When you are passionate about wine you begin collecting it. Sometimes you get in on a club for wine lovers and now are acquiring high quality wines. Storage becomes important when you start buying cases of wine or collecting many fine wines. A cabinet can simply be turned into a small wine storage cabinet to protect your brand new collection.
You must count the cost before starting the construction of your cellar. For instance where is the closet in relation to the rest of the house? Avoid converting a closet against an outside wall into a wine cellar. As the outside walls are in direct contact with the weather the temperature levels are not consistent and change dramatically. Choose an internal closet where your wine can be stored in a more stable atmosphere.
Make sure your wine cellar has a steady temperature, this is of critical importance to correctly store/age your collection. Shifting temperatures during the seasons will have no affect on the wine aging, as long as it stays within safe levels. A wine that is exposed to this treatment will fair very badly in a relatively short period of time. Your wine will fare much better if you follow the rule of not letting the temperature rise and fall too rapidly.
You can see the damage with a visual inspection. Look for the sticky deposit that often forms around the capsule. Over time the continual expansion and contraction of the wine will damage the integrity of the cork. Each time the temperature changes, the cork is essentially pulled out and put back in. When this happens, minute quantities of wine may be pushed out along the edge of the cork allowing air to seep back in. While it is usually good to expose wine to the air, as it brings out more flavor, it’s the last thing you want when aging wine. Your wine is ruined. Wine is enabled to propler develop and fully age when the temperature is a comfortable 57 degrees, give or take a couple. Higher temperatures will age wine more rapidly and cooler temperatures will slow down the ageing process. Irreversible damage will be done if your wine is kept at a temperature above 82ºF for even a month.
Vapor barrier the walls so the water will not damage them. Mold like the humid environments that are good for wine. Also it’s a good idea to get a little better wine cellar cooler for managing the humidity and temperature.
Next comes the construction phase. Wine cellar construction can be fun! You will need to purchase a few essential items. You can get some cheap wine racks from a hardware store. With some cheap racks you’ll have a simple but very effective mini wine cellar. Wine rack designs will vary in bottle density. Price variations are more to do with aesthetics than efficiency. Individual racking is the most convenient for selecting bottles.
A good idea is to have racks against only one wall of the closet. Then you may still have floor or shelf space available for wines that you purchase by the case. Building your own wine cellar at home isn’t hard or pricey, and it can be a rewarding endevour. Go for function over design to save money. If building your own cellar is too daunting then you might want a Cuisinart Dual Zone 15 Bottle Wine Cellar.
Don’t forget to enjoy the wine that you have worked so hard to store!
Tags: wine