How to prepare your spreadsheet for import

Name three columns Vintage, Producer and Wine name, using those words, and save the file as .csv or .xlsx. The quickest way to get that right is Download our template on the upload page, which already has the headings in place.

Caution

Capitals, spaces and punctuation do not matter — the words do. WINE NAME, Wine_Name and WineName are all read as the same heading — before we compare, case is ignored and spaces, underscores and other punctuation are dropped. A heading with a different word is not simply dropped. We look at its name and its first few values and match it to one of our columns that your file is missing, if one fits. On the web, the warnings step shows each match as Your column “…” with We read this as “…”, and you can change the match or leave that column out before anything is imported. A heading that fits none of the missing columns does not come across.

The three columns you must have

Column	What goes in it	Example
Vintage	The year on its own — it cannot be buried in the wine name. For a non-vintage wine leave it blank or write NV	2013
Producer	The winemaker	Caymus Vineyards
Wine name	The name of the wine, without the producer	Cabernet Sauvignon Special Select

The optional columns that behave in a particular way

Everything else is optional. Most of it is checked rather than taken as written — size, quantity, cellar, wine type, both dates, the price and the currency all are. A value we cannot read at all is an error you have to go and fix. Leaving Size, Quantity or Cellar or fridge name empty is only a warning, which you can read and carry on from.

Column	What it accepts	If you leave it out
Size	The volume, written however you like — 750, 750ml, 1.5L, 1,5 l and even MAGNUM 1.5L all read correctly. The volume has to be one InVintory stocks; the spelling does not have to match anything. A bare number is read as litres below 20 and as millilitres from 20 up, so 1.5 is a magnum and 750 is a standard bottle	Every bottle is 750ml
Quantity	A whole number from 1 to 1000	Every row is one bottle
Cellar or fridge name	A storage you already have, named exactly, or a new name — which creates it. Up to 1000 different storages per file	Everything lands in a cellar called My Cellar
Wine type	One of the types the guide lists, such as Red or White Sparkling	Nothing happens at all — not even a warning. But matching gets harder, which is why the guide marks it “Not required but highly suggested”

Grapes is the other one worth filling in for the same reason. For a blend, write Blend or the varietals separated by commas.

Dates, prices and bin locations

Write dates in a form there is no argument about — 2024-06-12 or Jun 12, 2024. If a date could be read two ways, a Just checking… step asks you to pick the Date format, day first or month first, before anything is imported.

Prices are read as numbers and currency signs are ignored. A price with no currency against it is taken to be in the currency set by the collection’s owner — which is not yours if you are importing into somebody else’s collection. So if your file mixes currencies, add a Currency column with a three-letter code on every row. Leaving it out is a warning rather than an error, and you can carry on past it, but every price will then be recorded in the owner’s currency.

A Removal date is how you bring in bottles you have already drunk — those rows go to Past bottles instead of into your collection. Leave it blank for anything you still own.

Note

An import cannot place bottles into 3D positions. Use Custom bottle location to carry your own coordinates across as plain text — one column, any format you like — then place the bottles in VinLocate afterwards. Re-importing one of our own exports? Its Section Name, Row, Column and Depth columns are turned into that text for you, on any row with no Custom bottle location of its own.

Where the guide and the template are

Web:  app.invintory.com → Import Bottles → Import spreadsheet → Download our template

The guide lists every column with its own worked example, so read it once before you start editing. There is no file picker in the apps — tapping Spreadsheet on iPhone, iPad or Android emails you a link to this page instead.

Next steps

• How to import your collection — uploading the file once it is ready
• Understanding import wait times — why a spreadsheet is the one source a person reads
• How to import your full collection after a partial upload — if you have already added bottles by hand