The following comments have been triggered by a comment made recently in the 30 Second Wine Advisor.

Our language does not seem to have a simple word to reflect a store of wine, which is not resting in a 'cellar'. For this reason, whenever we discuss cellaring we are referring to any stash of wine being held for opening sometime in the future.

No matter where the wine is stored, the rules for cellaring remain the same. We encapsulate these in our 7 sins of cellaring.

1. Create a cellar, suitable for storing wine with a critical mass of wine.
2. Treat your wines well, keeping them cool and quiet.
3. Open your wines at their optimum or before.
4. Make sure you have enough wines of adequate variations.
5. Stick to opening wines at their prime.
6. Maintain records of the wines you have and those you have opened.
7. Share your treasures with others.

The rules are all based around doing the best you can. A cupboard in the kitchen will mean that your aging of wines can be limited an underground cellar with full temperature and humidity stability will allow you to keep them for as long as you wish. However all wines have an age limit and many have a life which is quite short.

Maintaining a proper record of the wines you are cellaring and choosing the most appropriate wine to open from a wine list will ensure that, wherever you are storing your wine, you will be managing it to the best advantage, no matter what conditions it is resting in.