Keeping track of what's in the cellar

Once your wine collection starts rising beyond a very modest level most people will explore the various options available to keep track of what they have cellared.

The most needed basic functions required seem to be drinking window, where it's stored, tasting notes and what the wine cost. Almost anyone can build a spread sheet to keep track of what they have got however as soon as most people get these initial facilities many of them find they want a whole lot more additional functionality, especially decent reports and that's when the search for a program starts in earnest.

There are lots of them available and they range from free to moderately priced. I started with Winestate data base called “Home Winemaster� when it first came out and the best advantage was (as long as you paid an annual fee) you got all the Winestate tasting notes electronically a few weeks after each issue. It provided most of the functionality that I required at that time and was very easy to use. I must admit, there were some things that I would have very much liked but they were not available.

Prior to settling on Home Winemaster I looked around at what available and there were quite a few. If you have bough Hallidays CD “The Interactive Wine Companion� one came included in the package, so that was a good deal but I don't think its available any longer, except possibly to subscribers of Winepros. This packages best advantage was that it was linked to Hallidays Tasting notes archive but the reports were basic.

Another very successful package is “Winebase� which has been around for ages. The reports in this package are better than many and it's also includes a free copy of Robin Bradley's “The Gold Book� built into the software and useful for those that follow Bradley.

The Uncorked Cellar looks like a very comprehensive package but I have not tried their software. It's available for US$50 and can be downloaded electronically.

My favourite package is called The Red Bigot Data Base and its available free but you need Microsoft Access to run it. It has been developed by a friend of mine, (Brian Handreck (Red Bigot redbigot@yahoo.com.au ) who is a professional data base programmer and wine lover, or possibly that's professional wine lover who happens to write data base programs for a living. I have been using this program since its early days of development and the latest version has more functionality than any wine lover could possibly want and it's dead simple to use too. The biggest advantage with this program is the reports that are available. Want to know how much your favourite tipple cost you when you first bought it 5 years ago, or God forbid, how much you spent on wine last year or even in the last 90 days and the information only takes seconds to retrieve. Need to know the exact date you have scheduled to taste a bottle of that special 1996 Shiraz you bought a dozen of or when your 1994 Orlando Lawson will peak and when the lot should be consumed by or when they are projected to be over the hill? The Red Bigot Data Base has all the answers.

Although the package is free I wanted the new functionality of the latest version and as Brian stopped doing upgrades for Access 98 I had to go out and line Mr Gates pockets further by buy the current version of Access, but it was worth it. It also enables you to store your tasting notes, work out any excess stock you may have, see how many bottles are peaking in a given period (that's frightening I am going to have to drink very quickly next year) The reporting facilities and options are incredible, much better than any other wine program I have seen.

Oh, and you can even store information on c-throughs in it too, but it will that section will self destruct when it gets over a certain percentage of your cellar contents. -

Cheers

Ric ©

PS This week's “lets see if we can find the chump that was born yesterday award� goes to a well known wine club that was offering 98 Petaluma Merlot with a saving of $120 a case. Their discounted price was $708 for the dozen but it was available elsewhere for $488 and $499. Now that saving of $120 is a real bargain! Caveat emptor!!