01
Model the cellar as an asset
We started from the data a valuation actually needs - collection, bottle, tags, storage state - rather than from a generic product list, so every screen supports the number at the end.
Valuation-first→
Case study · United Cellars
Know what the cellaris worth
A web platform for wine collectors that turns a cellar of bottles into a tracked, re-priceable asset - build collections, import them in bulk, run market valuations, and compare how each one moves over time.
What we shipped
CellarsAdd & importValuationsValuation detailHistoricalWatch list
01 — The product
A cellar, priced like a portfolio
The collector builds named cellars, fills them by hand or by importing a whole inventory at once, then runs a valuation that returns a market figure per collection - with the documents, notes and history a real asset needs kept alongside it.
Collections, not one big list
Bottles are organised into separate cellars - a premium selection, an investment portfolio, everyday drinking - each carrying its own bottle count, value and storage status.
Bonded storage, tracked
A cellar can be flagged as bonded, and individual bottles carry tags such as rare, investment or bonded, so provenance and storage state travel with the record.
Value that moves
Every valuation records a figure and how far it has risen or fallen since the last one, so a collection reads as a position rather than a static inventory.
02 — The problem
Why is a wine collection so hard to value?
A cellar of a few hundred bottles is a five- or six-figure asset, yet it is almost always tracked the way a shopping list is. Three things break that habit, and the platform is built around all three.
Nobody re-prices it: a bottle's market value drifts constantly, but a spreadsheet records the purchase price and never revisits it. Bottles arrive faster than they get entered, in batches - a case here, an auction lot there - which is exactly the friction that leaves records perpetually out of date. And one number hides the movement: a single current value says nothing about whether a collection is climbing or sliding, which is the only thing a collector deciding to hold or sell actually needs to know.
4
core modules built around one loop - catalogue a cellar, value it against the market, and track how that value moves.
As published on the live product page.
03 — Goals & challenges
What a wine-valuation platform had to get right
The platform had to make an unfamiliar idea - a wine cellar as a re-priceable asset - feel obvious, from the first bottle entered to the tenth valuation compared.
Goals
What it had to deliver
- Two ways to add wine. A manual form for one bottle at a time, and a CSV import with a template, field mapping and custom fields for loading an inventory in bulk.
- Valuations that move. A run returns a market figure and moves through in-progress, pending, accepted and declined states, each showing its percentage movement.
- The evidence behind the number. Each valuation opens onto its wines, documents, notes and error logs, so a figure is never a black box.
- A trend, not just a price. Historical valuations in a grid or list, with a compare view that sets any two side by side.
Challenges
Why it was hard
- Nobody re-prices it. A bottle's market value drifts constantly, but a spreadsheet records the purchase price and never revisits it, so the owner has no idea what the collection is worth today.
- Bottles arrive faster than they get entered. Collections grow in batches - a case here, an auction lot there - and typing each bottle in by hand leaves records perpetually out of date.
- One number hides the movement. A single current value says nothing about whether a collection is climbing or sliding, which is the only thing a collector deciding to hold or sell actually needs to know.
04 — How we built it
How did we design and build it?
02
Design the two ways in
Manual entry and CSV import were designed as first-class equals, because a collector with three hundred bottles will never type them and one with three will never build a spreadsheet.
Bulk import→
03
Make the valuation legible
In-progress, accepted and declined states, movement percentages and the wines-documents-notes detail were built so the figure is always explainable, never a black box.
Evidence trail→
04
Turn value into a trend
Historical valuations and the side-by-side compare view were the last piece, turning a single current price into a line a collector can read a decision off.
Compare✓
keep scrolling — the deal glides left →
05 — The valuation path
How does a shelf of bottles become a tracked asset?
This is the core loop of the platform: catalogue a cellar, value it against the market, then keep re-running the valuation so the collection reads as a position that moves.
- 01Collector
Build a cellar
The collector creates a named cellar for a collection - investment, everyday, special occasion.
- 02Collector
Fill it
Bottles go in one at a time by hand, or a whole inventory arrives at once via CSV import.
- 03Collector
Run a valuation
A valuation is launched against the collection and returns a market figure per cellar.
- 04System
Valuation in progress
The run moves through an in-progress state and lands as pending, accepted or declined.
- 05Collector
Review the result
The valuation opens onto its wines, documents, notes and error logs - the reasoning behind the number.
- 06Collector
Track it over time
Each valuation joins the history, where movement is charted and any two can be compared.
06 — Visual design
The look, and why
A deep claret carries the identity - the colour of the asset itself - against a warm, quiet neutral built to keep dense valuation tables and long histories legible.
Colour
Claret
#C8102E
Deep
#7A1E2B
Bright
#D8586D
Ink
#2B141A
Mist
#F7F3F4
Line
#E9DFE2
Typography
Know what the cellar is worth
A cellar, priced like a portfolio
Every valuation records a figure and how far it has risen or fallen since the last one.
CELLARS · VALUATIONS · HISTORY
FAQ
Building a valuation platform like this
What does United Cellars actually do?
It lets a wine collector organise bottles into named cellars, add them manually or import them in bulk by CSV, run a market valuation that returns a value per collection, and track how that value moves over time - with documents, notes and a full valuation history kept against each collection.
How long does it take to build an asset-valuation platform like this?
A platform at this shape - catalogue, bulk import, a valuation engine with run states, and historical tracking with comparison - is a multi-phase build rather than a few weeks of work. What moves the timeline most is how the valuation itself is sourced and how much document and provenance handling is in scope. We phase it so the catalogue and import ship before the valuation history.
Can it import an existing collection?
Yes. The CSV import ships with a downloadable template and field mapping, and supports custom fields, so an inventory that already lives in a spreadsheet loads in a single step instead of being re-typed bottle by bottle.
Does the same approach work for assets other than wine?
The pattern - catalogue an inventory, value it against a market, and track the value over time with an evidence trail - carries directly to whisky, art, watches and other collectible or alternative assets. The valuation source and the metadata change; the structure does not.
Let's build
Sitting on an asset you cannot price?
Tell us how your inventory actually works and we'll tell you honestly what it takes to build - the catalogue, the valuation engine, the history. No deck, no pitch.