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For many, a relationship with wine can often be short lived while others have the patience, the space and inclination to explore cellaring wine.

A wine cellar does not have to be a complicated process, a closet that meets the recommended conditions described below will do. Here’s a brief overview of what to consider in establishing your wine cellar.

Temperature and humidity: Temperatures from 10 to 14 degrees C means wine will mature at an ideal pace. Any colder and the wine ages more slowly, any warmer and its evolution is too rapid. Consistency of temperature is the most important element. Consider first the north side or the side of the basement that is entirely underground. Ideally, the humidity should be between 60 and 70 per cent. A humidity control feature is most important with a that refrigerated wine cabinets.

Light: White wines in particular can be very sensitive in direct light. A cellar should be in shadow or even darkness. You can turn on the lights of your cellar occasionally but do not leave this them on consistently. In no situation should neon lights be used in your wine cellar. If you are using a cabinet with glass doors, you need to ensure they are UV resistant.

Air quality: Storing wine in areas which are exposed to strong odours is to be avoided e.g. root cellar, heating oil etc. You can find these odours can quickly get into the wine itself. {In general, the area where you store your wine should be well ventilated proposed area for your cellar really needs to have good ventilation}.

Vibration: At a chemical level, the creation of long chains of molecules is what causes wines to age. This process is disrupted by any sudden movement, so avoid handling your bottles roughly or unnecessarily and don’t put your cellar under the stairs or near the compressor, furnace or washer. Make sure that refrigerated wine cabinets have a mechanism to isolate the wine from the compressor vibrations.

Bottle position: Most wines should be lying down to ensure permanent contact of the liquid with the cork, keeping the seal completely tight. Certain types of wine can be stored standing up: ports and sherries (where a composite closure of plastic-natural cork is used); wines with screw cap closures.

In order to develop a taste for wine, keep tasting — and write down as many specifics as you can when you find a wine you like. White wine or red wine? What grape variety? Which region? And so on, and given some time you will know the particular qualities that you look for when consuming wine.

Without trying to sound geeky or snooty, but it’s not very useful to try to describe the types of wines you like in such general terms as mild, nonsweet, dry, etc. Commonly, people may say they prefer dry wines, but what they might really mean is they like off-dry wines. And then, they may find a wine too sweet but it may technically be a dry wine. What is useful is isolating what winning characteristics you look for in wine to know what it is you truly enjoy.

You can start with red wine or white wine. Novice wine drinkers generally have a preference for one type over the other. Next, think about the types of meals you like eating. The food matchup can sometimes be the deciding factor as to whether or not you like the wine. It doesn’t have to be complicated and experimenting is normal, but some times, things just don’t work. If you really like hamburgers and only drink sweet white wines, that’s going to be a challenge.

And next but not least, is price? If you’re only willing to spend say $8 on a bottle of wine, you may find these drinkable but probably not more. If you want to explore more rarefied flavors, try wines from small producers and expect them to be more expensive than wines that are mass-produced.

Often, people simply note down the name and year of any wine that they truly enjoy drinking. Even If you have only one wine that takes your fancy, this could be a starting point for any wine adviser, such as a bottle shop owner, sommelier or reviewer.

And lastly but also importantly, ensure you maintain a sense of adventure. Understand that there will be some disappointing wines you’ll come across regardless of how many you drink or your knowledge of wine. Focus on the wines you have enjoyed drinking, think about the factors you like about them, and from your probability of drinking winners improves substantially.

From the countless wines available for your consumption, you probably won’t find a more impressive red wine than a Pinot Noir. With its brilliant ruby colour, complex aromas of earthy summer fruits and silky texture, Pinot Noir is the grape that many find irresistible. While Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay impress with power and dexterity, it is the subtlety and elegance of great Pinot Noir that can soothe the savage beast.

Unfortunately, the great Pinot Noir does suffers from an ongoing issue. While its greatest wines are pure heaven, there are also many disappointments, and some at ridiculous prices. It seems that there are plenty of winemakers whom think that merely putting Pinot Noir on the label turns a consumer blind as to what is in the wine bottle. But it is not all the winemakers fault, as Pinot Noir is a difficult child.

Wtih Shiraz, Chardonnay or Cabernet wines generally taste much like grapes from which they are produced due to the grapes robust and sturdy nature. Being a fickle grape in nature, Pinot Noir is limited to producing great wines in only a select number of areas worldwide. Grow Pinot Noir in a region that is too hot, and it will taste like a pleasant dry red without much interest. If too told, grapes remain green and can have a mint flavour, resulting in less fleshy grapes. It goes well beyond the climate, as the fragile Pinot Noir grape has be planted in the right soil, the right angled slope and be treated in the vineyard before a great wine is made.

In Australia and New Zealand, while the local Pinot Noir has for many years trailed the best of France, the last decade with increasing vine age and also a greater understanding of the best sites for Pinot Noir seeing the release of some fantastic red wines, some of which are challenging the best in the world. In New Zealand, colder climates do mean that their many wine regions produce some very impressive wines, whereas in Australia, the best Pinot Noir wine regions are found on the Southern coast. If you compare them, Australian Pinot Noir wines can display stronger, riper fruit flavour, while in New Zealand, they benefit from a more earthy almost mushroom type aroma.

Martinborough and Central Otago are best known for making the New Zealands finest Pinot Noir wines, while still distinctly different from eachother. {The still-expanding Otago region produces wines are marked by power and tremendous generosity of dark fruit flavours, that is almost lavish, yet retains some of Pinot Noirs silky delicacy growing Otago region has a reputation for very powerful wines with stong, fruit flavours, yet somehow still retains Pinot Noirs delicate balance}. The best wines are found in the Martinborough which produces subtle, fragrant wines that have earthy flavours and which are perfect for aging in your wine cellar. Close behind Marlborough and Waipara are also reliable sources of fine Pinot Noir.

From the Australian corner, while both Tasmania and the Adelaide Hills can produce some remarkable wines, it is the dress circle of vineyards around Melbourne which are the primary sources of the country’s best.  In particular wines from the very cool regions of Geelong, the Mornington Peninsula and Macedon Ranges can show ethereal fragrance, admirable subtlety with the fines table to improve with 5 to 10 years in bottle.

Potentially its best trait is how the wine itself is a true reflection to the wine maker’s skill, the area from which it’s grown, and it’s vintage. So much so that it creates wine types with infinite variety that are impossible to tire of, and in some ways at least, the best red wine.

It is human nature really – to stick with the tried and true and shy away from new types of wines. Pinot noir, shiraz, merlot, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, riesling, Yarra Valley, Barossa Valley, Marlborough, Central Otago. From wine to spaghetti sauce, it is usually the easier and safer option to take home a wine bottle that has hit the spot some time in the past. It normal to be conservative in our buying habit often to avoid disappointment if trying something different.

Take spaghetti sauce, where you’d expect them all to be a little sweet to taste, mixed with savoury tomato paste and herbs. Wine is a obviously in a very different league. For in wine there are hundreds if not thousands of different flavours and sensations to be found. Primarily, that character is a result of grape which a wine is made from. While it is well known that the grape’s region is important but grape variety is the leading factor in the overall taste experienced from any wine.

That said, wine is a wonderful beverage in that it can also give the consumer a taste of a different country or culture all from the comfort of a lounge chair. It’s worth noting is that wines taste their best when from their country of origin including varieties such as sangiovese, nebbiolo and tempranillo from Italy and Spain. So with such variety to choose from all over the world why taste the same destination or grape every day when a world of flavour awaits from the local off-license or restaurant?

So how do we start? Pinot gris or its little brother pinot grigio, a characterful white grape with pretty tell-tale floral, pear drop fruit flavours, is a fine place to start. Best known in the wines from Alsace in France, as well as the more delicately flavoured and zesty pinot grigio styles from Italy, it is a grape that is also coming good in the cool regions of Australia and New Zealand with fine wines that compare well with the rest of the world. Semillon is another white wine forever in the background but one that can make world class dry whites that are a little more restrained than varieties such as chardonnay and sauvignon blanc but lose nothing in complexity from vineyards in the Hunter and Barossa Valleys. In the world of whites, it is worth discovering grapes such as viognier, chenin blanc, gewürztraminer, and roussanne.

And with red wines wines, you can select from the world of fuller, stronger reds such as zinfandel or durif, or if your tastes are a little milder, experiment with a nice cabernet franc or gamay. If personality is what you are looking for, sangiovese, nebbiolo and tempranillo seldom disappoint with savoury fruit flavour, rustic tannins and freshness of acidity that make them superb food wines.

Len Evans was quoted as saying that with so many bottles of wine to enjoy in our lives, one should not waste an opportunity to try taste something new and adventurous great Len Evans once said we only have one life to experience so many types of wine and the chance to try something interesting should never be wasted. It is clear that now is time for you to get to your local bottle shop and buy some wines types that you have never tried.

I love the Wine Regions of Western Australian. I love the majestic beauty of the Margaret River. Picture, if you can its pristine white beaches that disappear into the horizon. Envisage, if you can, the rolling sand dunes sitting next to a vibrant native forest. See for yourself a western sunset that glitters and shines over the Indian Ocean like a dance. It’s no wonder this place is home to so many acclaimed wine makers. This is a beautiful place that produces some of Australia’s best wine.

The Margaret River region is without doubt one of our greatest fine wine areas boasting over 120 wine producers. Local names such as Moss Wood, Cullen and Leeuwin Estate sit comfortably among the greatest Australian producers. Their wines are now highly sought after both domestically and overseas.

The winemakers here aspire to not only make wines that stand up to the best from Australia but match up as great wines of the world. They deliver brilliance in each and every bottle they produce.

Quality Wines have been coming from Leeuwin Estate, Moss Wood, Vasse Felix, Cullen, Cape Mentelle, Howard Park and Pierro for a long time. Collectively, they have been responsible for making some of the region’s best wines.

These guys should be keeping a close eye on the wine coming from Woodlands and the newly revitalised Xanadu wineries. Voyager Estate is another rising star from the Margaret River.

The original vines of what is now Voyager Estate were first planted in 1978, under the name of Freycinet Estate. These vineyards, in 1991, were bought and considerably expanded on. The area is now become known as the ‘Golden triangle of Chardonnay’ due to the amazing quality of the wines from produced here.

The current releases from Voyager Estate include three absolute knockouts. I recommend you try them all:

1. The Voyager Chardonnay 2006 ($35) has powerful white peach and citrus fruit on a taut and youthful palate with a little creamy leesy complexity and brilliant length. It is one of the best 2006 Margaret River Chardonnays.

2. My favourite, at least for drinking now, is the 2005 Shiraz ($35). Generally the Margaret River doesn’t make standout Shiraz, but this is a wonderful example of dense cool climate Shiraz with clove and blackberry fruit lifted by hints of violets and liquorice. In the mouth there is a youthful feel yet there is plenty of vitality that it will only get better with time.

3. Best known of the wines from Voyager Estate is their Cabernet Merlot ($60), with the 2004 release one of their best to date. This wine is really built for the long term with gravelly cassis and blackberry fruit rounded out nicely with some subtle notes of olive and oak. In the mouth there is great generosity of fruit that is currently bound up in its significant structure. In ten to fifteen years it will be a wonderful drop, so keep it sleeping for a while, if you can.