Ways to Protect Wine Collections

A fine wine collection is subject to more market risk than a typical bond or stock portfolio because it can be dropped, frozen, stolen, forged, or mistreated in numerous other ways. There are three ways that clients can guard against some of these risks.

1. Keep an inventory of your wine and track values. If you don’t know how much your collection is worth, you can’t properly insure it

2. Insure your collection with a valuables policy. A valuables policy will allow you to insure the wine for its full value against all perils, and there is no deductible.

3. Take steps to prevent loss. It Is better to avoid damage than collect on a claim. Some safety measures include:

• Keep the temperature between 55 and 60 degrees F.
• Make sure you have an adequately sized sump pump with a backup power supply.
• Store bottles on their side.
• Keep the bottles away from a constant light.
• Wine racks made of unfinished wood are better than cedar wine racks
• Hire shippers who are experienced if you have to put your collection in transit.

See Julie Sherlock, 2 Simple Ways to Protect Your Clients’ fine Wine Collections, AdvisorOne, Apr. 14, 2012.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.