I wouldn't drink the Barolo for a couple of years yet, and I'd give the Chateauneaf de Pape at least another year of cellar time. Just my opinion, of course.

Of the others, I'd go with the Valpollicella first, then the Cab/Shiraz blend, and then the Cab last.

I'll also suggest that you invite some friends or relatives over and taste them together. Discuss what you taste in each one, then move to the next. It can help you learn if you have to put what you're experiencing into words, and hear also what others have to say. When my wine and I were first learning, we sometimes used a flavor chart, like this one to help.

Also, it can be a fun exercise to taste the wine when you first open it, and then an hour or two later when it has had a chance to open some.

Enjoy!

I can't think of what these are called, but it's essentially an icepack that chills your wine portably.

http://www.amazon.com/Vacu-Vin-Buffet-Chiller-French/dp/B00005AS56

I have one of these and they're great for taking a good white along on a picnic.

A friend gave me a bunch of these Label Lifts a while back and I have used them to some success. Sometimes they save the image on the label, but they usually leave part of the paper on the bottle. Would you be interested in labels removed in this fashion?

You have to be familiar with something before you can taste it.

An Aroma Kit is the best way. You can DIY if you want to save on cash. Practice 10 random smells a night, and eventually, you'll be able to identify the same ingredients when tasted.

You said "best". Here is least to best.

1. wrap it up in your old clothes. Ya they sometimes don't wrap it up properly. 9 out 10 times they do.
   
   
2. Styro shipper
   
   
3. Go crazy

Here ya go! https://www.amazon.com/Wine-Socks-Valentines-Elephant-Housewarming/dp/B077N3C5VQ/ref=sr_1_94?ie=UTF8&qid=1539844661&sr=8-94&keywords=wine%2Bsocks&th=1

There are basically 4 different sensor categories for my application.


  

1. USB logger

This plugs directly into the USB port on the Mac. They range wildly in price, sometimes costing close to $1k (which is way out of my budget).

Examples: TEMPerHUM, Omega, Lascar, Extech, TemperatureAlert, and more here

The problem is that, for whatever reason, these USB loggers are only compatible with Windows. The five above examples are Windows only.

The only logger that I have found that is Mac compatible is the Minnow. However, I spoke with the manufacturer and realized that it is not designed to be a real-time USB logger; the unit will quickly overheat. The workaround is to incorporate a USB relay switch to manually connect/disconnect the Minnow periodically from the Mac.

  

2. Bluetooth

Examples: Blustream, SensorPush, D'Addario Humiditrak, Eve Degree, and more here

The problem is that all of these products have an iOS app, but no macOS app.

But If I purchased the SensorPush sensor along with the $100 SensorPush WiFi Gateway, I can access the data over the internet.

But there are cheaper WiFi options, like the ConnectSense (won't be shipping until early 2019), Proteus, and La Crosse. But, I am hesitant to fully depend on an internet connection to get the data (i.e., if the internet goes down, then I would lose access to the data, which is not ideal).




  

3. RF

AcuRite sells a $13 Wireless Temperature and Humidity Sensor (model # 06002M) that transmits every 16 seconds using a 433 MHz wireless signal with a maximum range of 330'. This sensor is inexpensive because it is designed to be used with AcuRite Access and the AcuRite weather station products, which I do not want or need. It's all proprietary.

However, some people have reverse-engineered the radio signal to decode the data stream from this sensor if you have a USB RF receiver.

Examples:

• Acurite-00592TX-Decoder-ESP32a (C++)
  
  
• YouTube - Decoding Low Power Devices on MAC OSX Using RTL433
  
  
• rtl_433 (C) (device protocol #11)
  
  
• "Reverse Engineer Wireless Rain Sensors — Part 1"
  
  
• "Wireless Temperature Sensor"
  
  
  This path appears frustrating and difficult to a neophyte like me.
  
  
  
    
  
  

  4. DIY microcontroller
  

  
  Unlike the other 3 sensor categories, this looks like the one area where proprietary protocols are not in the way of progress. Once you get everything set up, accessing the raw data is a breeze.
  
  This is probably the most cost-effective option.
  
  Examples: Raspberry Pi + this $10 DHT22 sensor, Arduino, Espressif esp8266/esp32 wifi module
  
  The problem is that this is simply over my head. I have no real experience programming from the command line or really anything other than basic scripts. It would just be best if I paid someone to set this up for me, as I can easily envision myself spending 100 hours on this "simple" project.