Moving Day
Melissa and I recently decided to do something about our wine collection. It was not ideal, probably like the wine collections of most relatively new wine enthusiasts (odd as it sounds, I've only been into wine for about two years; it has been said that I never do anything halfway). Our wine was in our closet, away from direct light but the ambient temperature varies quite a bit and I worry about the longevity of some of the wines we want to drink over time. Also, we've upgraded wine rack sizes a couple of times, but we long ago overflowed our biggest one, and we had boxes sitting outside of the closet. Not something Martha Stewart would approve of for interior decorating, I suppose.
In order to get our wines into good conditions for long-term storage and out of our apartment, all with a reasonable budget, we decided to rent space in a wine storage facility. I looked at a couple, but in reality the choice was easy. Subterraneum is a ten-minute drive from us and has very reasonable rates—$14/month for a 20-case space.
You've got to admire the business sense of the owner. He bought space in a rundown part of Oakland, built it out with simple (but very sturdy) plywood storage spaces, and now just has to keep the conditions ideal for wine storage. Meanwhile, he has a host of monthly renters who are probably guaranteed to be there a long time.
Saturday we moved the first portion (about six cases). There's more to this process than just plunking some bottles in a box and heading out. If your wine is going to be somewhere else, you need some sort of inventory. So I spent the morning cataloging the wines that were going to the storage space, noting down the wine, the year, when one should drink it, how many bottles were in each location (there or here), and what was in each box. Given all the prep work, the move itself was anticlimactic, and took fifteen minutes or so. There's still probably another three or four cases to move, but I want to keep a good balance of wine here, and then replenish our supply as we need.
It's a bit odd, having a fair amount of one's wine somewhere else. But at least now they're in a good place: "as ruined as they're going to be" was Melissa's upbeat comment.
- Wtn: 2001 Jamek "ried Achleiten", Grüner Veltliner Smaragd, Osterreich
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- Wtn: 1995 "pagani Vineyard", Ridge, Alicante
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