Sip Keeping: How to Store Investment Wine

Pour yourself a glass because it's time to talk about wine investing and how to store your investment wines when you're just getting started.

Most wines can't be kept in the cabinet for very long before becoming undrinkable and, therefore, worthless. Storage is a quintessential part of maintaining your fine wine investment so that one day you can reap the benefits—either on your taste buds or in your bank account. Here's what you need to know to make the most of the best investment wines.

Any investor amassing a serious fine wine collection may consider investing in long-term wine storage to better preserve their assets. Storing wine properly is crucial since the value of the best investment-grade wines won't hold outside of a well-maintained cellar. If you don't have a place to store wine yourself, your only other option is to keep your fine wine bottles at a storage facility.

Adam Lapierre, Director of Wine at Vint, on why investment grade wine storage is so vital:

How to store fine wine investments

The best way to store bottles you already own is at a local wine locker. These climate-controlled warehouses are specific for storing fine wines at the ideal humidity and a consistent temperature. Most wine lockers will let you rent either an entire wine locker or some space for storing a wine case, but most don't accept individual bottles. The benefits of renting space at a wine locker are added services like expert maintenance and 24/7 security that keep your wine investment safe.

Private wine cellar

Another storage option if you're investing in wine is renting space from another wine collector. Rarely can a wine collector fill an entire room up with bottles, so some may try selling their empty space to others to store their wine investments. This method may not offer the same assurance and security that professional wine storage facilities can, but this is partly what makes it more affordable.

Another benefit of storing wine privately is that a fellow collector may be more inclined to store bottles of your valuable wine individually as opposed to renting out a predetermined space. This flexibility makes private storage better for someone who is new to wine investing and wants to save on the storage and insurance costs associated with it.

Become a wine storer

Storage is an essential part of wine investing, so why not get in on the action? Whether you rent out the dead space in your cellar or invest in dedicated wine storage facilities, selling wine storage services to collectors is a great way to make money. However, there are lots of overhead expenses associated with managing a wine locker or even an average-sized cellar, and it isn't the easiest way to gain exposure to the fine wine market.

Aside from startup costs, there are many reasons why running a wine storing business may be more difficult than collecting wine. To invest in wine storage means taking on a lot of liability, which is an unfavorable position for a business to be in and is why wine lockers are usually insured. 

Other reasons why one may prefer collectible wine over investing in storage are things like energy and labor costs and all the effort required to manage a profitable facility. While it's a way to gain exposure to an underlying asset, the hands-on nature of storing wine makes it a more tedious investment to profit from. A simpler way to invest in wine as an underlying asset would be signing up to Public and buying wine stocks.

If properly managed, investment-grade wine is a great store of value. It may not be so easy to sell wine immediately when you want to cash out of your investment, so you should always consider how you'll store it in the meantime. Another thing to consider is that different types of wines should be stored in different ways. For instance, champagne or sparkling rose can be kept fresh in a regular wine cooler, so investing in proper wine storage to preserve it may not be necessary depending on the kind of wine you're investing in.

Wine investing platforms

Investing directly in fine wine is no easy feat, especially if you're looking to turn a profit. Not only is storage a hassle, but it can be hard to get access to wine expertise. Access to knowledge is the key to success in the wine industry, which is why Vinovest is such an incredible resource. Founded by Anthony Zhang, Vinovest is a wine investing platform, and it's one of the best places to begin investing in fine wine.

Vinovest has made investing in wine more accessible and transparent than ever before and, with the help of state-of-the-art analytical tools and insights from top wine experts, investors will see their wines and spirits outperform traditional asset markets. You won't have to worry about storing or insuring your investment wines since Vinovest's fixed annual fee covers all those costs.

The best part about Vinovest isn't that you get to select your own wines and can sell them on their dedicated marketplace, but that Vinovest will deliver your wine investment to you. Profits have never been tastier than with Vinovest.

If you want to invest in fine wine without all the complications, then perhaps you should consider signing up for Vint. 

Vint is a wine investment platform where you can buy shares in diversified wine portfolios starting at $50. You don't need to know anything about wine to make money using Vint, which makes it one of the easiest and cheapest ways to make your first wine investment.