Octavian not only stores its customers fine wine collections, it helps to trade them too and prides itself in being a one stop fine wine service.
For those that might know the name Octavian but are not too sure what you actually do, can you explain what fine wine storage is all about?
Fine wine storage is all about precision and care. It is about allowing the wine to mature over a period of time in perfect conditions – maintaining a constant temperature (13 degrees Celsius), high levels of humidity (80% +/- 5%), no exposure to UV and minimal movement. All supported with high levels of security and underpinned with comprehensive insurance. When wine is stored longer in our care than anywhere else in its lifecycle, our perfect conditions can make all the difference to the final enjoyment of your wine. Don’t assume all storage is the same.
Vincent O’Brien says Octavian has a 99.99% accuracy rate of knowing how every one of its 10m bottles of fine wine is stored
Our facilities are housed in a former Ministry of Defence munitions store which was previously a stone mine, so it has the perfect conditions naturally – enhanced by the extensive ventilation system installed by the MOD which is what helps us keep the conditions perfect for fine wine storage.
The only way in and out of the mine is via 157 steps and we are in the middle of the Wiltshire countryside, which helps with our security.
What is the scale of the operation in terms of bottles stored, countries covered?
We store over 1.2m cases which equates to over 10m bottles. We have customers all over the world, with approximately 30% overseas. The average case stays in our care for over six years, and the average case value is £2k.
Who is a typical Octavian customer and how do you choose who you want to work with?
The Octavian vaults sit in an old Ministry of Defence munitions store
We store predominantly for private individuals. Some store direct with us and some through their merchants. Our typical customer is someone who has a passion for wine and appreciates that the right storage is a key component of maturing wine in the best way possible. We validate all customers who want to open an account with us to ensure they are who they say they are. As we have a trading community between our customers we believe by keeping rogue characters out, then the risk of rogue items being sold is greatly reduced.
Our typical customer cares about the detail and appreciates the precision that we offer. Services like our in-house photography studio to take images of the bottles stored, are what sets us apart. If a customer wants to check the fill levels of different bottles in a case, they can access the images on their online portal to decide which bottle to drink first.
When an order goes out to a customer, all the cases are checked and photographed so that there can be no discrepancies.
What percentage of customers are from the trade and how many are private customers?
As we store predominantly for private customers through trade, I would say over 80% of our customer base is private individuals
Is that mix changing – if so how and what is the right mix for you in terms of the business you want to run?
Yes the mix has changed as we have focussed on developing our private customers as part of our business strategy.
There is a lot of controversy around fraudulent bottles of fine wine – do you take steps to make sure what you are being asked to store is legal?
Every bottle of wine is analysed and recorded and has its own tracking code. Every customer has to go through the same identity checks a major bank would use.
We find that by verifying the customers who store with us we have a better chance of reducing the risks of fraudulent bottles entering into our care. We also believe in sharing the history of every bottle we place on our trading exchange. This enables customers to see how long the bottle has been in our care thereby reducing the risk of rogue items and verifying the provenance of the wine. We firmly believe that with such information readily available to us through our systems, it should be shared.
How do you that and what steps have you taken?
For every private customer who opens an account we get a copy of their ID and get it validated by a professional. With the values of the wine we are taking into our care we see ourselves in a similar vein to a bank and we try and replicate their practices. Each case that enters our care has the customer’s name placed on it. This ensures that the case that customer brought in is the very same case they receive out – a practice that is not universal within the industry.
How does the process work if someone wants to store and then take out any of their wines – how long does it take etc?
For London based customers we deliver next day; for the rest of UK we deliver within three days. If there is a requirement for a speedier delivery we can accommodate but this would be an extra charge.
How much does it cost to store fine wine with you – on a monthly or yearly basis?
We have a standard tariff which is based on volumes. This is an all-inclusive charge which covers storage, handling and insurance. Transport and delivery is separate.
What percentage of bottles do you store that are never opened or drunk and just kept with you?
Each bottle of wine is photographed and recorded and can be bought and sold through Octavian’s fine wine exchange
This is a hard one to answer – we have many cases that have been with us for over 20 years. We also see a lot of movement on the secondary market where customers are trading between each other and this makes up about 25% of our movement each year is. It’s probably easier to say that about 15% of our movements are delivered to private addresses, so we can predict that they are going to be enjoyed by their owners.
Is that on the increase and decrease etc?
The level of trading on the secondary market is still increasing and has been for the past 10 years. The level of stock being delivered to homes for consumption is back to normal levels after we saw it peak through covid. As we were open all the way through lockdown, many customers called in their wines to enjoy at home. It was great that we could do that for them .
What trends are you seeing in terms of the styles, countries, regions of fine wine that people are looking to store?
Whisky is the big growth area currently. That has really taken off over the past few years and seems to still be growing.
Do you also act as a merchant and help your customers sell their wines to the trade – private clients?
Our customers have access to an online portal which provides them with the information about their wines – such as drinking windows, market value, images of the bottles. We have recently added on an exchange facility which allows them to buy and sell to each other. All items placed on the exchange have an image so that they can be assessed by the potential buyer, along with details about the provenance and how long it has been in our care. So if you buy from another Octavian customer, you will benefit from the bottle’s storage history from the date it entered our cellar.
We have an increasing number of trade customers who buy using our platform; the find the visibility of the history of the wine it provides invaluable.
What steps are you taking to make sure your wines are kept as safely as possible from a quality point of view?
Octavian’s trained team carry out continual checks on the fine wine stored in its vaults
We are constantly monitoring our storage conditions. We have a quality control team who work with stock control. They check stock throughout the year to ensure we have no issues at the point of order. Last year our accuracy levels were over 99.998%.
We have our own software which is written by our in-house team which is focused on improving quality and transparency. We believe that what our customers are actually buying is trust and have to work hard daily to earn and maintain it. Our touch points with our customers are few, so we want each one to go seamlessly. We still have lots to improve but have the appetite to deliver it.
Do you store anything other than fine wine?
We have whisky, port, casks of both, we have even stored beer and cider. This week we received a pallet of glasses for an event. We are happy to work with our customers and meet their needs. As in most things, once the channels of communication are open anything is possible – we have a very solution-focused approach to just about anything.
- Last year The Buyer’s Peter Dean visited Octavian for a fine wine tasting that he reckoned to be one of the best ever – including a bottle of 1949 Cheval Blanc. Read his account here.
- If you want to find out more about storing fine wine at Octavian go to its website here.
