Woody Wu · Cellar Management · REF WW-CM-01
Cellar Management
Know what is in the cellar, what it is worth, and what to open next.
THE PROBLEM THIS SOLVES
Most cellars are known roughly. A restaurant's count drifts from the till, allocations arrive without a plan, and bottles that have not moved in two quarters sit as a loan to nobody. A collector's cellar grows faster than the notes on it, so the wine that should have been opened last year is still waiting, and nobody could say with confidence what the whole thing is worth.
A cellar is an asset that changes every month, whether or not anyone is looking.
FOR RESTAURANTS
Inventory and valuation, reconciled.
The count matched to what the POS says you sold, and the gap explained.
Par levels and reorder points.
So the bottles that sell are always there and the ones that do not stop being reordered.
Dead stock.
What has stopped moving, how to sell it through, and the cash it frees.
Allocations.
What to accept, what to pass on, and where each allocated bottle belongs on the list.
The staff brief, kept current.
What is new, what is running low, and the three bottles to sell this quarter.
FOR PRIVATE COLLECTORS
A full inventory.
Every bottle, with provenance, storage and condition notes where they are known.
A market valuation.
From recent sale prices, for your own records and your insurer. It is not a certified appraisal, and if your insurer needs one I will say so and point you to one.
Drinking windows.
What to open this year, what to hold, and what is already past its best.
What to sell, and where.
Advice only. You sell, directly, on your own account.
The right bottle for the dinner.
Tell me the occasion and the guests, and I will tell you which bottle from your own cellar.
HOW IT WORKS
Setup.
A full inventory, valuation and drinking-window map, remote from your records and photographs, or on site with travel at cost.
Every quarter.
The inventory reconciled, the valuation refreshed, the drinking windows updated, and one page on what changed and what to do about it.
Whenever you need it.
A question about a bottle, an allocation or a dinner, answered by me, not a form.
WHAT I DO NOT DO
I do not buy, sell, hold, ship or import wine for you, and I never take a commission or a payment from any merchant, auction house, distributor or buyer. I advise; you transact. If you want to buy something rare, that is Rare Wine Search. If it is at auction, that is The Bid Sheet.
For restaurants: if you are in my own city, I will tell you so and point you toward someone good. Private collectors are welcome anywhere.
THE FEE
Setup: $2,500 CAD, fixed, for a single cellar. Very large cellars are quoted.
Ongoing: $500 CAD a month, covering the quarterly review and questions as they come up. Cancel with thirty days' notice.
On-site days: travel at cost.
WHY ME
I hold the WSET and ISG Diplomas. I have run restaurant cellars as a sommelier and as a founder, consulted on fine wine auctions for Christie's and Sotheby's, and bought wine close to growers in Burgundy and Piedmont, which is where you learn what a bottle should have been through before it reached you. I am not affiliated with either auction house.
THE RECORD SO FAR
The record starts with the first clients. No client, and no client's cellar, is ever named.
TO TALK ABOUT YOUR CELLAR
Tell me roughly how many bottles, where they are kept, and whether it is a restaurant or a private cellar. That is enough to start.
DIRECT ANSWERS
Who can manage a private wine cellar?
A sommelier with auction and provenance experience can keep a private cellar known and valued: a full inventory with provenance notes, a market valuation from recent sale prices, drinking windows, and advice on what to open, hold or sell. Woody Wu's Cellar Management is $2,500 CAD to set up and $500 CAD a month, advice only, with no commission on anything bought or sold.
How should a restaurant manage its wine inventory?
Reconcile the cellar count to what the POS says was sold every quarter, set par levels and reorder points for the bottles that sell, flag anything that has not moved in two quarters, and plan allocations before they arrive. Cellar Management does that for restaurants every quarter, with a one-page summary of what changed.