When is the time to start thinking about professional wine storage? What benefits are there to storing in a facility? Is professional storage cost-efficient?
Many fine wine collectors ask themselves these questions and more as they’re considering moving away from their home cellars and into professional storage facilities. But while professional wine storage might first seem like a question of convenience, it can actually be a practical solution for collectors to manage their collections more effectively as well.
As you invest time, energy, and finances into growing your wine collection, let’s examine the differences between professional wine storage and storing at home, and decide which is best for your collection.
Compare costs of home cellars and professional wine storage.
As your wine collection grows from a few dozen bottles to a few hundred, the cost of storing at home can start to add up quickly. Custom wine storage solutions in New York City can range from $5,000 to well beyond $75,000 for cellar design and refrigeration. The variation in price comes not only from the size of the room and storage capacity but also from the performance of the space.
A good quality cellar should maintain appropriate temperatures, humidity, light protection, vibration protection, and more. You’re looking at more than the price of a room: you’re deciding if you need an air-tight door, split cooling, and more.
Professional wine storage, by contrast, removes these elements of uncertainty in price. Most wine storage facilities have set fees for handling, storage, and picking up or delivering your cases, and decrease significantly in price per case as the volume of your collection increases.
Ensure that you understand your portfolio with dynamic insights and analytics.
As most fine wine collectors come to realize, growing and maintaining a wine collection is much like maintaining a financial portfolio. As wines sit in a cellar and approach their prime drinking window, market conditions are constantly changing.
When collectors choose to store at home, portfolio tracking either becomes a constant commitment or a forgotten factor. With professional wine storage, collectors can expect up-to-date analytics collected and readily available. At The Wine Cellarage, we provide storage customers with a wide range of data from the current market price to portfolio composition and even offer one-click listing to resell your bottles.
Learn more about our wine storage program here.
Decide if you’re in need of short-term cellaring or long-term professional wine storage.
Are you a wine enthusiast investing in quality bottles but opening them shortly after purchasing? If so, it might be most cost and time-efficient to store your bottles at home. However, if you’re looking to store your bottles longer term, there are many benefits to choosing professional wine storage.
One of the most important factors in wine storage, whether at home or in a facility, is leaving your wine still to age as well as possible. In many home wine cellars, bottles can be disrupted by constant movement or experience vibration. Is your wine rack placed nearby a heater or washing machine? Are you often shuffling bottles around to reach others or find the perfect arrangement?
When you’re investing in quality or even collectible wine, quality is key when it comes to storage. Long-term professional wine storage offers consistency and protection from vibration, giving your wine a better drinking experience when it’s finally time to come off the shelf.
Learn about the 5 most important factors for wine storage here.
Choose a professional wine storage facility that suits your needs as a collector.
If you do choose to opt for professional wine storage, it’s important to choose a company that works for you. This comes down to practicality and financial sense. Here are the factors we recommend considering when choosing a wine storage company:
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Reputation. With many wine storage facilities out there, it’s important to read reviews, get recommendations from trusted sources, and understand exactly who will be storing your wine. How long have they been in business? Do they have experience with collections like yours? Don’t be afraid to ask questions and understand what makes each storage facility unique.
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Customer service. Professional storage should feel just as personalized and accessible as storing your collection at home. When calling your storage facility, you should be able to speak to a real human. A quality storage company should always treat you like a valued customer.
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Pricing. Most wine storage facilities publish storage, handling, and pickup pricing lists. Understand the cost of storage, and know that paying for value is important. But be sure to choose a facility that will suit your price range even as your collection grows.
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Location. While wine can be shipped after storage, it’s even easier to choose a professional wine storage facility local to you. The Wine Cellarage offers storage in New York City and London, which is convenient for many of our customers.
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Transparency. The most important factor in choosing a wine storage company is transparency in their process, team, services, and experience. Learn more about The Wine Cellarage and our professional wine storage program in the short video below, or by visiting our Wine Storage information guide.
