Tracking Wine Inventory
And Wine Software
There are two parts to organizing and tracking wine. One is actually storing it in an organized manner and the other keeping track of all the info on your wine as well as other wines that you don’t actually own. So, let’s take a closer look…
Organizing Your Wine Inventory
So you have a lot of bottles of wine? Yes? Good problem to have. Do you know what you have and where they are? No? Bad problem to have. Let’s take inventory.It’s definitely helpful to know the info below about each bottle: - Varietal
- Producer
- Vineyard
- Region
- Country
- Vintage
- Number of bottles
- Original cost of bottle
- Date purchased
- Purchased from where
- Estimated year ready to drink
- Plans for the wine
- Tasting notes
Wines that are ready now to drink should be placed where you can see them easily. Otherwise, it’s out of sight - out of mind. That could be a problem. Assigning priority to the above is a matter of personal preference but here is a suggested way to organize your wine. Let’s say you have a
rack
or a section of a
cellar.
The top row can be used for the older wines ready to drink (remember to see them easily). On that row, you would alphabetize your varietals. So cabernets may be on the left and zinfandels on the right. Makes it easier to find a particular varietal. Lower shelves would have newer wines organized in the same manner. However you do it, the key is to know what you have, know where it is, and know if it is ready to drink. In any case, an excellent way for tracking wine is to use inexpensive bottle tags found at most wine shops or online. Then you don’t have to pull the bottle out of the slot to see what it is. You can check out tags, software, and tasting kits at Wine Enthusiast.
Tracking Wine With Software
For keeping track of wine info, the best way is using wine software and/or membership sites. You can do it yourself with a spreadsheet or by hand but software designed for that purpose is the best. This is because someone else has gathered together all the things you’d want to keep track of and made it easy for you to do so.Here are some of things you can do with software: - You can track and organize your inventory. This can be done by any of the characteristics noted above. The software will allow you to sort and make a list by any of these categories. Updates and additions are easy.
- You can identify which wines should be drunk sooner.
- You can keep track of wine that you want but don’t yet have.
- You can add tasting notes and ratings. Great for remembering wines.
- Good for keeping a balanced cellar by whatever criteria you wish.
- Good for organizing and noting your favorites.
- Track the value of your collection. Good for insurance purposes.
- Some will have label images or you can upload your own. Just take a digital photo and let your computer do the rest.
- Some will let you tap into others’ commentaries and their cellars.
Take a look at
Cellar Tracker.
They offer many of the features noted above. Now that you know where that bottle of zin is, go get it and pour a glass.
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