You’re ultimately responsible for storing your investment safely. Without proper cellaring, your wine can become worthless in short order. Storing rare wine requires long-term thinking that takes into account all worst-case scenarios. For starters, your storage facility should have a backup power supply if the electricity ever gets knocked out. And you need to ensure proper security.

If you have a wine cellar at home, it should be climate and humidity-controlled. It should also be windowless and maintain a constant temperature between 55 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit, regardless of the season. Generally speaking, wine refrigerators aren’t acceptable because they vibrate, and their cooling mechanisms often have short shelf lives. Wineries around the world use subterranean wine caves, which naturally maintain the correct temperature and humidity levels, but excavating a cave would be prohibitively expensive for most collectors.

If you live in a hurricane-prone location, consider keeping the bulk of your collection in an off-site facility that’s less vulnerable to extreme weather events. For instance, people who live in coastal areas along the Gulf of Mexico and the Eastern Seaboard should probably look further inland. In those locations, even facilities with backup generators can be taken offline when a massive storm hits, due to extreme physical damage or extended power outages.

When considering offsite storage, stick to facilities that are specifically dedicated to wine; don’t choose places that simply have a wine-storing section in them. Dedicated facilities are better equipped with climate-monitoring systems and multiple redundancies to maintain power. The people who run these facilities usually collect wine themselves, understand the ins-and-outs of proper storage, and aren’t trying to cut corners. You’ll get a sense of security knowing that your important investments are in their hands and are properly insured. Among the best dedicated facilities are the Manhattan Wine Company in New York, Western Carriers in New Jersey and California, and Imperial Wine Storage in West Palm Beach, Florida.