| So you have a wine cellar, or are seriously | | | | away, you may lose interest rapidly. Some |
| thinking about getting one. You want to know, can | | | | programs insist that you enter basic information |
| software help me manage it? The answer is a | | | | such as the grape variety, brand, country, region, |
| resounding yes. Yes, if your cellar is really just a | | | | and vintage. Great, how do they handle a |
| couple of wine racks, not necessarily in the | | | | multitude of grape varieties such as often found |
| basement. And yes, yes when you own a | | | | in red Bordeaux wines? Many wines have two |
| multi-thousand bottle operation designed as much | | | | "brands" associated with them. If you're enough |
| to drive your friends and neighbors wild with envy | | | | of a wine connoisseur to have a wine cellar, you |
| as to classify and protect your collection. Yes, | | | | may be interested in such details. Whether you |
| wine cellar software can help you manage and | | | | are interested enough to bash in all that extra |
| protect your collection. But you must spend some | | | | information is up to you. Some wine, such as |
| serious time and effort determining which wine | | | | most Champagnes, doesn't have a vintage. |
| cellar software best meets your needs, much as | | | | Will the system force you to make up a value? |
| you spend time and effort selecting your wine. | | | | It's so easy not to enter the optional data but |
| Before proposing our ideas on what to look for in | | | | then system's value drops off exponentially. For |
| wine cellar software, a few general comments | | | | example, suppose that your database doesn't |
| are in order. We are not going to name names. | | | | include the vintage of your Chateau Petrus. The |
| We are not interested in providing publicity for | | | | software won't be able to provide a best date to |
| any wine cellar software. As always, make sure | | | | drink date. |
| that you can return the software within a | | | | There are other issues involved with data entry. |
| reasonable period, often 30 days, for a full refund | | | | How does the system handle multiple purchases? |
| or a full refund minus a small handling fee. | | | | In other words, you liked such and such a Barolo |
| Recently we were interested in some software | | | | that you ended up buying a case, lucky you. Does |
| that had nothing to do with cellars. | | | | the program let you add only changed data such |
| The manufacturer offered NO money-back | | | | as the price, or do you have to start virtually |
| guarantee but did allow us to download a free trial | | | | from zero? Some systems allow you to enter |
| version. This version lasted only three days and | | | | data from the bar code. While this option is useful, |
| many of its potentially interesting features were | | | | you may require data not found on the bar code. |
| disabled. I would never buy such software and | | | | So expect to spend time and effort bashing in |
| strongly recommend that you don't either. | | | | the data. You have probably heard the phrase, |
| Remember, promised features are meaningless | | | | Garbage In Garbage Out. A good system flags |
| until you check them out. No vendors ever tell | | | | outrageous data entry values but cannot catch all |
| you about their software's shortcomings. Have | | | | your errors. |
| you ever heard of software that wasn't touted | | | | If you are wealthy enough to have a fine wine |
| as easy to use? | | | | cellar, you may consider paying someone to do |
| Data entry is a major aspect of software | | | | serious data entry for you. Just make sure that |
| suitability for you. If you are going to be typing | | | | his or her nickname isn't Butterfingers. |