How To Build A Mini Wine Cellar
Anyone passionate about wine usually starts to collect it and as their wine collection grows they must begin looking for a place to store a wine collection.
A cupboard can readily be converted into a mini wine cellar to store a growing wine collection.
Before you begin building your mini wine closet consider the position of the closet in relation to the rest of the house or apartment.
If possible, avoid converting a closet against an outside wall into a wine cellar. From season to season the other walls of your home may be subject to wide temperature fluctuations. Ideally, choose an internal closet where your wine will be able to be stored at a more constant temperature.
The degree and the speed of any change in temperature are critical elements in successfully storing and aging wine. A gradual change of a few degrees between from winter to summer won’t matter. A similar change each day will certainly cause harm to your wines by ageing them too quickly.
The major rule when you are storing your wine is to avoid wide fluctuations in temperature. You’ll notice damage of this type immediately from the stickiness that will often form around the capsule. Over time the continual expansion and contraction of the wine will damage the integrity of the cork. It’s just like having the cork removed and replaced every day. When this occurs, tiny quantities of wine may be pushed out along the edge of the cork – between the cork and the neck of the bottle – allowing air to seep back in. Once air comes into contact with your wine the process of oxidation begins and your wine will be ruined.
At 55ºF to 58ºF the wine will age slowly, enabling it to develop fully as intended by the winemaker. Higher temperatures age wine more rapidly and cooler temperatures slow the ageing process. The damage done to your wine will be irreversible if it is stored at temperatures over 82ºF even for a month.
Maybe the hardest part of building a wine cellar closet is finding other locations to store what is already in the closet!! Don’t hesitate … remove all the present contents (move them elsewhere / give away / auction them) and start out with an empty closet!
Purchase inexpensive wine racks from an online retailer, hardware store or storage shop and you’ll have a simple but effective mini wine cellar.
Wine rack designs vary in bottle density; price variations have more to do with aesthetics than efficiency.
Individual racking makes bottle selection easy. If you place racks against only one wall of the closet you should still have space available on the floor or shelves to store wines purchased by the case … these wines should remain strored in their cartons.