Independent Cellar Adviser

What Should I Do With The Wine I Already Own?

A personal, independent service for wine collectors who want to understand their cellar better — what to drink, what to keep, what to sell and what, if anything, to buy next.

After decades spent buying, selling, tasting and drinking fine wine, and working closely with private collectors, Caspar Bowes offers experienced, practical advice on your collection.

Caspar is not there simply to put a value on your collection: there are are plenty of places you can go to find out what your wine is worth. He is there to help you make better decisions about the wine you already own.

Not a valuation. Not investment advice. Not a sales pitch. Simply a second pair of eyes on your cellar.

Your Wine Cellar, Properly Assessed

Wine collections have a habit of growing rather faster than the opportunity to drink them. Cases are bought, bottles are tucked away, vintages come and go — and before long, even a knowledgeable collector can lose track of what is actually there.

Caspar will review your collection and help you make sense of it. He'll look at:

What is drinking now
What should be left to mature
What is approaching its ideal drinking window
What is unlikely to improve with further ageing
What is worth keeping
What you might sensibly sell
Where you have duplication or gaps

The aim is simple: to give you a clear, practical picture of your cellar and what to do with it.

What Should I Drink?

One of the great pleasures of owning fine wine is drinking it. But knowing when to drink it isn't always straightforward.

Caspar can help you identify the bottles that are ready to enjoy now, those that deserve more time and those that should perhaps be brought to the table sooner rather than later.

What Should I Keep And What Should I Sell?

Sometimes the most sensible thing to do with a wine is to keep it for another ten years. Sometimes it is to open it next weekend. And sometimes, having held it for years, it is simply time to let it go.

Caspar will give you an honest view of what he would keep, what he would drink and what he would consider selling.

What Should I Buy Next (If Anything)?

A cellar review isn't about finding excuses to buy more wine. It is about buying better and more purposefully, if at all!

Once Caspar understands what you already own, he can identify if there are any gaps and opportunities — whether that means finding mature wines to drink now, filling a particular vintage gap, exploring a new region or simply avoiding buying another twelve bottles of something you already own and like. If required, Caspar can also use his extensive wine-trade contacts to help source wines.

Who Is The Cellar Review For?

This service is particularly suited to collectors who:

Have accumulated a substantial cellar and aren't quite sure what they have any more.
Want to drink more of their wine but need help deciding what is ready.
Are considering downsizing or want to rationalise a collection.
Have inherited a cellar and need an experienced pair of eyes to help understand it.
Are thinking about selling some wines but don't know where to start.
Want to buy more intelligently rather than simply buy more.
Want an ongoing relationship with someone they trust to advise on their wine collection.

The Cellar Review

A comprehensive review of your wine collection

Caspar will assess your cellar and provide a clear overview of what you own, what is ready to drink, what is worth holding and what he would consider selling.

The review can be tailored to the size and complexity of your collection, from a few hundred bottles to a substantial private cellar.

Price starts from £750

Each review is tailored to the size of the collection.

For larger collections, please contact us to discuss your requirements.

What happens next?

1. We talk. A short initial conversation to understand your collection, your tastes and what you want to achieve and to confirm the proposed fee for your personal cellar review.

2. We review. Caspar then works through your cellar, assessing the wines and their likely drinking windows, quality, provenance and relevance to your collection.

3. We advise. You receive a clear summary of what Caspar thinks you should drink, keep, sell or consider buying.

4. You decide. There is no obligation to buy or sell wine as a result of the review. If your review identifies wines you'd like to sell, your £750 advisory fee can be credited against our normal selling commission when those wines are sold through Bowes Wine.

Independent Advice For Private Wine Collectors

Properly impartial advice from someone who has spent a lifetime working with fine wine: he has bought it, sold it, tasted it, drunk it and, importantly, worked with the people who collect it.

If you would like to discuss your collection or if you have any questions at all, please contact Caspar for an initial conversation:

e: caspar@boweswine.co.uk
m: 07711 934378