Schoemer turned to Vinfolio, one of two new San Francisco-based ventures offering high-tech cellar inventory systems and concierge-type services to the growing wine-collector market.

Vinfolio and its competitor Vintrust may be on to something: About 200,000 well-heeled collectors in the U.S. are sitting on 500 or more bottles of wine in their cellars, according to Wine Spectator magazine. Based on the ones I've seen, I'd guess the majority, like mine, are a mess.

Both services were launched by entrepreneurs with backgrounds in finance and technology and a passion for wine. Among other things, they offer Web-based software programs that organize wines and track purchases, storage facilities and access to hard-to-get bottles for clients throughout the U.S. and as far away as Japan. They'll also provide advice, shipping and delivery — and in Vintrust's case, even your own personal sommelier.

"Vinfolio flew two people out with laptops and a digital camera to catalog my collection," Schoemer said. "They organized the bottles by country, took a photo of each label, applied a bar code to each, and input all the data into their software program."

The $2.50 per bottle Vinfolio charged, he says, was well worth it.

Now Schoemer can access his wine inventory over the Web from anywhere in the world. The one-page entry for each wine includes ratings from well-known critics' newsletters, its current value at auction, and the date when the wine will be ready to drink. He can even add his own tasting notes. (Having such a detailed inventory is ideal for insurance purposes, too.)

When he orders new wines — his collection has grown to 2,300 bottles — he faxes the invoice to Vinfolio; they enter the data and send him a supply of bar codes to apply when the wines arrive. After each wine has been consumed, he can register the change with a simple wave of a wand-like scanner over the bar code. And he can sort by varietal, vintage, vineyard or region. The system enables collectors to manage their wine no matter where it's stored.

One-stop shopping

Another Vinfolio customer, Dr. Reed Day, an oral surgeon in Phoenix with a penchant for Burgundy, accesses his cellar's 5,000-bottle collection every day. "Before dinner I might check which of my white Burgundies are ready to drink and come up with

Though Vinfolio operates a storage space, "selling and buying wines are more important to us," says company president Steve Bachmann, a former managing director at Broadview Holdings LLP and founder of its private equity fund.

Texas financial consultant Diane Dixon recently called her personal wine executive at Vinfolio to order "a couple of cases of new California reds and whites they offered that I'd never heard of."

Steady temperature

About 40 percent of rival Vintrust's clients reside on the East Coast. Its similar Web-based cellar-management software is also easy to use — and free. Stephen Cohen, a new collector who works for a New York financial firm, ordered bar codes (100 for $50; 1,000 for $250) and entered his 85 wines plus a case of futures in their system himself.

Vintrust offers the same services as Vinfolio — with differences in style, price and scope — plus a few more. "A wine collection is exactly like a stock portfolio," said founder and former investment banker Andre de Baubigny as we sat in the garden of his San Francisco office. "What we do is asset management. Our core business is storage."

For expensive wines, a steady temperature of 55 to 58 degrees is essential to maintain quality and protect value as wines age.

Opening in Los Angeles

In June, Vintrust will add another storage space — in Los Angeles. But to me, the company's most appealing and unique feature is access to your own sommelier.

Each client is assigned to one of 14, who will come to your home for private tastings ($300 minimum), organize a winery tour and best of all, give advice by phone or in person ($65 per hour) and answer questions by e-mail. When attorney Richard Guggenhime of international law firm Heller Ehrman in San Francisco is wondering if he should be drinking up a particular California chardonnay, for example, he sends a query to Eugenio Jardim of the city's Jardiniere restaurant and EOS Wine Bar.

That's the kind of service that could make a beginning collector look like a major connoisseur.