Wine Racks

In my wine classes I probably get asked this question more than any other: “where do I store my wine if I don’t own a cellar or wine refrigerator?” Good question. If you are not lucky enough to have a room to devote to a wine cellar or have space under your house to build one, then you need a place to put your wine. Wine racks are sometimes a nice alternative to expensive wine storage.

wrought iron wine rack

Wine racks come in various shapes and sizes and can be so small they only hold three bottles or large enough to fill one entire wall. Basically they are shelving to hold your bottles and have them on display for you. They can be made from wrought iron or different types of wood and your bottles fit horizontally on them, usually with the neck of the bottle facing out toward you. If you are rather good with your hands you can build your own and if you’re not, there are many places you can go to online to buy them pre-fabricated. Make sure your wine rack holes are big enough to fit your fattest bottles. Some of the bottles today are extra thick and may not work in older racks. But wine racks are not for everyone.

Notice in the first paragraph I said that “sometimes” wine racks are nice alternatives to wine storage (cellars, refrigerators)? Well, since the racks are in your house, and your house temperature fluctuates, for those of you who live in places that experience extreme cold or heat that’s not such a good thing. Wine storage basically needs two main things: a consistent cool temperature and no light exposure. If you live in Texas with no air conditioning (I know, unlikely isn’t it?) then storing your wine in wine racks out in the house isn’t the best idea. If you do have fairly mild weather patterns, then be sure to put the rack somewhere not in the direct line of sunlight.

The craze nowadays is to build houses and install wine racks in the kitchen. I’ve seen the racks actually built into one of the cabinets or have a criss-cross pattern above a shelf, etc. Although this looks fantastic, I whole-heartedly do NOT recommend doing this unless you drink the wine in that wine rack rather fast. Remember, temperature fluctuation and light are our enemies here, right? The kitchen is the worst offender in temperature fluctuation in the whole house! Not only that, if you keep your wine in a rack close to the oven or stove, you are going to get extreme temperature fluctuations and in some cases cook the wine. Plus keeping the rack close to the stove sometimes gets the bottles messy and greasy. There are safer places to put your rack.

Many friends of mine choose to put their racks under the staircase in their two-story houses. This works wonderfully well because those places tend not to see very much light, and it’s usually cooler there as well. If you don’t have a two-story house, then I would suggest converting one of your closets to wine racks, or maybe even just half of the closet. Closets tend not to fluctuate as much, and obviously they get no daylight inside of them, so for storage purposes that would work.

So maybe converting a closet is not for you…that’s OK. Some people don’t have the space to give up, or they really would like to display their wines so they can see them. That’s understandable too. In that case I would recommend buying a decorative wine rack that holds a case or two of wine. Pick one out that fits your style and home decoration. I recommend a smaller rack because again, for long-term storage you want to avoid a wine rack that isn’t inside a cellar or refrigerator. The smaller decorative racks are attractive and part of the home interior design, and you can place the few bottles you drink regularly there for quick access as well, but keeping the bulk of your age-worthy wines elsewhere, if you collect them.

Where do you find racks? Anywhere! Go online to Google and type wine racks and you will get a plethora of responses and places to shop. My personal favorites tend to be International wine accessories and Costco. These two places offer lots of specials, and every once in a while Costco gets some interesting racks in for purchase. I also recommend garage sales and discount stores (such as Ross or Marshalls)…one friend of mine bought a beautiful decorative wine rack from a garage sale and it fits beautifully in her home.

So enjoy your rack, but before you purchase one do your planning. Where will it fit? How much light will it get? How is the temperature in that area? Once you figure that out you will have enjoyment and use of your wine rack for years to come!

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