Know what you own

Every great bottle has one right evening. Most of them are missed.

Not to theft, or fraud, or heat. To not knowing — what you have, what condition it is truly in, and when it is ready.

Most collectors are excellent buyers and reluctant managers. We know what we love. We know what we paid. Very few of us know what our cellar is worth today, which bottles are quietly passing their moment — or what would happen to any of it without us.

This evening is about the part of collecting nobody teaches.

Over two hours in the vault we will taste the same wine from two different storage histories, and you will understand in one mouthful why condition is the only loss that cannot be recovered. We will go through the four risks every private cellar carries — valuation, condition, provenance and time — and look at what…