How to Make a Wine Cellar
Okay, you’ve caught the wine bug and you’re ready to actually do it…you’re going to invest in a wine cellar. We’ve all dreamt of it, rows and rows of finely aged wine that you’ve carefully hand selected, all surrounding you like a warm, comfortable blanket. Ah, nothing spells success like having your own wine cellar! So, what are the main components to building such a luxurious addition to your home? Well, it all comes down to a few key items.
Organization: Your wine cellar will need to have plenty of shelving and racking space in order to hold your wine collection. The preferred method of storing wine is on its side or upside-down. The reason for this is because the wine inside the bottle should be touching the cork to prevent it from drying out. Wine corks that dry out tend to shrink over time and will allow air to enter the bottle, causing oxidation, which will ruin your wine very quickly. To keep your bottles perfectly organized, you can purchase color coded wine bottle tags that hang from the necks that will allow you to identify what kind of wine is inside or even which ones are ready to drink and which ones need more aging.
Light: As you have no doubt noticed before, wine cellars are usually quite dark. This isn’t just to make them seem more romantic or mysterious, but to keep the wine protected from sunlight or other ultraviolet light sources. Even the darkest bottles will allow light inside, so you’ll want to keep your collection protected from these damaging rays. Fluorescent lights can also damage your wine, so choose only incandescent or sodium vapor type bulbs for your wine cellar.
Temperature: Controlling the temperature in your wine cellar is probably the single most important thing you need to be concerned with when it comes to wine storage…cellar or not. Ideally, wine should be stored at around 50-55ºF. This prevents the wine from aging too quickly or losing its flavor, character, and depth. The most important aspect of temperature control is consistency. You want to make sure your wine cellar is keeping a constant temperature throughout the day and over the years. Fluctuating temperatures can cause corks to shrink or swell and will negatively change the chemical balance of the wine inside the bottle.
Humidity: Humidity is often overlooked when storing wine, but it is a very important element. Keeping the air humid, or moist, in your cellar keeps corks pliable and won’t let them dry out. Humidity should be kept at around 60 to 70 percent. A hygrometer can be purchased to easily monitor the humidity levels, as well as the temperature conditions of your wine cellar. Many people don’t like the idea of keeping their cellars so humid because it can damage the labels and produce mold. One thing you can do to protect your labels is to keep the bottles inside cardboard sleeves on the racks. You can also spray the labels with hair spray or lacquer to keep them from peeling off.
Other things to avoid are unnecessary vibrations and overwhelming odors. You should never store your wine on or near anything that vibrates, like a refrigerator or generator. So, keep your cellar as movement-free as possible. Another thing to consider is strong odors. Because wine corks are porous, odors can easily seep inside the bottle. Things like detergent, motor oil, paint, or coffee can damage your perfectly conditioned cellar. So, avoid the urge to store things other than your precious wine collection inside your wine cellar.
