Unless unbridled self-indulgence marked your passage into the Naughty Noughties - the most cheerful name I've heard so far for this new era - you probably have some good gift bottles still unopened. I have a few beauties sitting in my garage and they've set me thinking. Maybe, finally, this will be the year to organise something faintly resembling a small cellar collection instead of a random hotchpotch.
If you already have a perfect cellar stocked with vintage treasures, you will have less to gain from these musings. But if, like me, you're still only on the brink, why not use those Christmas bottles as the nucleus of a well planned, age-worthy hoard? And why not treat yourself to a few more - after all, bargain-hunting is a traditional January occupation - before the full financial picture of festive excess lands on the mat?
It might seem sensible to sort out the cellar logistics first, deciding where to store your precious bottles so that they aren't adversely affected by light, heat or vibrations.
But I see why Linda Johnson-Bell tackles collecting before storage in The Home Cellar Guide - a book I've been leafing through with interest. The wines come first. Not until you have an exciting little stash of bottles which deserve to be minded carefully for a year or two will the impetus be there to sort out boring practicalities like temperature (10-13 C, just in case you're wondering) and humidity (about 75 per cent).
What to choose? "Buy wines you know and have tasted," Johnson-Bell advises, and I absolutely agree. Although there are plenty of good wine merchants and consultants poised to map out your ideal cellar, following a ready-made plan seems to me a bit like hiring an interiors specialist to design your living room, complete with respectable works of art to match the cushions. It won't reflect your own preferences, your own personality. And you'll miss out on half the fun.
Judging from readers' letters, there are two common misconceptions about cellaring wine. The first is that it's not worth even thinking about unless you're the kind of person who can shell out £100 on a bottle without suffering cardiac arrest. The second is that most wines improve with keeping. The truth, as usual, is less extreme. Yes, of course you can spend a fortune, but you don't have to. And only certain wines are worth hiding away: More and more are made to be drunk soon after purchase. Choose wisely, however, according to your budget, and you'll be rewarded. You'll have wines you love on hand to enjoy and share with friends at the peak of their maturity - and they'll have cost you a good deal less than their value when you draw the cork.
Your collection will probably fall into three categories. First, wines for short-term keeping - anything from a few days to two to three years. This is pretty straightforward, since it relates to the vast majority of wines under £10. Most whites in this price range - particularly Sauvignon Blanc, Italian whites, straightforward Chardonnays and Viognier - are best drunk young and fresh. Barrel-aged Chardonnays and relatively uncomplicated reds from all corners of the globe may not be ruined by a year or two's repose, but they're not worth keeping longer.
Medium-term wines - those that improve over a period of three to seven years - are much more interesting. Some wines at £7 to £10 and a great many at £10 to £15 will taste infinitely more delicious in a few years' time than they do now. Think about Riesling from Alsace, Germany or Australia; Australian Semillon; Chenin-Blanc-based Loire whites. As for red wines, the choice is mesmerising . Bordeaux crus bourgeois; decent (but not stellar) Burgundy; Chianti Classico Riservas; good New World Cabernet and Pinot Noir; some of Portugal's best reds, and Spain's new classics from regions such as Ribero del Duero and Priorat - these are just some of the areas you might plunder.
Long-term wines - those you'll probably lay down for seven years or more - tend to involve more lavish outlay. Whether you're drawn to classic Old World regions like Burgundy, Bordeaux, Alsace, Piedmont, Tuscany, Rioja, or New World safe bets like Napa Valley Cabernet and Australian Shiraz, it's wise to choose wines from top producers - wines with a track record. Obviously, it's desirable to buy a good vintage, too. A detailed and reliable vintage chart (such as the one in Wine magazine) will prove invaluable. But remember that even in less than perfect vintages, a good producer can sometimes triumph. Buy full cases if possible, so that you can sample each wine at regular intervals, see how it is evolving and still have a few bottles left when it's at its best.
Where can all these treasures be tracked down? Anywhere and everywhere. Holiday visits to producers are the most pleasurable form of shopping, as well as the most cost-effective. But most of the cellar fanatics I know top up their stocks with super buys, simply by trawling incessantly through Irish wine shops and supermarkets. The flashy types who boast about buying all their wine from some prominent London merchant "because the choice is so much better" simply don't know where to look.
Saturday is a good day to go hunting, since that's when many merchants open decent bottles for tasting. Unless you have the sort of memory I'd swap every bottle in my embryonic cellar for, get into the habit of jotting down brief notes about wines you like - whether you taste them in a shop, a restaurant or at a dinner party - and you'll have the bones of a useful shopping list. Once hooked and familiar with what's on offer in retail outlets, you may go on to explore the thrills and spills of buying at auction or enprimeur.
Although I've so far bought very little wine for the cellar - the education of large offspring has a horrible knack of mopping up spare cash - a few purchases I'm pleased with are Mountpleasant Elizabeth Semillon, 1994 from the Hunter Valley; Clos du Papillon Savennieres, Domaine des Baumard, 1994; Leeuwin Art Series, Cabernet Sauvignon, 1992 from Margaret River, and Bouchard Pere et Fils Beaune-Greves 1er Cru Vigne de Jesus, 1996. Presents recently squirrelled away with delight include some Trimbach Riesling Cuvee Frederic Emile, 1995; several bottles of Chateau Tahbilk Marsanne from different years; two of E&E Black Pepper Shiraz, 1996; Tom Rochioli's West Block Pinot Noir, 1996 from the Russian River Valley, and Torres's intriguing Grans Muralles, 1996, made from obscure Catalan grapes.
A hotchpotch, all right, but I'm going to enjoy adding to it - particularly by picking up interesting bottles for medium-term cellaring, like some of those listed below. Soon, the shortcomings of the storage arrangements will have to be addressed, but in the meantime the emphasis is purely on pleasure. Linda Johnson-Bell quotes an Italian proverb worth tucking away for any uncomfortable moments when justification is demanded: "One barrel of wine can work more miracles than a church full of saints."
The Home Cellar Guide: How to Buy and Keep Wines at Home by Linda Johnson-Bell is published by Cassell at £9.99 in UK.