But several days of effort could pay off handsomely in new ways for wine lovers. This year could be the year you begin to benefit from a wine collection — with minimum investment of both time and money.

Make 2012 the year you decide to drink better wine. This is the first installment of the Snooth project to Build a Better Wine Cellar — for just $2500.

We’re beginning our cellar project by taking a look at some of the options available to people at a relatively modest price point: $30 a bottle. I could buy a single bottle of wine and be done with it, building that $2500 cellar in one purchase, but that’s neither fun nor helpful, is it?

What I’m hoping to do is help people understand where there is value in cellarable wine and with that, offer some pointers. Simply put, one need not invest exorbitant resources in order to build a cellar that satisfies its primary purpose, to supply maturing wines over the course of several years.

So what does my fantasy cellar look like? Let’s break it down by stages and price points:

The $2500 cellar is stage one and consists of six cases of wine broken down as follows: Eight types of wine, three labels for each type, three bottles each, all at less than $30 a bottle.

The $5000 cellar is stage two and includes the $2500 cellar plus: Five additional types of wine, three labels of each type, three bottles each, all at less than $60 a bottle,

The $10,000 cellar is stage three and includes the $5000 Cellar plus: Five additional types of wine, three labels of each type , three bottles each, all at about $100 a bottle.

The $20,000 cellar is the final stage and includes: Five additional types of wine, three labels of each type, three bottles each, all at $200 to $400 a bottle.

$30 bottles

Today, we’ll start with our first two types of wine for the $2500 cellar: Rioja and Beaujolais. We want to drink better, we want wines that are representative, we want wines that work with the foods we eat, we want our friends to enjoy our wines, and we want to know something about the wines we share.

We want to find the great values out there — the real ‘wow’ wines under $30 that will reward up to about a decade of cellaring, though sometimes a bit less. If you cellar wine, don’t be afraid of taking a few risks now and again. A cellar full of your favorite wines is a fantastic treat, a cellar full of your favorite wines and wines you had no idea would become your favorites is even better.

Rioja Reserva: Not only are these wines delicious on release, they are ready to improve in the bottle for years to come. As such, they are ideal wines to begin a cellar with. One of the issues with more expensive wines for the cellar is they often taste bad when young. These Rioja Reservas all exhibit rich ripe fruit and the classic tell-tale oak that is one of the signature elements of the Rioja taste profile.

Three wines I added to my cellar this past year are:

2001 La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza Reserva Especial $30

2004 Bodegas Riojanas Monte Real Reserva $20

2001 CVNE Vina Real Gran Reserva $40

I’ve already cheated a bit, sort of, by exceeding the $30 per bottle price, but the net result here is an average of $30 per bottle for a solid selection of cellarable Rioja. Total cost for nine bottles is about $300, with tax and delivery included.

Beaujolias: Like Rioja, Beaujolais may be off many people’s radar, but the truth is that the top of the line Cru Beaujolais are getting more attention than ever, and for good reason. Not only are these wines improving, showing lovely nuance, structure and an increasing effort on the part of winemakers to highlight the grapes’ and terroirs’ unique expression, but they are also proving to be one of the great values in the world of wine, for a little while longer at least.

While we think of Beaujolais as an early drinking wine — the best are considered on par with some minor Burgundy appellations as to their ability to improve with age, becoming complex, layered and wonderfully expressive. They are ideal food wines.

Three that I added to my cellar this past year are:

2010 Clos de Roilette Fleurie $20

2010 Chanrion Cotes du Brouilly $17

2009 J P Brun Terres Dorees Morgon $18

As you can see, these wines, all clocking in at under $20 a bottle, are real value. Buying three of each gets us to about $200, with tax and delivery.

‘Til Next Time…

Two wines selected, six to go, bringing us to a total of about $500 so far.

I’ll be back soon with more great selections, but if you have your own favorites, share them in the comments below.