The Wine Collector

The news of Cos d'Estournel's purchase of Chateau Montelena is hard to miss, even from my current vacation in Italy.  While some will attribute this purchase to the cheap dollar, as a former M&A banker, no purchase of this nature is made without solid strategic reasons.  In this case, I think the quotes referenced in Tom Wark's Fermentation blog are correct, that this purchase is ultimately about a recognition of the quality of Calfifornia wine.

Will the Asian wine collector now pay more attention to California wine?

Now that a top Bordeaux chateau has provided a very public endorsement of California wine, my thoughts shift to another place in the world, i.e., Asia, where top California wine has not received sufficient recognition.  It's common knowledge that the Chinese have a strong preference for Bordeaux, and are highly brand conscious.  Will a top Bordeaux producer's endorsement of California wine cause Asian wine collectors to consider diversifying their collections away from Bordeaux? 

In addition, wine investment drives purchases by Asian collectors.  The combination of the current weak dollar and the likelihood of greater quality recognition in the future both auger well for further value appreciation.

VinCellar, our free web-based cellar management application, in combination with Vinfolio's other services, provides benefits you can't get elsewhere, including make you a smarter wine buyer and wine collector.

Getting started - As easy as a phone call

Inventorying services and personal cellar manager services are available if you're too busy to add or manage your wine yourself in VinCellar.  Just call us and we'll do the rest.  Or, if you're a DIY person, use VinCellar's importing tool to transfer your cellar contents from another cellar management application or use VinCellar's "Add" wine capability.

More selective buying

Have you ever unintentionally bought the same wine multiple times because you forgot you had purchased it before?  That won't happen again if you keep your VinCellar account current.  Here's why:

1. Buying wine from Vinfolio enables you to seamlessly check within the wine store whether you already own a wine that you're considering buying. 
   
2. In addition, our priority customer wine email offers are custom-generated for each individual recipient so that each wine offered lists the quantity that you already own. (Priority customers are anyone who spends a minimum of $5,000 a year on wine and/or services).
3. An optional weekly VinCellar recommendations email provides you with a list of wines available to buy from Vinfolio's 3,000+ item inventory which match your VinCellar holdings in other vintages (to help you diversify across vintages for wine you already like) or in the same vintage if you've recently run out.
4. VinCellar makes you aware in certain context-appropriate places when a particular wine is available for sale in the Vinfolio wine store in case you wish to replenish your holdings (more enhancements to come in this area).

1. New wine purchases from Vinfolio are automatically barcoded and added into your VinCellar account.
2. Purchase invoices from other retailers may be faxed or emailed to us to be added for $1.00 per unique wine (invoice scanning is included at no charge).  If you're a Vinfolio priority customer, this data entry service is free.  Barcodes can also be ordered and mailed to you.  Later this summer, we'll introduce a home barcode printing capability.
3. Selling wine from your collection is as simple as selecting "Sell" in VinCellar to select the wines to submit for a price quote.
4. VinCellar lets you easily select "Move" wine currently in Vinfolio storage or "will call", including initiating local deliveries or domestic Fedex shipments.

Vinfolio is pleased to announce the public beta launch of VinCellar 3 today (see press release, a Vinography blog post, and a Fermentation blog post).  One of the most interesting capabilities we've designed is a decisonmaking tool that is found under the Cellar Analysis tab.  The best way to use these capabilities is to think of a question about your cellar and then to use the tools to answer it. 

1. Graphs

This is a graphical dashboard tab displaying up to four interactive graphs simultaneously from a list of categories (currently: cost, country, gain/loss, pre-arrival, score, and varietal; note a "drinkability" category will be released shortly). Click the thumbnail image below to display a screenshot.

You may also drill into any level of detail from this graphical view by clicking either a section of a graph or the Details link for all sections at once (click thumbnail image below for the resulting screenshot).

2. Segmentation

Analyze your cellar by selecting a combination of up to three categories from cascading dropdown lists.  Each category selected sequentially further splits out your cellar into more detail.  Once you have completed an analysis, you can save it to a My Analyses list for future reuse.

3. Narrowing data set used in graphing/segmenting 

In either the Graphs or Segmentation subtab, the following filter criteria can be repetitively applied to narrow the scope of displayed wine and then saved to a My Filters list for later reuse.

Your feedback is welcome

Please feel free to submit any questions or suggestions for improvement in our Vinfolio Forums.  User feedback is critical for us in developing the best possible solution for your needs.  As a web-based application, we are able to make minor changes any time and go through regular software development cycles every 30 days for larger changes or new features.

According to the Luxury Institute's research (as referenced in a recent Newsweek story called Luxury Goes Undercover), "nearly all wealthy Americans (98%) use the Web to purchase [high-end] goods and services, and more than half do it frequently."  The wealthy are "increasingly interested in immediacy and convenience," not to mention privacy and selection.

Wine as a luxury item 

Fine wine prices have risen to the level where wine is now a luxury item (see my 2007 post, Wine as a luxury item).  Yet, only 18% of weekly wine drinkers bought wine online in 2007 according to the Wine Market Council (and almost two-thirds of that was from wineries, not retailers).

Pent-up demand for online wine buying

I believe the 18% figure is artificially suppressed, primarily because of the reduced convenience that complicated direct shipping laws create.  The good news is that wine retailers are now organized via the Specialty Wine Retailers Association.  The SWRA is fighting on consumers' behalf to create a more streamlined regulatory environment that updates shipping laws to conform to the reality of 21st century web-based commerce.

Bottom line: If you're interested in tapping into the benefits of buying wine online, support the SWRA and voice your opinions (in a comment to this post) about how online wine buying could be made more convenient for you.

Designing high-end wine cellars is essentially a specialty art form conducted on a commission basis for wealthy individuals.  With the growing interest in wine collecting globally, it shouldn't be surprising that a globetrotting cellar designer has emerged to meet the needs of those who can afford the best. 

Cellarworks specializes in "architecturally distinguished" wine cellars 

Lee Zinser, started his firm, Cellarworks, in 1994.  His clients include a range of celebrities from the movie, TV, sports, and music industries (as well as some 5-star hotel groups) - sorry, I can't share any names because Lee's strict confidentiality policies don't permit him to tell me. Lee and I met in New York recently to discuss his business:

• They're designers not builders (meaning that Cellarworks' fees do not cover construction costs)
  
• Median fee (i.e., the "typical" project): $400,000-$500,000; minimum fee: $100,000
  
• Cellarworks differentiates itself by developing designs which integrate with the customer's wine lifestyle and which enable customers to demonstrate their wine sophistication by everything from the architectural concept/layout to the materials used in a design (e.g., the latest transparent nanotechnology film which provides complete UV and heat protection when applied to glass but which is otherwise undetectable). In short, they'll make you look smarter than you really are.
• After the cellar is designed, Lee's team including Nathan Woodson, a sommelier with Per Se in NYC, can also help recommend and procure wines on an ongoing basis.  Clients are even given Nathan's cellphone number to be able to reach him any time with their wine questions.
• Average of 20 cellars in progress simultaneously (including some for restaurants and hotels)
• Project duration - shortest is 6 months and the longest is 4 years (a home with many construction delays)
• Current projects are located in Beijing, Sydney, Italy (2), London, NYC tri-state area, Idaho, San Francisco, Los Angeles
  
• Offices in New York, Beverly Hills, London, and Sydney.
  

Vinfolio partnership 

Vinfolio has developed a partnership with Cellarworks in which we will introduce our interested clients to them and Cellarworks will offer various services (inventorying, VinCellar, buying and selling wine) to its clients enabled by Vinfolio.  Read a copy of the press release.

Example designs

Here are a few more of Cellarworks' designs to heighten your interest:

While everyone wants their cellar to look fantastic (see Wine cellars: Beauty over function), there are numerous functional elements which need to be considered in any design.  Loren Root, who is a Personal Cellar Manager at Vinfolio, offers some practical advice:

1. Double-deep bottle racking maximizes space and provides better bottle stability (loose bottles in bins can be precarious).
2. Minimize display rack angle to ensure the wine remains in contact with cork.
3. Use a larger standard bottle rack size - 4.5 inches is best to accommodate the full range of 750ml bottle sizes but you will lose some bottle storage capacity.
4. Avoid using shelves/bins for mixed bottle sizes - The moment you pull a bottle out of a group of mixed-size bottles, others will typically shuffle around, triggering one or two bottles to move down or even slide forward (potentially onto the floor).
5. Use wood or rubber-matted floors - This provides some protection against breakage if you drop a bottle.   If you use tiles, dark grout conceals the inevitable stain a little better.
6. Minimize diamond bins - Airflow and consistency of temperature/humidity throughout the cellar is improved with individual bottle racking.
7. Position double-deep bins for easy access - While useful if you buy wines by the case, don't locate them at floor level -- your back will thank you.
   
8. Plan for odd bottle sizes - Ensure you create rack or shelf space for half bottles, magnums, large format bottles, and Champagne (note: Champagne fits into the 4.5 inch racks noted above).
9. Storage in center islands or display tables - Add shelves or double-deep racking below the counter/table surface for increased capacity.
10. Choose rack material/design carefully - Labels will be scuffed moving wines in and out of racks (fact).  Some materials (like metal) are less forgiving than others or and some designs with sharper outward-facing edges tend to chew up your hands (and labels).  The stability of the bottle in the rack should also be evaluated (e.g., the rack shown at the right might not be the best choice if you live in earthquake country).

Note that Vinfolio is not in the business of designing cellars (other than providing input in an advisory capacity as a Personal Cellar Manager to a client).  But if you're in the market for a cellar designer, here are some suggestions from our "Other resources" page on our site.