If you’re considering building your own wine cellar from scratch, you’ve already made the move from a beginning wine collector to a serious wine speculator. That’s because building a home wine cellar is a huge investment that only the most serious collectors should consider. The cost of most home wine cellars runs anywhere from $20-$30…
In her hugely-popular self-help book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, Marie Kondo gives readers tips on organizing every room in their homes. Yet this book goes beyond messy closets and stuffed kitchen cabinets. Did you know that you can apply many of Kondo’s principles when you organize…
Picture your ideal Napa Valley wine cellar, filled to the ceiling with priceless bottles from your favorite cult wineries, from Scarecrow to Sine Qua Non to Screaming Eagle. One early morning, you’re startled awake by a massive earthquake; later, when you open the door to check on your cellar, you find that nearly every bottle…
In GQ, Alan Richman tells a fascinating story about his friend, who he simply calls “The Collector.” The Collector has an expansive wine cellar filled with more than 2,000 of the finest wines on the market, enough to make any wine collector’s mouth water. One day, The Collector suddenly sold off 90 percent of his…
In 2010, Screaming Eagle released special edition cases of its Sauvignon Blanc to members of its elite mailing list, selling each case for $1,500 a pop. Soon after the first shipments arrived on customers’ doorsteps, some members turned around and resold the wine on the secondary market for as much as $15,500 per case. Consumer…
About 25 years after becoming a serious wine collector, Scot Six had accumulated a collection of about 14,000 bottles. With a collection this big, Six was in desperate need of an easy-to-use app that would make organizing and keeping track of his collection more simple. “I was looking for something to make it easier…
When I visited a friend’s wine bar last year, I asked him which wines he’d recommend. As he pulled out a few bottles, he pointed to one and said, “That’s actually my own bottle. I’m keeping it here because I don’t have room for it at home right now.” My friend buys hundreds of bottles…
Vinfolio Manager of Collector Services Derek Cienfuegos has seen his fair share of messy cellars. As a professional cellar organizer, Cienfuegos regularly meets wine collectors who already have three cellars packed full of wine, and are looking to invest in a fourth just to keep up with the bottles they’re buying. It’s easy for…
When wine critic James Suckling gives you the title of “world’s greatest wine collector,” you know you are doing something right. Collector Henry Tang earned such a title when Suckling visited his personal cellar in 2013. Tang’s cellar was meticulously organized by each Burgundian producer in his extensive collection, which made it simple for Tang…
Some collectors can store their wine in a cool, dark home cellar, but most collectors are better off investing in a professional cellar service to avoid bottle spoilage. Most wine experts agree that storing a wine between 52 and 55 degrees is the only safe temperature range, depending on the varietal. Yet what many experts…
An excellent wine collection requires dedication and joy in the thrill of the hunt. Serious collectors like Leslie Rudd never allow their cellars to lay dormant, constantly seeking out special additions that excite them. Rudd owns more than 10,000 bottles of wine, yet he is still on the search for the best new vintages…
MENTIONED IN THIS POST: -Bollinger -Raveneau -Williams Selyem There are numerous important factors to consider when storing wine, whether it be long or short term. The ideal temperature is 55 degrees with a humid environment. Do not let light into the storage space and keep the bottles on their side when in storage. For now, we want…