If you are one of the many who have a desire to grow your cellar, who have the best in temperature control and racking, who have a collection of wonderful wines and a personal way of picking a wine which ranges from the lucky dip system to something more sophisticated, but do not have inventory control, you have not addressed the core of good cellaring.
A good inventory system is the most important but the least considered element in maintaining a wine investment. A poor inventory leads to wasted wines.
Selecting appropriate wine from a cellar list and then easily finding it adds to the overall pleasure of wine and cellaring.
Constant pulling out of bottles, studying the label and declaring: “I know it is here somewhere,” is not a precursor to happy or effective cellaring!
Lost and over-aged wines place a cost burden against every good wine you enjoy. Eliminating this cost can only be achieved through accurate inventory and good bottle location.
Inventory processes such as not linking a wine to its racking location or simply believing that you know where your wine is located, ultimately lead to the “Lucky Dip” method of wine selection. The outcome is sure to be a breakdown in inventory control and a sad wastage of wine.
Cellar management software and inventory control are essential tools in managing a cellar!
James Wilson from Vinoté (purveyors of wine cellar software and bottle tags) says: “There are too many wine cellars around the world where huge investments have been made in storing large quantities of expensive wine in the correct conditions and in racking of great beauty but which is not recorded. A poor wine inventory will lead to a waste of wine as much as poor storage conditions. The squandering of wine opened before its optimum or after its best is a transgression to which no wines should be subjected.”
