Bin numbers on a wine list: why they matter and how to set them up

The short answer: a bin number is a short code for one wine: one producer, one cuvée, one vintage, one bottle size. The same number goes everywhere that wine appears: on the cellar shelf, on the wine list, in the till and on the inventory sheet. Every bottle of that wine shares it. Done well, it is the quiet system that makes a wine programme run.

Where the word comes from

A bin is a storage compartment in a cellar. The best-known example is Penfolds in South Australia: by the winery's own account, its wines take their bin numbers from where they were stored in the Magill Estate cellars, and Bin 389 was first kept in Bin 3, sections 8 and 9. You will see 'BIN' written as an acronym, such as 'bottle identification number', but the cellar bin came first.

Why bin numbers matter

• For the guest: anyone can order “number 214” without worrying about pronouncing a village in Burgundy.
• For service: the server or sommelier walks straight to the right shelf, even on their first week.
• For the till: one code per wine means the right wine is rung up at the right price. A list with three Meursaults stops being a risk.
• For finance: the cost controller can follow a number without knowing anything about wine.
• For stocktaking: the count follows the numbers on the shelves, so it is faster and more accurate.
• For reordering: sales by bin show what is moving and what is not.

How to set up a bin system

• 1. Group the list first. Decide the order of your list: style, then country, region and producer, the way a guest reads it.
• 2. Give each group a block of numbers, with room to grow. A new wine should fit in its place without renumbering everything.
• 3. Number in list order, so the list, the cellar and the stock sheet all run in the same sequence.
• 4. Label the cellar. Put the number on the shelf or rack, and store the wine where its number says.
• 5. Use the same number everywhere: wine list, till, inventory sheet and purchase orders.
• 6. Agree it with finance before you launch. They will live with the codes as much as you will.

One way to split the numbers (an example, not a rule):

The rules that keep it clean

• One wine, one number. Never two numbers for the same wine, and never one number for two wines.
• New vintage: if the new vintage fully replaces the old one, keep the number and update the list, the till and the stock sheet on the same day. If both vintages are on the list at once, give the new one its own number.
• Different bottle size, different number. A magnum is a different item from a bottle.
• By the glass: give the glass pour its own till code, linked to the bottle's bin number, so the stock comes off correctly.
• Retired numbers: don't reuse them straight away, or your sales history will mix two wines.

Common mistakes

• The list is reprinted but the till is not updated, so the wrong vintage or price is charged.
• Wines are stored wherever there is space, so the number on the list no longer leads to the bottle.
• Numbers are added at the end instead of in their place, and the list order and the cellar order drift apart.
• Nobody owns the system. One person should be responsible for adding, changing and retiring numbers.

Where bin numbers fit in the bigger picture

The Court of Master Sommeliers' Service Standards ask for wine lists that are clean, correct, up to date and easy to read, and for wines stored neatly and organised correctly. Bin numbers are how a busy cellar keeps both promises. At the Advanced and Master levels, the Court's syllabus also asks for wine list structure and inventory spreadsheets, so a sommelier who has built a bin system has already done the homework.

Next steps: wine inventory for sommeliers, wine management in restaurants and mise en place for wine service.

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