Wine inventory is inventory management on hard mode. Unlike most warehouse products, wine has unique requirements around storage conditions, lot tracking, expiry management, and regulatory compliance. A bottle of Château Margaux 2015 is not interchangeable with a bottle of Château Margaux 2016, and storing either one at the wrong temperature can destroy its value overnight.
Whether you're a wine merchant, distributor, restaurant, or retailer, getting your wine inventory right requires a few practices beyond standard warehouse management. This guide covers what makes wine different and how to handle it properly.
Lot and Vintage Tracking
In general warehousing, two units of the same product are interchangeable. Wine is different. The same wine from different vintages is a different product with a different value. A case of 2018 Barolo has a different price and customer expectation than a case of 2020 Barolo, even though the producer and label are identical.
This means you need lot-level tracking. Each lot represents a specific batch of wine - typically defined by producer, wine name, vintage, and sometimes bottling date or importer. When you receive stock, create or assign a lot. When you pick and ship, record which lot was sent.
Lot tracking gives you two critical capabilities:
Traceability. If a quality issue arises - a corked batch, a recall from the producer, a customer complaint - you can trace exactly which lot was affected, who received bottles from that lot, and how many bottles remain in your warehouse.
FIFO compliance. First in, first out. When you have multiple lots of the same wine, you want to sell the oldest stock first (unless the older vintage commands a premium). Lot tracking with received dates lets you enforce FIFO and prevent old stock from languishing on the shelf.
Storage Conditions
Wine is sensitive to temperature, humidity, light, and vibration. Get these wrong and you damage your inventory - sometimes visibly, sometimes in ways that only become apparent when a customer opens the bottle.
Temperature is the most critical factor. Most wines should be stored between 12°C and 15°C (54°F to 59°F). The exact ideal depends on the wine type, but consistency matters more than hitting a specific number. Temperature fluctuations cause the cork to expand and contract, which can let air in and spoil the wine.
Humidity should stay between 60% and 70%. Too dry and corks dry out, shrink, and let air in. Too humid and you get mold growth on labels and boxes - not harmful to the wine itself, but it looks bad and reduces resale value.
Light degrades wine, especially UV light. Store wine in a dark space or use UV-filtering lighting. Never store wine near windows or under fluorescent lights for extended periods.
Vibration disturbs sediment and can accelerate chemical reactions in the wine. Keep wine away from machinery, heavy foot traffic, and loading docks. This is especially important for aged wines and wines with natural sediment.
If your warehouse can't maintain these conditions throughout, create a dedicated wine storage zone with appropriate climate control. This is non-negotiable for premium wines and highly recommended for everything else.
Organizing Your Wine Warehouse
The same location management principles that apply to general warehousing apply to wine, with a few additions:
Separate by storage requirement. If you carry wines that need different temperatures - sparkling wines at 6-8°C, whites at 10-12°C, reds at 14-16°C - you need different zones or at minimum different areas within your climate-controlled space. Label these zones clearly.
Organize by region or producer. Wine customers and sales teams think in terms of regions (Bordeaux, Barossa Valley, Napa) and producers. Organizing your physical space to match how people think about wine makes picking intuitive and reduces errors.
Use bin cards or digital location records. For each location, track which wine and vintage is stored there. When you pick the last bottle from a location, update the record so the location can be reassigned.
Consider orientation. Bottles with natural cork should be stored on their side to keep the cork moist. Bottles with screw caps or synthetic corks can be stored upright. If you store mixed closures, keep cork-finished wines in horizontal racking and screw caps on shelves.
Expiry and Drink Windows
Wine doesn't expire in the way that food does, but it does have optimal drinking windows. A young Beaujolais Nouveau is meant to be drunk within a year. A Grand Cru Burgundy might improve for 20 years. If you're holding inventory that's past its optimal window, you're holding depreciating stock.
For commercial wine operations, track these dates:
Best before / drink by: the date by which the wine should ideally be sold or consumed. This is especially important for fresh, unoaked whites, rosés, and light reds that don't age well.
Peak window: the range of years when the wine is expected to be at its best. This matters more for premium wines where customers are paying for the aging potential.
Set up alerts for wines approaching the end of their optimal window. These should be flagged for promotion, discounting, or tasting events before they lose value. Wine that's past its window and hasn't sold is dead stock that takes up valuable climate-controlled space.
Compliance and Record Keeping
Wine is one of the most regulated product categories. Depending on your location and business type, you may need to comply with:
Excise duty tracking. In many countries, wine carries excise duty that must be accounted for precisely. You need to know how much duty-paid and duty-suspended stock you hold at all times. Your inventory system should track the duty status of every lot.
Movement documentation. Transferring wine between bonded warehouses typically requires accompanying documents (like AADs or e-ADs in the EU). Your system should be able to generate these documents from your inventory and movement records.
Audit trails. Tax authorities can audit your wine inventory at any time. You need a complete history of every movement: what came in, what went out, when, to whom, and the duty status. Lot-level tracking with timestamps gives you this automatically.
Allergen and ingredient information. Regulations increasingly require ingredient and nutritional information on wine labels. While this is the producer's responsibility, distributors should be able to provide this information when asked.
Receiving Wine Shipments
Wine receiving requires more care than general goods because of the product's fragility and value:
Inspect on arrival. Check cases for damage, water stains, or signs of temperature abuse (like pushed-out corks or sticky residue from leaking bottles). Document any damage with photos before accepting the delivery.
Verify quantities and vintages. Count every case and check the vintage on the label matches what was ordered. Vintage mix-ups are common and expensive to correct after the wine is put away.
Move to climate control quickly. Wine that sits on a loading dock in summer heat or winter cold is at risk. Prioritize moving wine into your climate-controlled space over administrative tasks. You can finish the paperwork after the wine is safe.
Record lot details. Capture the producer, wine name, vintage, bottle size, quantity, supplier, and date received. This becomes the foundation of your lot record and your audit trail.
Choosing the Right System
Generic inventory software can handle wine, but you'll likely need to customize it. Look for a system that supports lot tracking, multiple locations, and custom fields for vintage, region, and storage conditions. The ability to set alerts on expiry dates and low stock is essential.
Avoid systems that treat every unit of a SKU as identical - that model breaks down immediately with wine because a 2018 and 2020 of the same wine are fundamentally different products to your customers.
Wine inventory management is demanding, but the reward is fewer losses, better compliance, and happier customers who receive exactly the bottle they expected, in the condition they expected it.