How to Organize Your Wine Cellar
If you’re a wine collector, enthusiast, or simply love to be well-stocked on vino, chances are you’ve invested in a proper wine cellar! Wine cellars are arguably the best method for storing wine, and if they’re appropriately organized, you’re sure to elevate your entire wine-drinking experience. On the other hand, if your wine cellar is disorganized and haphazard, you could be risking more than just aesthetics.
When wine is stored improperly, it can turn rotten, turning your hard work (and delicious wine) into nothing. Storing wine is a nuanced task, and because every wine is different, you need to make sure you’re prepared for anything. Temperature, storage length, and the type of wine all factor into where and how you should store each bottle.
If you’re a little lost on how to organize all your wine or simply looking for wine cellar ideas, we’ll take you through the basics of wine cellar organization. From creating a suitable climate and temperature for your cellar to learning the maturity of your wines, keep reading for our Guide to Organizing Your Wine Cellar.
How Can Wine Go Bad?
Contrary to popular belief, not all wine ages well, and there are more than a few ways that wine can spoil!
Most commonly, you could have a bad cork, in which a wine bottle’s cork dries out and becomes fragile. This happens when a wine bottle is stored improperly (more on that in a second), leading to another common cause of wine spoilage: air exposure.
Air exposure can occur when a cork goes bad or there’s any leak in the bottle, so don’t just re-cork a bottle expecting it to save in the same way. Even a brief exposure to air will trap unwanted air in the bottle, so when re-corked, you have foreign air going to town on your wine! Storing your wine in too warm conditions can also lead to your vino spoiling, and letting a wine age past its prime will almost always end in disaster.
These mistakes can all be avoided, thankfully, with proper wine storage etiquette.
Avoiding The Common Mistakes
Before we get to the fun part of actually organizing your wine cellar, you need to make sure it’s properly set up for the best wine storing capabilities! When building a wine cellar, whether you build it yourself or have a custom wine cellar built for you, make sure you have a few things in mind:
1.Temperature Control: Perhaps the most essential factor of your wine cellar is the cooling system. A proper wine cellar’s temperature should be between 55º and 59º F, with a humidity between 55 and 75%. Make sure you have an accurate cooling unit that can handle your wine’s specific needs.
2.Correct Construction: To control the temperature and humidity accurately, you need to make sure all areas of your cellar are up to scratch. While good insulation is key to keeping the temperature constant, you’ll need to install a vapor barrier as well, so the humidity remains constant. Similarly, you’ll want weather stripping installed on your door to prevent any outside air from getting into the cellar itself.
3.Invest in Your Space: The last thing you want is to run out of storage space in your wine cellar. Plan everything accordingly, from the walls and ceiling down to the light fixtures, so that you can maximize your space for the future.
Organization Time!
Here’s the fun part: actually organizing your cellar space! There’s no wrong way to organize your collection, but here are a few helpful tips to point you in the right direction!
By Wine Type
Naturally, one of the easiest ways to coordinate your wines is by their type. Red wine, white wine, rosé, and even sparkling wines can make up their own categories in your space. Once you have all your wines sorted by color, you can take it a few steps further.
By Varietal
If you like the color system but want to kick it up a notch, try organizing by varietal within the colors. This way, you can keep track of all your different grape varieties while maintaining the same general organization of colors.
Get Practical
Another good way to organize your wine is by price or rarity. Put your cheaper, “day-to-day” wines closer to the front, where they are easily accessible and can be stocked with a greater frequency. This way, your more expensive, special occasion wines can remain in storage until they are needed, and you won’t be tempted to crack into them early!
Make It Easy On Yourself
Organizing your wine should create an efficient and well-managed wine inventory, so you want to make it as easy on yourself as you can! Attach large, visible tags to the neck of wine bottles, or clearly label your wine racking, so you can always find the right wine right away. You can also invest in sturdy wine cabinets that can help keep your bottles in distinguishable categories!
Know Yourself
In the end, the only thing that matters is your opinion! It’s your home wine cellar, so the decision should be whatever makes you happiest. You can organize by regions of the world, producers of the wine, or even shape of the wine bottle if that’s what makes you happy. No wine cellar innovations can replace your sense of style and organization, so have fun with it!
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Cheers!
