The wine industry is full of nice people. From winemakers to collectors sharing great bottles around a table, the joy-factor is always high, and for this we count ourselves lucky. Consequently, many enophiles still approach wine buying with absolute trust. While we’re not here to tell you to lock your cellar doors and assume the worst, we are challenging the default position of innocence when it comes to provenance. Rather than assume a wine is authentic, and in perfect condition until proven otherwise, at 1275 we adopt the approach used by most other collectibles – watches, cars, jewellery – in proving perfect condition as standard practice. For us, it’s all about the evidence.
Measuring the risk
Fine wine is a consumable product. Beyond 25°C, chemical reactions start to create irreversible damage to taste and flavours in wine, and especially in wine with age. We are often confronted with stories from friends of bottles of wine that have seemed “cooked” or over the hill, despite their relatively young age. Unfortunately, the most likely cause is improper transport and/or storage – so when buying valuable wines, the question you should always ask is “where is the evidence”? Evidence to prove the wine has never sat out in the sun on a loading deck, been left by a distracted owner next to a radiator, or been handled by a seller who simply hasn’t done their due diligence to authenticate.
Risk extinguished
1275’s solution is to leave no possible room for doubt. For every single case of wine in our care, we provide full evidence of its perfect condition, namely:
- Proof of sourcing direct from the domain
- Data from our external partners in temperature tracking showing GPS location and temperature throughout shipment (all organised in temperature-controlled vehicles)
- A live feed of temperature and humidity levels within our vault in the Freeport of Geneva
- A unique ID and photo of each case
- We believe you should never settle for less than the evidence
Traceability in action
We were recently featured in our traceability partner, Tempmate’s video discussing how we use their tracking devices to offer full transparency to our clients. You can watch the full video below.