Private buyers · wine cellar
Building or filling a wine cellar: how many bottles, which ones, what budget
Space available, bottles drunk per month, budget, patience: the tool splits the cellar between what is drunk now, in three to five years and in ten years, by colour and by case, with the budget and the restocking pace. No châteaux named: appellations, ages, prices. And below a couple of dozen bottles, it tells you that a local wine shop is enough.
The calculation
The result changes with each answer. Nothing is sent until you click on the quote.
How the tool splits it
A cellar that works has three levels. Bottles that are ready, for tonight and the coming weeks. Bottles that will be ready in three to five years and take over. And a few wines for laying down that you forget for ten years. Without the first level, you open the wines for laying down too soon; without the last, the cellar is just stock.
Each wine is bought by the case of six: that is a wine merchant's unit, and six bottles of the same wine let you follow it, opening one every year or two. Wines for laying down cost more than ready ones; the tool therefore shifts the budget towards them without changing your average. To find out which vintages are ready this year, see the vintages to drink in 2026; for value against name, the second wines of great châteaux.
Where to keep the bottles
- A stable temperature, ideally between 12 and 14 °C. A cellar at 16 °C all year round is better than one that goes from 8 to 20 °C between winter and summer.
- Darkness and calm: no direct light, no vibrations (not next to a washing machine or a boiler).
- A little humidity, around 70%, so the corks don't dry out. Bottles lying down.
- Without an underground cellar, an electric wine cabinet does the job very well. The kitchen, the garage and the top of the fridge are no substitute.
How many bottles to start a cellar?
Thirty to sixty bottles are enough for a living cellar: five to ten wines by the case of six. Below twenty-four bottles, a wine merchant's prices don't offset the delivery, and a wine shop near you does just as well.
What budget for a cellar of a hundred bottles?
Around €1,500 with wines at €15 on average, €3,000 at €30. The average hides a split: ready wines at around €10 to €15, wines for laying down above €30, because below that few Bordeaux gain from ten years' waiting. The price levels are detailed on the buying wine in bulk page. For a cellar of several hundred places, see having your cellar filled.
Should you buy wines for laying down or wines ready to drink?
Both, in the reverse order from what people think: first enough ready wines so you don't open the others too soon, then the wines for laying down. A year that matters (a birth, a wedding) is a good reason to start a case for laying down: the birth year vintage page says which years are still drinking.
How often should you buy more?
Every three months for the ready wines, replacing what you have drunk; once a year for the wines for laying down. The tool works out the pace from what you drink each month.