A wine storage facility for the collector who values superior services and access. Our expert team offers customized lockers, inventory services, consolidated shipping, a wine insurance program, and years of experience with world-wide wine shippers.

Domaine D.C. give its business case for more wine storage in the nation’s capital. And yes, it’s expecting a high-spirited customer base.

By Missy Frederick, Staff Reporter of the Washington Business Journal

Love wine but lack a wine cellar?  Domaine D.C. can help.

The company, an offshoot of St. Louis-based Domaine Wine Storage & Appreciation, is opening a wine storage facility and private tasting club in D.C.’s Van Ness area.  The goal is to appeal to an array of wine collectors, from hard-core investors to hobbyists.

Domaine has leased 11,000 square feet in two underground levels at 4221 Connecticut Ave. NW across from the Van Ness Metro station.  The company is building out its facility and hopes to open its storage lockers and tasting room by spring, according to Director of Operations Justin Connor.

“We feel we were pretty savvy to spot this market opportunity,” said Connor, a D.C. wine consultant who sold his company, the Nobel Vine, to Domaine founder Marc Lazar in 2010.  “There’s a vibrant wine community here and a lot of wine collectors, and few methods that collectors can use in the city to form groups and organize tastings.”

It’s a problem Connor has experienced personally – he belongs to about half a dozen wine clubs, and members struggle to find places to meet up that don’t involve an expensive meal, he said.  At Domaine, members will have access to a tasting room with wireless Internet access, televisions and other amenities.

Domaine has storage location in Chicago, St. Louis and just outside of New York.

Wine storage appeals to both collectors who lack space to store their own bottles and serious investors who require precise temperature controls.  Domaine will charge members between $2.50 and $4 per case per month to store wine, depending on what services they require.  At the higher end, Domaine can digitally catalogue and monitor a customer’s collection.

About 30 people in the region have signed up for Domaine’s services and are currently having their wine stored in one of its other locations, Connor said.  An additional 25 to 30 have already expressed interest in storage once the facility opens for business, Connor said.

D.C. is known for having an extensive community of people interested in wine, and there aren’t a lot of competitors in the wine storage arena.  One company, The Wine Rack, advertises a similar service online.

“We have always welcomed healthy competition,” said Wine Rack owner David Gray.

“It’s widely cited that the D.C. area has the highest per-capita consumption of wine in the country, and I believe that the presence of lots of wine bars and neighborhood wine shops, as well as the popularity of wine dinners at restaurants and events, supports this,” said Kelly Magyarics, a D.C.-based wine and spirits writer and educator.

According to the most recent statistics, U.S. wine sales totaled $30 billion in 2010, up 4 percent from 2009, according to San Francisco-based The Wine Institute.  That year, the U.S. surpassed France as the world’s largest wine-consuming nation; Americans downed 330 million cases that year.

The Van Ness facility will have the capacity to store 25,000 cases of wine, or 300,000 bottles.  Domaine currently handles more than 1 million at its various locations.

Connor said Domaine’s customers come customers come from a range of backgrounds and demographics – from 21-year-olds to 90-year-olds-and many have a small collections that only require a limited amount of storage.  Connor said more people would likely invest in wine if they realized it was doable on a smaller budget.  He himself started collecting the beverage in his early 20s.

“As long as you’re an informed purchaser and you put some thought into what you’re buying,” he said, “you can really do some damage in the wine market for $2,000 to $3,000 a year.”


At Domaine Wine Storage & Appreciation – New York, accuracy and security remain the primary focus, while transportation perks and additional services are in the works.

After only 3 weeks since announcing our new wine storage facility in New York, we are thrilled that the transition has been so well received.  The flood of emails and calls from both current and potential clients have ranged from: “Here is where I see a need for change” to “I’ve been meaning to move my wine, and now is the time” to “Let’s meet to open a great bottle”.  We love hearing what each of you have to say, so keep the calls coming!

We want everyone to know that the safety, security and accuracy of your collection will remain the primary focus.  Rest assured, knowing that the team managing your wine has decades of experience in fine and rare wines, and respect the collection as much as you do.

On a day-to-day basis, the LLK transition has been seamless.  Mark Gray remains the main point of contact, deliveries continue on the regular schedule, and pricing remains the same.  Storage contracts that are currently in place will remain, and when a renewal comes due we will substitute with an updated Domaine agreement.  It is also important to us that business transacted with Acker Merrall & Condit remains easy and seamless for clients with longstanding relationships.

Many new services will be introduced over the next year in the areas of transportation, insurance and cellar management.

  • Storage inventory will become viewable online as well as integrating the inventory into CellarTracker.
  • The wine insurance program has been improved to allow each a personal certificate for the value and expanded coverage at a much lower cost.
  • Pickup and delivery services will include consolidation from many locations and vendors throughout the country.  If you have even a few cases at a retailer in Chicago or Los Angeles, we will be able to offer inexpensive refrigerated shipping back to Domaine New York or to your house.
  • Inventory, organization and cellar management services outside the facility are now available!  Our sister company, Cellar Advisors is a leader in the organization and management of home collections.  Their team travels nationwide, helping to make collectors’ lives easier, and now has an office in New York.

Finally, we are scheduling a Domaine New York BYO for the beginning of March, so let us know which dates work for you.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers to a wonderful 2012!

Domaine Wine Storage proudly announces that LLK Enterprises is now a part of the Domaine network!

This agreement represents the first step in a measured expansion into new markets – bringing the best team in wine storage to collectors everywhere;  Nation’s most robust storage, logistics and services platform now in place. 

New York, NY, December 14, 2011 – Domaine Wine Storage and LLK Enterprises are proud to announce that LLK is now part of the Domaine network.  The facility will join existing locations in Chicago, Saint Louis and Washington D.C.

Marc Lazar, President of Domaine Wine Storage and sister-company Cellar Advisors notes, “It is an honor to enter this critical wine market and take on the prominent position that LLK has rightly earned.  LLK has been a market-leading business, with a level of top professionalism and tireless dedication to its clients.  We look forward to upholding the standards already set, while introducing our best-in-class portfolio of storage options, services and technology to collectors on the East Coast.”

John Kapon, CEO of Acker, Merral & Condit adds, “LLK is Acker’s preferred storage vendor.  We are excited to welcome Domaine to the metropolitan area and introduce it to our growing family of clients.  It is clear that their expertise in the wine storage and logistics business is second to none.  Domaine will be able to provide even more services and options for our clients.  I have long worked with Marc Lazar and consider him to be one of the best in the wine business, which is why we chose Domaine to handle the storage and logistics needs for our new presence in Chicago.”

Endeavoring to build a comprehensive wine storage and logistics network, Domaine plans to develop several more facilities in 2012.  This network will afford Domaine’s customers lower shipping costs and increased access to consolidated shipping via refrigerated truck.

About Domaine Wine Storage & Appreciation
Headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri, Domaine Wine Storage offers premium wine storage and service packages to the discerning wine collector.  With locations in Saint Louis, Missouri, Chicago, Illinois, Washington D.C and Edison, New Jersey, they are one of the few operators in the country to offer receiving, inventory and shipping consolidation services to their customers.  Domaine relieves the inconvenient details of collecting which helps the client more fully enjoy their wine.

WINE SHIPPING INSURANCE – IS YOUR COLLECTION SAFE?

From the delivery of a newly acquired case or a cross-country relocation of an entire cellar, wine shipping is the collector’s necessary evil. You can protect yourself and your collection in two ways: using a seasoned door-to-door wine shipper, and proper wine shipping insurance. Regardless of how detail-oriented and safe shippers are, the reality is that any time a bottle leaves your cellar, it exposed to a number of risks.

At Domaine Wine Storage, we pride ourselves on timely and dependable temperature-controlled wine shipping. A critical factor to our confidence is our insistence on proper insurance. We strongly recommend that our customers purchase their own comprehensive policy, available through the user-friendly site www.insureyourwine.com. Though the policy offers coverage for one year, it is frequently more cost effective for clients to purchase wine shipping insurance through insureyourwine.com than through the shipping companies’ for even a single shipment.

At a low rate, Insureyourwine.com offers 100% coverage for:
- Property in transit
- Fire and theft
- Loss due to breakdown of climate control units and extremes of temperature
- Earthquake and flood

Many insurance policies, including most homeowner’s policies, have frustrating and tedious claims policy, along with only covering theft or fire damage. These policies dismiss what we have found to be the greatest risk factors: spoilage due to heat and breakage.

Recently, a Domaine customer noticed damage to two cases of his wine after they had accidentally been dropped while unloading from a truck at his home, resulting in over $3,000 in losses. The customer documented and reported his claim to Insureyourwine.com, and was fully reimbursed for the full value of the wine within one week. Fortunately, this is a rare situation, but a good example of how a singular wine insurance policy can save a collector from substantial loss.

To view rates, please click here:
http://www.insureyourwine.com/features-rates/

ABOUT WINE SHIPPING WITH DOMAINE WINE STORAGE

Domaine Wine Storage, customers are provided safe and dependable shipping of wine at affordable rates. Due to the volume of shipments we complete annually, we are able to offer fast, temperature-controlled wine shipping on a domestic or international level for at least up to 15% less than our competition. An expert in residential pick-ups and deliveries, Domaine Wine Storage takes the stress of out the wine shipping process, ultimately allowing the customer to simply enjoy their wine. Our all-inclusive approach sets us aside from the competition and above all insures the safe delivery of your wine, however complex the logistics.

To obtain a quote for your wine shipping needs, please click here:
http://www.cellaradvisors.com/wine-shipment-questionnaire

Wine Consultant Marc Lazar Shares His Love of Wine With Alive TV.

Anyone with a profound love of vino can’t help but be “red” with envy over the way expert Marc Lazar spends his days.  Whether it’s traveling the globe in the name of the vintage wine trade, or sampling some of the rarest varieties from the cellars of his most important collectors, Marc Lazar has life by the bottle.  Meet Marc as he takes us into his cellars, and tells how a part-time interest grew into both this passion and career.  Video by Josh Lim.

Marc Lazar Discusses Tips For Avoiding Frequently Counterfeited Wines with Daniel Rosen of The Daily

Read this story at thedaliy.com

Thanks to Alive Magazine for featuring Marc Lazar in their October Job Envy!

Read the story at Alivemag.com

Domaine Chicago Welcomes Fritz Hatton and Arietta Wines on October 4th

Please join us in welcoming Fritz Hatton and Arietta to Domaine Chicago on Tuesday October 4th from 5:30-8:30 pm.

Framed wine auctioneer Fritz Hatton and his wife Caren founded Arietta in 1996 in partnership with wine maker John Kongsgaard and his wife Maggy.  The partnership was born of a shared passion for fine wine and classical music.  The Hatton’s purchased to Kongsgaards’ interest in Arietta in 2005, and appointed as winemaker the very talented Andy Erickson who has also overseen winemaking operations as Screaming Eagle, Ovid, Dalla Valle and Favia.  Since then Arietta has grown to include five distinctive Bordeaux style blends, one white and four red.

The vinous inspiration for Arietta was an extraordinary 2.3-acre block of Cabernet Franc on the Hudson Ranch in Napa/Carneros.  The fruit from this block of Cabernet Franc serves as the core of the Arietta Red Wine (renamed Arietta H Block Hudson Vineyards in the 2000 vintage).  The Arietta project grew with the selection of additional superb blocks of Merlot and Syrah on the Hudson Ranch.  Arietta added two wines to its portfolio: Arietta Red Wine Variation One, an innovative blend of Merlot and Syrah, and Arietta Merlot Hudson Vineyards, produced only in selected vintages.

This is a rare opportunity to taste these limited wines sold only through mailing lists and select restaurants.

SELECT WINES BEING POURED

2009 Arietta White Wine on the White Keys, a white Bordeaux-inspired blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon

2009 Arietta Ouartet, a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Marlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot

2009 Red Wine Variation One, a blend of Merlot and Syrah, from the Hudson Vineyards

2009 Arietta Cabernet Sauvignon

2009 Arietta Red Wine H Block Hudson Vineyards, a blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot

We hope you can join us for very this special event.

Space is limited; please RSVP to christopher@domainewinestorage.com

View the entire list of scheduled events in the Chicago lounge here


Wine Donation Program; Receive a Deduction for the Full Value of your Wines!

Every fall we begin to see a huge increase in wine donation solicitations from various galas and non profits. Over the years many of you have called to discuss wine donation, and the volume has steadily increased both with donors and recipient requests. Thus we are formalizing our donation process to benefit both the donor and charity by managing the entire process, including associated deduction paperwork.

As many of you know, wines value under $50 are very difficult to liquidate. Due to this, many wines with retail prices of $40-$50 sell for as low as $20-$30; less expensive wines fare even worse. We are increasingly assisting clients with donating wines in this category, as the full price tax deduction can be more valuable than sale at a lower price (and you can drink great wine at your next event!).

This program is truly a win-win for both parties!

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:

First, contact Sarah Blind at sarah@cellaradvisors.com with a list of wines you would like to donate.

OUR TEAM WILL:

  • Ensure that you have the correct values stated for the donated wines, or make a recommendation from your cellar as to what you should donate
  • Store your wines for free in dedicated donation lockers at one of our Domaine Wine Storage Facilities
  • Manage all communication with the charity of your choice, or help you choose a charity
  • Provide the charity with a valuation of the wine donated; manage all paperwork associated with acquiring donation letters from the charity
  • Deliver wines to the event location
  • Present a packet with all of your donation letters at year end

We hope these steps make it easy and rewarding for collectors to support local non-profits while also retaining the full value of their donations.

Please contact us with any questions or comments on this program.

 

A CARE-less Rush to Regulate Alcohol; Wholesalers Attempt to Secure Regulatory Fiefdoms.

This is a well written analysis of the latest attempt to curtail choice and increase cost for wine collectors.  Marc and Angela met on the board for the American Wine Consumer’s Coalition and she is well versed in the wholesalers constant attempts to curtail wine distribution.

Read the entire paper here