SETUP AND MATERIALS
Racks
• The actual "construction" of your wine cellar can be as simple or as involved as you choose to make it
• The objective in setting up racks for your wine is to securely hold the bottles horizontally, in as dense an arrangement as possible.
• Racking can be individual cells of timber, steel or plastic, or even simple shelving or bins
• As a rough guide, each square yard of racking will carry 100 bottles
• Create your own racking using bins and/or crates, or use the internet or a local wine supply store to search for the rack that best works in your particular situation
Cooling
• If your home or wine storage area does not have naturally perfect temperature conditions, you may need to use a type of refrigeration unit
• Standard home or commercial refrigeration is not well suited to cooling wine
• This type of cooling is designed to remove humidity, and the temperature tends to fluctuate too much for proper wine storage.
• There are various systems on the market (including Whisper Kool and Breezaire) that are virtually self-contained temperature controlling units designed specifically for wine storage
Humidity
• If the humidity levels are undesirable in your storage area, there are several options
• You can add a bowl of water to the area to increase humidity, and even add a towel to the bowl to act as "wick" to further increase humidity
• There are also many table-top humidifiers available, some designed specifically for wine cellars
Planning Your Cellar
Inventory
• A good inventory system is the most important, and often least considered, element in maintaining any wine investment; a poorly kept inventory leads to wasted wines
• A cellar without organization can lead to wines being drunk before they are ready, or wines kept way past their ideal drinking time
• Whether it simply be a notebook, or wine cellar software such as Vinote's, keep track of the bottles in your cellar.
• Apply a "drink by" or "peak" year to every bottle in your inventory
Size
• Only you can estimate how large your cellar needs to be, determined by your own drinking habits, wine preferences, etc.
• The most common problem with wine cellars is that people outgrow them
• Always plan your cellar to hold more bottles than you believe you will need, leaving space to grow into
Types/Amounts of Wine
• Often six bottles of a certain wine is enough to follow a wine over a period of years to monitor its development
• Build your collection slowly. Your tastes will change with time, and it is unwise to immediately fill your cellar with wines that you may not appreciate in the future
• Cellar as many different wines as possible, allowing your knowledge and palate to expand
The wine within a bottle is a living organism, constantly changing and hopefully evolving. Like any living thing, wine will respond positively to being treated well and taken care of. If you follow the few necessary guidelines, the rewards of enjoying a properly aged wine will far outweigh the work put into storing the bottle.
If you are a wine drinker, it is likely that you appreciate the work and craft that goes into making a fine bottle of wine. Take the consideration and care to properly store that bottle, ensuring that all that work was not for nothing, and ensuring that you will get the most pleasure possible out of that bottle of wine.
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