I have been recording monthly in & out data for over 25 years. It’s fun. But it has not been of much help in managing my cellars inventory. And I have to admit, sitting around with a bunch of old wine geeks arguing that “mine is smaller than yours,” gets old after a while.
My ambition(s) in managing my cellar is to simultaneously reduce the cellar size (way too big) while making sure that the wines whose time has come are being tended to and at the same time pay attention to the categories where there are deficiencies are also being tended to.
Over the years when visitors ask how many bottles we have in the cellar, they usually gasp in awe over its magnitude and can’t help commenting about how big it is. That is unfortunate. They miss the point of how the cellar is conceived and managed (see note below), let alone the complexity of my record keeping system. The question I so wish they would have asked is: How many old Baroli do you have that are ready to drink, or something like what Oregon Chardonnays from artisan producers have you been able to acquire? Instead of gawking at all of the bottles in bins, I’d much rather that they asked to look at the Cellar Book. Oh, well…
I have built a four-part inventory management system which consists of:
• An extensive (and pretty accurate) inventory book which I keep in the cellar next to the wine (fewer mistakes). When new things come in, they are added. When a bottle is opened, it is removed from the book. As for the bottle size controversy, for my record keeping purposes, a bottle is a bottle, but non-750s are usually noted in the margin.
• All of this activity is tracked/summarized in my ‘Monthly in & Out’ schedule. It follows reds and whites separately. It give me a quick view of activity in the cellar.
• At the same time, I note the nature of the bottles removed on a separate sheet – ‘Monthly Usage,’ which is set up by grape variety for the US and by region for the rest of the world. All of this is tallied at the end of each month so that I can tell you not just how many bottles of red wine came in and out, but also how many were Pinot Noirs, etc.
• Everything gets entered into an elaborate spreadsheet where I actually track inventory across all classes quarterly and then annually. Ultimately, this is the critical page as it helps me put together a replenishment plan for the coming year. It also helps me realize what/how our drinking habits have evolved over time (or not).
All of this activity, when taken together, really does help me with the task of Cellar Reduction, but in a fairly thoughtful way. I have no plans to get rid of bottles just to ‘manage’ (i.e., reduce) cellar size. I have worked too hard to curate this collection to be frivolous with it.
Note: The cellar has been carefully organized to accommodate our dining habits. Wine is an integral part of our dinners. I have worked hard to build a collection of wines to suit most meals Judy prepares or BYO restaurants we would be visiting (we live in Philadelphia). Within this framework, there is a hierarchy of ‘good-better-best,’ as well as a time-frame for drinking them – notes in the margins in the inventory book help a lot. While I adore everything in the cellar, some things are more precious than others, so I do agonize about what level is appropriate for the pairing for each meal. For me, this is where the fun is… especially if I ‘get it right.’
I do feel some sense of accomplishment for my efforts in 2025. I have managed to reduce my inventory by 140 bottles, 2/3s of which were red wines and represent a larger portion of the inventory (82%) which makes sense since most of them are stored longer than the whites are.
Thanks again.
