Let’s talk about something that doesn’t get discussed enough in the world of Wine collecting: Wine Management. What is wine management you ask? Broken down to its simplest form: it’s knowing what you have, where it is and most importantly, when you should drink it.

In my 15 years as a private wine consultant, I’ve seen it all. Closets under the stairs stacked haphazardly with wine bottles. Overflowing wine fridges with shelves that are buckling under the weight. Wine cellars where the wine is spilling onto the floor… I’ve helped clients with as little as 300 bottles and as many as 20,000. All of them had one thing in common before I got there; they truly had no idea how much wine they actually had. Most clients reach out after trips into the wine Cellar produce wines they completely forgot about and should have enjoyed years ago.

There are two basic steps to properly managing a cellar; Organizing and Cataloging.

Step One: Organizing – Reorganize the cellar so there is a semblance of order…

This could be as simple as separating the whites and reds and as granular as organizing by country/region/type/vineyard and so on… First, I create an easy to follow “grid system” of the cellar using alpha numeric identifiers to track a bottle’s location within the cellar. Case bins and diamond bins are numbered accordingly and I install discreet labels to the racks to make finding a particular location easier.

The organizational direction is usually arrived at after consulting with the client and discussing their desires and drinking habits, but typically involves separating the wines by country and region. I will often times also create a “party wine” or “drink now” section. If the cellar isn’t already at capacity, I will leave space in-between sections to allow for new arrivals.

Step Two: Cataloging

After everything in the cellar is organized, I set about cataloging everything. Cataloging has changed a lot since I first starting doing this – I used to use spreadsheets and clunky apps. Thankfully CellarTracker exists to make my, and my client’s life, much easier. CellarTracker is an online and app-based wine management tool that I input all of my client’s data into. The wine database is huge! I’ve never encountered incorrect information on a wine I was cataloging. Having said that, it still takes time to get everything into the system and get it right – the data is only as good as what you put into it.

After I’ve entered everything into the client’s CellarTracker account, I show the client and/or house manager how to use the app on their phone, laptop or iPad. Removing wines from the system is easy; the app allows users to take a picture of the label, or the client can have me apply a unique bar code to each bottle for scanning.

Let’s review the three W’s of wine management:

• Know WHAT you have.
• Know WHERE it is.
• Know WHEN to drink it.

With a properly organized cellar you will be able to peruse your wine cellar on any device to see exactly what you have – how many bottles, types, regions, 750s vs. magnums, etc. You’ll know exactly where in the cellar or in the case of multiple cellars which cellar, every single bottle is. Most importantly you will know the optimal drink dates for each wine.

One aspect of wine collecting that also doesn’t get discussed enough is value. Wine has value, and value that increases, and should be treated as an asset, much like art or jewelry. I’ve unfortunately been called in to assess damage to cellars from a fire or flooding, and insurance companies can be very reluctant to pay if there isn’t a proper catalogue of the collection ahead of time. With proper accounting and valuation of every bottle in your collection, you can add the cellar to your insurance policy and cover its value like any other asset.

An array of different events can trigger a call to me for assistance, but one of the most frequent is moving. Moving to a new home will obviously require moving your wine collection, and often times a significant remodel project does as well. Unfortunately, this is not a task that should be relegated to the same company that is moving your furniture. Much like moving fine art or automobiles, moving wine is a specialty task that should best be left up to experts. I’ve moved 500 bottles across town and 10,000 bottles across the country. Each move is different but it always involves the right type of wine boxes, cataloging and marking the contents of each box as well as insured, temperature-controlled transport. If the collection is being sent to storage temporarily, I will create a spreadsheet listing each box, it’s corresponding box number and the contents.

Invariably after finishing in a client’s cellar, I have the conversation with them of what they no longer want. Now that they can see exactly what they have, it’s easy to make decisions based on quantity, drinking windows or simply a lack of interest in a particular wine or style. Just as with storage, everything is inventoried and boxed for transport. I discreetly share the collection with potential buyers and negotiate the sale. In the case of prestigious collections, arrangements for sale at auction can be made both for individual bottles as well as collective lots.

Whether you have wine stashed in a closet, wine fridge, cellar or in multiple locations there is surely a benefit to cataloging and organizing your collection.

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Joseph Hageman is the founder and owner of OWC: Organize Wine Consultants is a Certified Sommelier. He has been helping wine enthusiasts with every aspect of their wine collection for 15 years. He lives in Rhode Island but serves clients in New York, Connecticut and all over the world.