"Lawrence Leichtman" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "Dead Dick" > wrote:
>
>> "Joseph Coulter" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > On Sun, 7 Jun 2009 18:12:30 -0700, "Dead Dick" >
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> >>I don't buy too many expensive bottles of wine; I have a handful of
>> >>$100+,
>> >>but most of my wine (about 30 bottles) is $30-$50 per bottle. The
>> >>remainder
>> >>is under $30. My question is, what kind of wine storage would you
>> >>suggest
>> >>for this beginners' collection? Thanks in advance for any help.
>> >>
>> > The short answer is, it depends.
>> >
>> > Where do you live, do you have basement with an unheated area that has
>> > a steady temp? What are you plans for long term storage? (are those
>> > $100 bottles for driniking in 20 years or when the occassion arises?)
>> >
>> > If you have a place for storage in the house that is great. If you,
>> > like me, live in a hot climate, Florida, even a small collection will
>> > benefit from a cooler. What kind and size depends on your needs and
>> > how large a collection you will have (it will grow to the limit of
>> > your storage if you are like most people.)
>> >
>> > Hope that helps a bit starts a dialogue.
>> >
>> > Joseph Coulter
>> > Joseph Couter cruises and vacations
>> > www.josephcoulter.com
>>
>> I live in the Seattle area. We don't have a basement. I keep my wine in
>> the unheated garage in the winter. During our short summer the
>> temperature
>> in the garage can get into the 80's, so I move the wine into the coolest
>> part of the house. Perhaps it would be better just to leave it in the
>> house
>> year-around.
>>
>> I have considered buying a refrigerated wine cabinet or an old
>> refigerator.
>> At this point, I can't imagine my collection growing to more than 100
>> bottles. And I probably won't keep more than a handful for more than 10
>> years.
>
> It is temperature fluctuation that does ill things to wine. If you store
> wine into the 80's the time frame for aging is sped up. Assume that a
> house if constant temperature is kept is 75º F so expect a 50% speed up
> in aging. If I had more than 5 $100 bottles I would have wine storage as
> having those age prematurely would nullify the investment.


Assuming an Arrhenius expression on the kinetics, I'm going to disagree with
you on your assumption that the aging will speed up 50%. I haven't worked
out the math yet, but my experience tells me it won't equate so nicely.

As to your ROI, if the qualifier for ROI is getting the highest amount of
pleasure from drinking said aged $100 bottle, reaching that ROI in 10 years
is a better use of your money then 20 or more.