Wine Storage for Rent

When you've filled every nook and cranny of your home with wine, it's time to consider offsite storage

by Brad Royale

Wine collecting often starts with a simple wine rack in the kitchen, usually sporting a handful of special bottles mingling with the daily drinkables. As the wine rack begins to overflow, additional storage can become an issue. Having stuffed enough wine under your bed so as to practically feel it while you sleep, you realize it's time for a better solution, one of which is offsite storage.

Perfect for the collector who hasn't the space, budget or commitment to build and maintain a personal cellar, offsite storage comes in two basic varieties: self-service or full-service.

Self-storage offers few services beyond secure, climate-controlled storage space, which means you do all the packing, searching, record keeping and moving yourself. Full-service facilities, which can be found in most major markets across Canada, offer a wide range of controls and guarantees for making sure your fine wine is in the best hands. The latter option is especially attractive if you're cellaring your wine for investment purposes, considering accurate records of temperature, humidity and movement history are details potential buyers seek that can mean the difference between hundreds and thousands of dollars per bottle.

The Vancouver Wine Vault (winevault.ca) offers temperature-controlled storage with rates starting at $3.10 per case per month. Temperature and humidity are firmly controlled. Staff will pack up your cellar, bar code it, catalogue it, organize it and stock it for you. Bonus for the quake-hazard Vancouverites is the insurance option: for 40 cents per case per month, your First Growths will be insured against fire, flood, theft and earthquake. Appointments are required to gain access to your cellar, so plan ahead. Delivery is an option if you just can't get there. A Calgary location has just opened, offering the same services for the mountain-prairie-dwelling wine collector.

For wine enthusiasts in downtown Toronto, the Fine Wine Reserve (finewinereserve.com) allows customers two types of controlled wine storage. Private lockers start at $38 per month, providing clients with 24/7 access to their wine. For clients who want a more service-orientated program, their Custodial Cellaring service offers various detailed inventories and pickup/delivery services. Plans vary in price, depending on quantity.

Also in downtown Toronto is Iron Gate Cellarage (irongatewine.com), which offers a variety of onsite and offsite services ranging from in-home maintenance to computer software services to purchasing consultation, with rates varying depending on the service, and with additional insurance optional.

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