Wine storage | Ditton Wine Traders

In order to best preserve quality and value of your fine wine, it needs to be in impeccable condition. The cases need to be original wood (OWC), with a lid. If the bottles came in paper wrappers, it is best to still have them like that. Labels need to be pristine – uncoulered, unstained and without tears or marks. Levels need to be as they should given the age of the wine. Capsules need to be intact and without signs of movement of the cork or worse, seepage.

Wine storage is extremely important. Your fine wine is most likely to be in investment grade condition if it has been professionally handled and stored. Without interruption. Sadly, the Fine Wine industry still lacks a system that would allow to track a case of wine over its lifetime, thereby potentially ensuring perfect provenance. In lue of that, and although not fool proof, making sure that you know the condition of the wine when you buy and making sure you store it professionally over the time you own it is the next best. This basically rules out storing it in your own private cellar, no matter how good that cellar is.

In the UK, there a good number of highly regarded professional, bonded warehouses that offer wine storage for fine wine. Apart from having the right conditions, the bonded status also means that excise duty only needs to be paid once the wine leaves the warehouse. This, together with the knowledge that the wine has been stored correctly, will make it more tradeable and therefore command a higher price. Fortunately, professional warehouses become more widespread in other countries as well, sometimes even bonded. There are also numerous options to transport your wines in the right conditions although we would recommend letting your merchant take care of that.

Wine storage: how to open a bonded account

It is quite straightforward to open up your own account in a bonded warehouse. See below for some that we work with and can recommend. Rates do vary so shop around.

Alternatively, we are happy to assist you with your own personal account at London City Bond. We can offer trade rates which are less than half of what you would pay privately. Please get in touch if you would like to know more.

Wine Storage | Ditton Wine Traders

We only use the best, bonded warehouses that specialize in fine wine storage to store and we will only ever use the most reliable fine wine forwarders to transport our wines. These companies offer the perfect conditions and expertise to handle fine wine.

EHD, Weybridge, UK
London City Bond, London, UK
Davies Turner, London, UK
Connoisseur International Distribution, West Drayton, UK
Bordeaux City Bond, Bordeaux, France

We can also arrange for delivery, worldwide. Our forwarders make sure your order is shipped in the right conditions, using refrigerated air freight and where necessary, refrigerated trucks. They are familiar with and can handle all local custom formalities, including Beijing, Shanghai and most other big cities in mainland China. Please contact us for current rates and conditions.