz from a certain area from a specific year or a particular wine that you buy annually and compare year-on-year. These kinds of collections make for fascinating tastings in years to come.