First, you could simply not keep track of your wine.  You could put all of your reds in one section, and all of your whites in another.  You could further arrange them by type of grape, or winery, or whatever other criteria you choose.  Then, when you want a bottle, you go to your cellar and hunt around until you find the bottle you want.  This system is simple, and if you only have 200 or 300 bottles, this may work well.

The next simplest system of wine cellar inventory management is to record your inventory in a book.  You have a page for each case you buy, and you list the bottles.  Again, you can segregate your pages by red or white, or date purchased, or whatever other system you want.

I don’t like either of those systems, because I like to track lots of details.  That leaves you with a computerized system.

There are many systems, such as the one offered by Uncork, which contains a computerized database of wine, and even has a bar code reader.  You scan the UPC bar code on your bottle, and you can connect to a database to find tasting notes, and whatever else you want.

I haven’t tested it; it’s probably a great system.  Personally, I don’t have 10,000 bottles, and I don’t always want to scan every bottle as I drink it, so I’ve designed my own system.

First, I created a database using Filemaker.  This database software is relatively simple to create and use.  You don’t need to be a programmer.  Obviously there are lots of other database programs you could use, such as Microsoft Access, but I’ve always found it to be more cumbersome.  You don’t need a fancy database; something simple will suffice.

I created the fields I wanted.  The obvious ones are:

• Wine name
• Year
• Grape
• Country
• Price per bottle
• Date added to wine cellar

I live in Canada, so I purchase most of my wine through Opimian, a not for profit buying group.  (Sorry, they only operate in Canada).  Each order book contains various other details on each wine, so I’ve added those to my database, including:

• Tasting notes
• Suggested serving temperature
• Years the wine is best
• Suggested food matches

Here’s how I do it: when I pick up a new case of wine, I enter the information into the database, and I print wine bottle tags to identify each wine.  I them print a hard copy of my wine cellar inventory (one page for each case of wine).

When I want to drink a bottle, I can either do a search on my computer (by grape, food match, or whatever other field I want), or I can look at my printed binder to find something quick (I arrange the pages by red, white and rose).

It’s simple, and easy.

Want to see a copy: here’s an empty copy of my Filemaker Wine Cellar Inventory Management System.  You will need Filemaker to open it.  My database is free, but of course it’s also entirely unsupported, so use it at your own risk, and good luck.

There are two obvious choices: you either label each bottle, or you label each spot on your wine racks.

A simple labeling system for your wine racks would be to number each column, and assign a letter to each row.  The upper left spot for the first bottle of wine would be 1A; below that would be 1B, and so on.  The advantage of this method is you can fill in whatever hole you want.  You simply note in your wine cellar inventory management system the rack location for each bottle.

I chose the other option: I label each bottle.  I started by writing the bottle number on the top of each bottle, but that’s not a great option if you even want to give a bottle of wine as a gift.  No-one wants to receive a bottle with a “623″ marked on the top.

My next approach was to use mailing labels, like you would put on an envelope.  I could use my wine database to create the labels and then print them.  Unfortunately, the problem was the same; it’s hard to remove a label if you want to give a bottle away.

Finally I found a great solution: wine bottle tags.

I purchase my from Uncork, a company based in Australia.  (I live in Canada; they ship anywhere in the world, and I’ve had no problem getting them, so don’t worry about where you live; they ship to you).

Wine Bottle Tag

I use Uncork’s Wine Bottle Tags.  You can find out more about Uncork’s wine bottle tags on their web site.  They are in sheets of twelve tags.  I’ve configured my wine database to print my labels on my printer.  You can also hand write them with a Sharpie, or a pen.  You then rip them apart, and slide them over the next of the wine bottle.

They are printed on a flexible paper, laminated so that they won’t degrade in the humidity of your basement wine cellar.  (I actually have no idea how they do it; it’s not really laminated, since you wouldn’t be able to write on them if they were).

I have used the tags for many years, and they work great.

NOTE: I have no affiliation with Uncork; I am not a paid endorser; I get nothing from them.  I just like their product, which is why I mention it here.

Here’s more information, and a link to their web site: