I just open the door to the cellar and throw the bottles in.
Somewhat similar to how my buddy grades his law students’ exams, except he begins and the top of the staircase . . . .
Generally they’ll go in the same bin/shelf, but I’ve on occasions split them intentionally… some buried for longer ageing, and the others nearer the top to allow steady sampling over the next 2-3 years.
There’s also the old problem that’s less of an issue these days, that if there are just 12 spaces dotted around the storage, then I’m not moving other bottles to allow these siblings to sit together. Go where you’re put and make friends with your neighbours 
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I’ll put the 12 together even if I have to move stuff to get 6 double deep slots together. I just relocate some wines.
No. I never buy 12 of anything, but I do try to keep all the bottles of one wine in the same case. Where they’re not, it’s mainly because I did the opposite when I had commercial storage, making mixed cases I imagined I would pull (which I almost never did). Or sometimes I bought the same wine at different times and didn’t have room in case with the earlier bottles.
Over time, I’ve grouped the same wines together mostly. And it’s gotten easier as I’ve drunk down my holdings. I have more and more partial cases.
The solution to that problem is to rarely buy a case of any one wine!
Lost in the mists of time was an era in which I had the cellar divided by region, but waves of immigration have washed on all shores and now wine from different countries and even continents live in peace next to each other. It’s a beautiful thing.
There have been times when I have done a minor reshuffle, moving like next to like again, until I get bored and drink, rather than move, bottles.
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I’m netting about 100 bottle a year after consumption. Still very much in the building phase at 36. I would like to get to 1,000 and maintain. We’ll see if I move the goal post as I approach though 
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I never buy a case of any one wine, but if I have multiples of the same, they never end up in the same area. I actually sometimes even intentionally spread them out (but usually no intention is needed, because open slots are already spread across the cellar).
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Agree with this. Maybe two or three bottle of the same wine will get stored together in long term but typically we drink one now, save one for later kind of thing and rarely buy more than three of the same. In fact, I just did the math with what we have in CT, we average 1.53 bottles of each wine.
We have bought two boxes of the same exact wine twice and it’s not the most exciting thing.
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any open slot gets filled with any bottle needing one. Cellartracker FTW.
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That’s pretty much it.
No such thing as cellar reorganization except for putting bottles into racks or coolers from an overflow box when a spot becomes available.
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So completely disagree with this sentiment. For me, following a wine I have bought on release and patiently followed over the course of its aging trajectory for 5,10,20 years is THE MOST exciting thing about having a cellar. It’s the difference between having one conversation with 20 different people, and having 20 conversations with one person. Going deeper into your relationship with that wine, building your understanding and appreciation. Variety is important, too, but leaves a lot on the table if that’s all you go for.
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By region, then alphabetic , by vintage. Getting to be too much. Basically, I have to move just about every bottle when wine ships in the spring and the fall.
4 hour job…
If I didn’t do it, I would never be able to find what I am looking for.
Yeah. That’s a good point. Playing the long game.
Many of you seem to have impressively organized cellars.
For my part, my multiple wine fridges are not organized beyond a separation based on cellaring temperature. My CT, on the other hand, is organized down to the shelf.
I like the idea of walking alongside rows of bottles, but in actuality our wine storage is functional. Fridges, including ones without glass doors, that are only opened for pulling out bottles or putting some in. All in an insulated and conditioned attic space. It’s a growing collection that I don’t plan to take beyond a thousand bottles. We’re in our fifties and this feels like plenty given our drinking rate.
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Adding to Sarah’s point. Verticality has its own pleasures. While randomly stocking and then pulling bottles can be great fun when your are cellaring a few hundred bottles. Believe me when I say it i a lot less fun with a couple of thousand! The joy of discovery is one thing, finding dead abandoned bottles is another. Just sayin’.
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Random stocking has to be accompanied by an inventory method. Most use CT. There should be no joy of discovery in the process. You know what you have at all times and where it is located. CT will even tell you when to drink up
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OK, I am a sucker for the joy of discovery.
I like pulling something out of somewhere and going, “Dang! Look at this free wine I just found!”
(Once I cellar a wine, I try to cast aside the sunk cost and then marvel over my ‘free’ discoveries in the future. I also often approach the cellar as offering suggestions rather than looking for something I am already determined to drink…but I do that, too.)
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Abbott Claim. Nice. Seth at Morgen Long recommended we stop there this Summer. A bougie over the top experience in their underground cave. Still the host was authentic and we had an excellent time. Wines were pricy but outstanding.
I organize by varietal.
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Organized by region mostly but also by variety and vintage. It’s not perfect but I know where most things are…
Abbott Claim is one of the best OR wine makers imo. The cave is cool.
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