Wine storage - United Kingdom

Currently store over 10,000 cases for their customers in their Gloucester warehouse. Both duty-paid and bonded storage are available. Unmixed 12-bottle cases only.

Have recently built a new warehouse in Hampshire to house customer wines and spirits. Temperature controlled at 10-12°C and 75% relative humidity. Reasonable stock reports. They do give maturity guidance on individual wines although it may sometimes be better to look up individual wines on their website. Online account management includes a valuation service linked to Liv-ex and the ability to bid for wines stored by other BB&R account holders and offered for sale via their BBX broking service.

There is no minimum charge for storing wine with Berry Bros. & Rudd and they charge annually and in advance. Free delivery to all UK residential addresses when withdrawing from your cellar.

£13.68 inc. VAT for Cellar Plan Customers

£15.84 inc. VAT standard rate

Based in what used to be the Fulham power station (classy looking, I am informed, and not yellow). The wine storage is two stories underground in fully climate-controlled conditions maintained at 10 to 13°C and at 50-70% humidity. Customers rent out private self-contained units – BYO racking, although they are working with a company to sell pre-racked units at a small premium) and pay weekly, monthly or annually. The smallest unit is 3 sq ft and stores 15 cases (12 x75cl) with a discount if paying annually in advance. The largest unit is 300 sq ft (about 500 cases, I worked out). Customers have full access to their wine seven days' a week from 5am to 11pm. The gated car park has PIN-code entry and security guards, and customers will use their personal PIN another three times before they can enter their own storage space. The dedicated wine manager receives deliveries from wine merchants or international shippers and will keep wine in the underground holding room until customers are able to get there and rack it away. Big Yellow is also able to provide automatically generated storage-condition reports detailing temperature changes, humidity, date of entry etc for customers wishing to sell their wines on. They have a specially designed tasting room, and welcome customers and wine merchants to use it for events and tastings.

Competitive rates and no extra charge for wine bought from other merchants. They'll store your wine even if you have never bought from them. Average storage temperature at Colerne is 13ºC with 80% humidity. Reduced rate for 6-bottle cases (£5.26). Customers are invoiced twice a year and receive information on drinking dates and investment potential, plus Robert Parker scores – also available on request at other times, free of charge. There's a minimum charge of six months.

Part of the Coterie Holdings Group which also owns Lay & Wheeler (since 2019), Hallgarten & Novum (since 2023) and Jera Wines. Based in Ipswich, Coterie Vaults was purpose built for fine-wine bonded storage in 2022. The facility is equipped with advanced surveillance systems, comprehensive access controls, and round-the-clock monitoring. They have a full-roof solar installation, using renewable energy to power the facility.

In 2019 Farr, once Octavian’s biggest customer, moved to LCB’s new ex aircraft hangars in Melksham, also in Wiltshire, in an attempt to offer a more flexible delivery service. There are admin charges for such things as change of ownership and few frills but you can store both in bond and duty paid and Farr's logistics staff seem particularly on the ball. This is a no-frills service without specific advice on when to drink particular wines. Three months' free storage for wines bought through them.

F+R tells me that 'The Chamber is FINE+RARE’s storage solution, based within London City Bond, Tilbury. The Chamber is a self-contained, secure, solid-walled 'chamber' sitting within the LCB warehouse with its own dedicated cellar team. This facility has been on offer since October 2009 providing a complete storage solution charging pro rata, accepting cases, bottles, bonded and duty paid wines as well as wines bought from other merchants. 

Handford store their wines in bond at LCB Tilbury with their own cooling/humidity controls in their chamber. Delivery costs £15 but wines can be collected from their South Kensington shop free of charge. Handford charge in arrears and only for the time the case has actually spent in storage – so where other storage facilities charge up front and for the entire year even when the case is removed partway through, Handford only charges for the actual time stored.

Operates under the name of a subsidiary company, Cellarers (Wines) Ltd. Wines purchased from suppliers other than Justerini & Brooks may be stored and they only charge a small one-off admin fee of £4.27 (+ VAT) per case. They offer bonded and duty-paid storage. This is the safe-as-houses fine wine subsidiary of Diageo. Customers are invoiced in arrears and pro-rata in June. Delivery is charged at £15. The website gives access to view your reserves, get a valuation and place for sale 'broking wines'. Each year clients receive a statement of their wines, listing their holdings by region, as well as a vintage guide offering general advice as to whether to drink or keep. Clients are also encouraged to contact Justerini's for more specific and personal advice on their stored wines if they require it.

Offer customer storage (shared with their sister company Avery's) in Gloucester, for unmixed 12-bottle cases only. The humidity is kept at 65% and the temperature within a 1°C range of 13°C. Only cases purchased from Laithwaite's Wine or the Sunday Times Wine Club can be stored, with all cases being insured to replacement value. Cases can be stored in-bond or duty-paid and a broking service is offered for those customers who wish to dispose of their wines at any point. UK delivery £7.99 per consignment.

Provides storage at Coterie Vaults Ltd (owned by Coterie Holdings, which acquired Lay & Wheeler in 2019). 

LCB is the UK's largest wine logistics operator with a stock holding approaching 10 million cases, an in-house national distribution fleet of over 300 vehicles and sites throughout the UK with specialised temperature- and humidity-controlled facilities free from vibration, UV and daylight. They also represent the industry on the HMRC liaison committee, attempting to thrash out many Brexit-related problems, and are the only wine storage provider within the Large Business Service of HMRC.

LCB caters for both private and trade customers with facilities for long-term storage and faster moving products. Sites are protected with intruder alarms, CCTV and manned 24/7 365 days per year. Wines may be held either under bond or duty paid. Investors manage their own insurance direct with underwriters through brokers operating a simple and flexible scheme designed for LCB. Valuations are offered via an arrangement with Liv-ex.

LCB charges private customers by the bottle, as they believe this is the fairest system. The annual charge for 2021 is £0.96 + VAT per bottle equivalent to £11.52 + VAT per case of 12 bottles or £5.76 + VAT per case of six bottles. Charges are levied on 1 January and for subsequent receipts during the year charged pro rata for the part of the year remaining. No credit is given for wine withdrawn during the year. There is a minimum charge levied on 1 January of £75.00 + VAT.

In the heart of the English countryside, hidden within 45 hectares of secluded woodland are 15 reinforced concrete vaults surrounded by high security perimeter fence. Excavated from the hillside, the underground chambers vary in size from 300 square metres to 600 square metres. Recently refurbished to the highest standards but having stood the test of time for 70 years, they offer the optimum conditions for the maturation of fine investment wine. Individual units could be allocated and designed for the larger investor.

A former Ministry of Defence site in Wiltshire. Four original aircraft hangars each of 2,400 square metres. During 2018 these were completely refurbished including new roofs and cladding and insulation. Climate control including both temperature and humidity control was installed together with a security perimeter fence. A fifth adjacent hangar acts as LCB’s West Country distribution hub.

Described by Mitsubishi as having the most sophisticated climate control of any warehouse in Europe. The warehouse itself is constructed with metre thick walls and 20,000 square metres of floor space with purpose-built photo booths for condition reports carried out by staff qualified through the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. Humidity and temperature are computer-controlled with temperature maintained at a constant 13 +/- 1 Celsius.

EHD is the fine wine storage facility of the approved bonded warehouse EHD London No 1 Bond, established by brothers Michael and Stuart Phelps in 2000. The Vaults are located 30 minutes from Central London in a series of 17 interconnecting underground tunnels, formerly Second World War air-raid shelters. The operation is managed by a dedicated fine wine team and benefits from the resources of the main EHD offices and warehouse on the Brooklands site which currently stores in excess of 400,000 cases in above-ground conditions. Locke-King provide constant temperatures of 12 °C and a humidity range of 60-70%. Rates are applied annually from 1 Jan with fees per month charged before then. Exact rates vary according to the quantity and value of cases, dropping to £12 (inc VAT) if between 101-200 cases are stored. Comprehensive conditioning reports are available upon request and the company also offers a national and international delivery service.

Founded by Mark Bevan (ex Armit), Nexus makes it much easier for those who buy their wines from more than one merchant but want to store it all in one place and have one source of information on their wines – including the option of tracking the wine's progress from the producer to the bonded warehouse. You just give Nexus the details of your purchase and they liaise with the merchant. There is a receiving charge per case which is reduced if you are buying wine from one of a number of 'affiliated' companies – currently Haynes Hanson & Clark, HS Liquid Assets, Clarion Wines, MARC Fine Wines and Oliver Wines but the list is likely to grow. There is a joining fee for initial deposits of less than 50 cases but the more cases you store with them the cheaper the annual fee. Merchants' assessments of maturity etc are passed on via Nexus, though they can provide independent information for a small fee. There's plenty of flexibility in terms of delivery, if you are willing to pay a little more. They are unique (they say) in offering a pro-rata credit for rental already paid when withdrawing the stock.

Fine wine merchant and broker offering storage in-bond or duty paid.
Deliveries to one address London & Home Counties Minimum charge 1-8 cases. £17.50 per delivery + VAT.  

Very personal service for duty-paid reserves on the American locker model. They offer volumes of 8, 15, 30 or 60 cases. In-bond storage is offered courtesy of Brandfords in Manchester and duty-paid storage is at Chelsea Bridge in London. Their six-monthly reports come in unparalleled detail on extremely thick paper, detailing exactly from whom the wine was bought and its drinking status as appraised by a Master of Wine. Owner Sebastian Riley-Smith is particularly proud of sealing all wooden cases with a steel band, and of labelling each with the name of the owner. I had visions of this being a little winey nest in Battersea which Sloanes could raid in the middle of a dinner party but it is open only 9-5, Monday to Friday. But if you want a long talk about wine while picking some up, this is your place. I'm told they do not have a set charge for their bespoke storage service as it varies according to the size of the consignment, term in store, value of the bottles in question, number of lines within a case, number of withdrawals each year and how the wine is packed. They do not, however, charge for receiving, processing or delivering wines from their Chelsea Bridge cellars and rates quoted privately include insurance. They also design and build beautiful made-to-measure hardwood wine storage in private homes. And they even offer 'Nursery' cellarage for that one case awaiting its owner's coming of age.

This wine-buying cooperative offers some of the best value and is certainly wine-minded but you have to be a member and the wines have to have been bought from them. However they do deliver for free in the UK, you can store mixed dozens, and there is no minimum charge – the latter an unusual advantage particularly for those just starting to build up their collection of fine wine. They also allow mixed withdrawals from your portfolio such that you can request delivery of a 12-bottle case made up of three bottles each of four different wines. Constant average temperature of 13°C, humidity 65%. Storage is offered duty paid and in bond. Suggested drinking dates for individual wines provided annually and on request.