Home Wine Cellars - Guide to Storing Wine:

In the early part of 2011 I started buying 2008 Pinot Noirs in magnum sizes (both 1.5L and 3L bottles). A few months went by and I soon realized I had accumulated almost 40 of these large format bottles and needed a good spot to store them for the long haul. My goal was to keep them for 5 to 10 years and then open them up slowly. As I looked into viable options for storage, I found out that magnum wine bottles are not easy to store in conventional wine coolers or refrigerated wine cabinets. Most of those products are designed to fit the basic 750ml wine bottles. I live in Oregon and I knew that summer would eventually arrive and heat the house beyond the safe 60 to 65 degrees in which you can store wine for the long term. I thought about buying a wine cabinet (with a cooling system) or perhaps turning a small room below my staircase into a wine cellar. Well, the amount of money to get those projects done is very high. We are talking $1000's just to store the wine. This is my story of how I figured out the best solution for storing wine given all the options.

Storing Your Wine - What are the Options? - I am going to discuss 5 wine storage options that may be available to you. The first thing to consider is that red wines should be stored at a temperature between 50 and 65 degrees. The humidity levels should be no less than 50% and you are better off if it's closer to 70%. These #'s are only important if you plan on keeping wine for a long time before opening it. If you tend to drink your wines in a year or less, then perfect storage conditions probably aren't as important. I had heard that the 2008 Pinot Noirs from Oregon were going to be good and that holding them for a while would help them age and become even better. Back to the storage solutions - wine cooler/refrigerator, wine cabinet (with cooling system), a dedicated wine cellar (with or without cooling), putting racks into a closet that has a constant temperature below 65 degrees, and lastly using your crawl space to store your wine collection. After I did some research and found out the costs involved to store my wine in a temperature controlled room with a cooling unit, I decided to investigate the crawl space under my house. Well, the temperature is 57 degrees most of the year, with humidity levels between 55 and 70%. The only hassle was getting in and out - we do have a trap door on an interior closet that gives you access. After buying some storage crates and boxes for the magnums, I had a small section, roughly 3 feet by 4 feet, set aside with some insulation and created a little room beneath the house. The wine sits on its side down there and will remain in a dark room for at least 5 years. We are still hoping that some will last up to 10 years, but you do risk it going bad, so you have to weigh the options. I still monitor the conditions with my temperature and humidity sensor since I have roughly $5000 in wine that needs to be taken care of. Vinotemp, Vinotheque, and Euro Cave all create nice wine refrigerators and cabinets. They tend to be quite expensive - many are $3000 or more. Storage shelves allow you to display the wine and most shelving is both adjustable and removable. Again, larger format bottles or even Pinot Noir 750ml bottles may have a harder time fitting in the traditional shelving units. We found that some products allow for the consumer to request various sizing with the shelves so that you can store all wine bottle types.

How Much Are Wine Cellars?:

Wine cellars are not cheap. They are meant to be an insurance policy against your wine from bad. Even under the best storage solutions, wine experts say that up to 12% of your wine could still go bad. This means that air can seep into the bottle through the cork and oxygen is the worst enemy for aging wines. The key to any cellar situation is to keep the corks moist (but not too moist) so that they don't dry out and allow air into the bottle. A quality wine cellar can cost up to $30,000. It depends on the size of the rooms, what work needs to be done in order to get ready for wine storage, and the costs associated with insulation, cooling systems and racks. Wine cabinets are roughly $4000 to $8000 and do a great job of protecting your wine. Wine refrigerators are one of the cheapest routes to go in terms of storing wines, but they aren't ideal for long term storage needs and many of the reviews for the units are not that great. Most wine connoisseurs say that wine cabinets or actual wine cellars are the best solution. That being said, not all wine cellars are created equal. Many homeowners have unused crawl spaces that can easily double as a wine storage area if the conditions are right. Again, roughly 55 to 60 degrees with very little temperature fluctuation throughout the year and humidity levels that range from 50 to 70%. We suggest you track the conditions in your crawlspace before taking on the project. You can do some insulation work on your own, it's cheap, and then get wine crates or boxes to store the wine. If you have the space, go with storage racks for easier access. It may not be the most ideal situation to have 150 bottles beneath your house, but it can work.

Do You Really Need to Have a Wine Cellar for Storage?:

Wine cellars should only be for those that want to store wine for more than a few years. If you don't have more than 50 bottles in your collection, odds are you will drink it up within a few years. Once you get beyond 70 bottles, they become harder to go through and a longer term storage solution is great. Not all of us have space for wine in our homes and so long term storage is an issue. I bought the large format bottles and ran into more problems than I would have ever thought. I ended up having to solve the problem on my own since most wine cabinets, refrigerators, cellars aren't designed for magnums and above. Wine was meant to drink, so don't forget that is the most important thing. Keep track of your best stuff on a spreadsheet or with wine software and be sure to bring it out to enjoy. Buying a wine rack that sits in your living room is often the best option for the average wine drinker. Storing your wine at room temperature for a few months doesn't harm it - however we do suggest refrigerating your white wines at least a few hours before drinking those.

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