You appear to be using logic. It makes me suspect that you haven't been a frequent visitor to Las Vegas!

:-)

In a place like Las Vegas people really will go to a restaurant simply because it offers the biggest wine list. And they'll go in their dozens, hundreds. It's a strange place. Are other places that different?

I'm not sure how you'd measure it, but I'm guessing that if you have a big place in an area with relatively low "real estate" costs per square foot, the inventory is pretty cheap. Especially if you buy the wine young, and keep it to mature; it appreciates in value faster than the cost of storing it, I think. And then you can always sell off the unpopular ones ...