Wine storage is not a subject of great interest to the general public. The only time you hear about it is when something goes wrong, and plenty has gone wrong lately.
Last year, a venerable Madison Avenue retailer was shut down and accused of scamming its customers. Their storage facility lost its license, and as many as 2000 cases are missing or unaccounted for. Valuable vintages may have been stored in suboptimal conditions (in an unrefrigerated office building) without clients’ knowledge. They are under investigation by the FBI.
Meanwhile, in December, an investigation was launched into a downtown Manhattan wine storage facility, as a growing number of customers feared that the business had lost, stolen or otherwise mishandled their bottles in storage. The owners were not returning calls, clients have been denied access, and the wine being held in storage is in limbo until a host of accusations and legal issues can be resolved.
Also in December, a Napa Valley e-tailer, filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The storage facility has “shut down for all future ordering and shipping,” and the wine, instead of belonging to the firm’s customers (who had already paid for it and were storing it with them), abruptly shifted to the control of a court-appointed trustee, setting up an ugly legal battle.
There has been no end to the flimflammery in our demi-monde: there was Rudy, of course, but also John Fox and the Premier Cru Ponzi scheme, Mark Anderson and the Sausalito Cellars fire, Hardy Rodenstock and The Billionaire’s Vinegar. But this most recent spate of scandals is all of a specific type: serious breaches of the trust that people—people like you, gentle reader—have every right to expect of a storage company.
When I first got started doing Wine Cellar Management, a client told me, “I trust you implicitly.” Fixing peoples’ wine cellar problems was the job, but the business was Trust. I was in the Trust business.
It’s easy to say: “Trust me.” It’s another to back it up. Vino Vault was founded by a team of executives from the Iron Mountain Information Management company. They have years of experience handling some very sensitive, valuable property, including film negatives, audio master tapes, and all manner of collectibles. They brought a very serious, no-nonsense approach to an “industry” that has very little oversight or accountability or accepted professional standards and practices. Vino Vault has a proven track record, and a commitment to a quality storage experience.
Many wine storage facilities are owner-operated small businesses, but what happens if something happens? If the owner dies or there’s a fire or whatever? Vino Vault has knowledgeable staff, committed to maintaining our high standards, not just a “guy” letting you in. There’s a board of directors. We have huge Lloyds of London insurance policies at all our facilities. We’re as serious as a heart attack about wine storage.
Vino Vault offers answers. Confidence. Experience. Best Practices. Keeping your wine collection protected and preserved is paramount. We are one of the very few companies to offer an Enhanced Service Protection (“ESP”) plan, which includes improved security measures such as special access control and additional surveillance. Our full-service clients enjoy an extra layer of protection from catastrophic losses due to earthquake, flood and windstorm, as well as breakage, shrinkage and negligence.
We’re not just renting you a locker with ideal storage conditions. We’re not just providing the best-in-class security measures that safeguards against theft and unauthorized access. We’re not just offering customizable storage options or full-service inventory management. We offer all of that, of course. But every bit as important, your wine, your valuable liquid assets, are handled with the utmost care and professionalism at Vino Vault. Our goal is to offer storage solutions that provide you with Peace of Mind so you can simply enjoy your collection.
We like to think we’re not selling trust, we’re in the business of earning your trust every day.
