It is the best of times. It is the worst of times. And right now I’m in between.
About two years ago we decided to build a wine cellar in our house. I spent a lot of time with my wife choosing the various designs for the cellar, the tiles, the paint, the racking, the custom made door (ordered from Mexico), etc. When the cellar was done it was magnificent. Everyone that sees it is impressed. It looks like you are walking into a cave in Bordeaux. The months of construction and work had paid off, or so I thought.
With the cellar done, I had to get to work filling the cellar. I made weekly trips to the wine stores near my home. The stores had lots of choices of great wine, so I bought a lot. Having a cellar also made buying us gifts much easier. People gave us wine (some of it GREAT wine). When I had about 300 bottles filling the cellar, I noticed that some of the wine was at its peak! One-third of the wine to be more accurate. When I was buying I did not pay attention to planning the wine in the cellar. Most wine is meant to be drunk within a year or so of when it is bought. I bought too quickly and too much wine that was not meant to cellar, which is about 90% of all wine. Needless to say, my wife and I are a great hit at parties and with my relatives since we now bring great bottles that are ready to drink when we visit. I’m now working on a better plan to fill the cellar with wines that will peak over the next several decades.
We all know that a bottle of wine can absorb the aromas in its environment (more about cellaring here). So what do you do when the place you’re hoping to store your wine has a funky smell? A WL user recently emailed the following question and we’d love your help in finding an answer…
We just bought a wine fridge and it has a strong odor from the stain on the wood. Trying to find out the best thing to absorb the odor, arm and hammer not working as well as we’d like.
Any suggestions? Post them below - thanks!
Now that we are clear on the proper tactics for wine cellaring, let’s move on to the real question at hand: which wine storage and cooling unit should I buy?
As I said before, there are several criteria to consider when choosing your unit. Some considerations are very personal and will reflect your needs or the design of your home, while others are across-the-board necessities.
I’m starting to build up a semi-decent sized collection of wine, and with our wedding just around the corner, Jason and I have decided to add a wine cooler/storage unit to our registry. The problem is…I’m not sure which one to select!
After doing a little research, I’ve discovered several variables to consider when selecting a wine cooler, including the storage design, capacity, cooling method, and convenience. These variables aside, let me first explain what I know to be the laws for preserving and cellaring wine.
If you are interested in keeping wine for several years, it is important to understand the best conditions for keeping the bottle safe and happy until you pop the cork.
