Wine Storage and Wine Cellars

Any wine connoisseur will tell you, if you are going to keep large amounts of wine in your home or even collect it, you will need a proper way to store that wine. Storing wine can be done on a small scale, such as with a wine storage unit or a full-scale wine cellar.

Storing and collecting wine is a practice that is centuries old. Wine, stored properly, will not only maintain its quality but can improve with age in aroma, flavor and complexity. To preserve wine properly, it cannot be exposed to light and must be kept at the proper temperature and within the right humidity. Ideal temperatures for short and long term storage is between 10-14 C? (50-57 F?) with regular humidity to keep the corks from drying out.

A wine storage unit is a small self-contained unit that is plugged in, can be placed right in the kitchen and comes in various sizes from 24" in height to 84". These units moderate humidity and temperature electronically, have UV glass protection and low voltage lighting.

A wine cellar can be integrated into one?s home which is already established or is being built. Having your wine cellar built properly is important as you don?t want your valuable collection of wine to go to ruin because somebody took shortcuts. When building your wine cellar you will have to determine how much space you want to allocate to it and whether it will be climate controlled or a passive space. If you are storing wine for only short periods of time, you can get away with just installing a passive cellar. If keeping wine for long periods of time then you will want to invest in a climate controlled center.

The room your cellar is installed in will have to have proper insulation, vapor barriers and drywall materials. An insulated door is also required. As for the floor, concrete floors will need a vapor barrier only, sealed with a concrete sealant. Above ground floors need to be insulated with at least an R-19 vapor barrier. Do not use cedar on your walls, ceiling or door as it gives off too strong of an odor and it will taint the wine. Doors should be at least 1 ?" thick with weather stripping on all four sides. Place a bottom sweep on your door to maintain a constant temperature within the room. You don?t want the cool air to escape or warm air to enter and you don?t want your climate controlled unit to run all of the time. If you are going to use glass doors, make sure they are double-paned and insulated with tempered glass.

If your floor is concrete, as already stated, you just need to make sure it is vapor sealed. Other flooring materials you can use are slate, tile, marble, or vinyl. You can even use wood, as long as it isn?t cedar. But never use carpet. Carpet will collect mold and mildew in the cold.

Next is racking. You will need to ask yourself how many bottles you plan to store and how much space you will need? How much space do you have? What types of materials will you build your racking from. There are different types of woods one can use including redwood and mahogany. Both of these are resistant to rot in the cool and are mildew resistant. Cedar should be avoided due to its odor. You can also choose to use wire latticing.

Now lighting. The most popular type of lighting is called ?Air Lock? and it is a recessed ceiling light. These lights should be put on dimmer switches to control brightness. Others use track lighting. Also popular are various display lights to accent different areas of the cellar. Display rope lighting is designed and built to fit into the display and be angled toward individual bottle racking. You may want to put your lighting on a timer so that it isn?t left on for long periods of time as light produces excess heat and that will cause your cooling unit to overwork itself.

Last is the wine cellar monitoring and security system. Built-in alerts will help notify you if your cellar?s temperatures are fluctuating. It also alerts you if the door isn?t closed properly. One will want to make sure their cellar door remains closed and locked to maintain room temperature and keep your wine collection safe and secure.

Having a wine cellar at home, whether built-in or using an installed unit is a wonderful way to preserve and collect your favorite wines for all the right occasions.

Carolyn Boden is a marketing consultant at Belvedere, Texas hill country land for sale real estate community. They sell beautiful hill country acreage located west of Austin near Hamilton Pool. For more information please visit http://www.belvedereaustin.com.
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