Systems for tracking bottles in multiple cellars?

[Robert Lauriston]

I'm opening a restaurant and handling the wine list myself. I could use tips on setting up a reliable system for managing the inventory.

I'm particularly concerned about losing track of bottles. Six months down the road our Aloha point of sale system might tell me that I should have three bottles of 2004 Prunotto Costamiole Barbera left, but will I know where they are?

Due to storage limitations I'll be stashing wine in various places: two temperature-controlled "cellar" units, unopened cases in a cool closet and maybe the walk-in, if I'm short of space maybe my home cellar, plus I'll have some prepaid cases on hold at distributors, e.g. I buy ten cases to get the best price but take delivery of only five.

[Robert Lauriston]

Thanks for the tips. I figured out a storage space that will hold 200+ cases so keeping track of what's where won't be much of a problem.

[Robert Lauriston]

There's no internet access in the main storage room. Is there a standalone version of Cellar Tracker?

[SteveTimko]

Nope. You can get a 100-foot cable for less than $20 shipped.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product...
I asked Eric about point of sale.

[cellartracker]

Hi Robert,
I saw you asked the same over on Jancis' forum, but I didn't want to spam.

CellarTracker is primarily targeted at consumers, although there are a number of restaurants and country clubs using it. Most notable is the Pluckemin Inn in NJ who are using this to track a list of more than 1,000 selections and more than 50,000 bottles.

CellarTracker does have some hidden, restaurant-specific functionality that I can turn on in an account on request. The app does not have an offline mode. It's a website. That said, any data you enter can be easily syced DOWN to Excel but not back up.

For POS integration, there is actually an API in CellarTracker that provides full XML access to any data you enter into your account.

Thanks,
Eric LeVine
CellarTracker.com
[e-mail]

[SteveTimko]

CellarTracker! lets you not only say which cellar but which storage rack.

[RicRios]

Problem with Cellar Tracker: the OP has stated he'll run a PoS (Point-of-Sales) software package. Any additional SW will require double entries to keep inventory in synch.

[tederf]

Just send a note to Eric - creator of CT. He will let you know if CT has an interface for your PoS system. CT is the best system out there for collectors. Whether it fits your needs is another question.

[RicRios]

According to their litterature, Aloha POS has an inventory module that should do the trick:

"Tracks multiple vendors and stocking locations per item"
http://www.radiantsystems.com/industr...

[wattacetti]

CellarTracker/GrapeStories is the way to go. Support for multiple locations, barcodes, commentaries from others who may have some of your "jewels".

[Cary]

and....... cellartracker/grapestories is free, but donations are appreciated

*no affiliation* but a happy user.

[Cary]

cellartracker.com
Their newer GUI, going through beta, is at grapestories.com. Same database and functionality as cellartracker.com
They even have barcoding.