And I asked my insurance guy about a rider to cover the wine. He said that It'd be a waste of money since the wine would be covered as "contents" under th epolicy. He made it very clear that an up-to-date inventory was a must. While I have good intentions of setting up a spreadsheet, i still haven't done this yet.
I would be willing to bet that the policy DOES NOT cover spoilage per se, but would cover catastrophic loss (fire, hurricane, etc.) as well as theft. Proving valuation would be a bitch, though, and I hope I don't ever need to.
Some caveats: if you have a valuable collection, you need to make sure that it doesn't push the limits of your homeowner's policy. The "contents" numberon your policy is what you need to look at. So (for example), if your policy allows for $500K contents coverage, you need to add up the cost of all of your furniture, silver, etc., etc. and then add in your wine -- if it exceeds $500K, you're underinsured.
You should also ask your insurance agent if you have "replacement" coverage. Thta'll make a difference if you lose those six cases of 1982 Petrus in a house fire.
My agent also told me that if we need "excess" coverage for the wine, Chubb is pretty much the only company that'll do it.
Semper ubi sub ubi!
