In the continued exploration of life, which in our world often revolves around food and wine, questions, important questions pop up. Let us take a look at wine cellars. Why do people collect wine? Why are wines cellared? As we are packing up our wine cellar I come to question our reasons for collecting and wanting to cellar wine. When we started it was difficult to get on boutique vineyard mailing lists and the availability of specific wines was scarce for those not in the know. Today, almost anything is available if you know where to shop. Sure, at times you may pay a premium though ask yourself what it would have cost you to buy a cult bottle of wine and store it properly from day one so that upon drinking it is at it's peak. If you were buying cases and had the opportunity to buy cases then perhaps you are a wine investor with disposable income which can be tied up in the world of wine. I wonder about that world today when any bottle of wine seems to be only a click, or at most a phone call, away. You may pay more for a single bottle although when is the last time you sat down to drink a case of wine?
So now let us look at restaurants. Why are wine lists so important? Is there a better way? I believe there most certainly is although I'm not sure the best way to articulate the change. If there is a more efficient model for buying and storing wine, why aren't we looking into it? In the same vein, perhaps this thought process could be applied to the purchase and use of ingredients, particularly for those interested in seeing and tasting quality food and drink without major funds to invest. It's definitely something to ponder in the current and future economic conditions.
