Common mistakes can be made by individuals who have an existing cellar or who are thinking of installing a wine cellar, whether to their private residence or as part of a commercial operation. Over the years, we have experienced various ‘wine cellar sins’ which can offer a useful guide for anyone considering investing in a wine cellar (or upgrading their current cellar).
1. PLAN THE WINE YOU WANT TO STORE
If you are starting from scratch, do not rush and buy wine in bulk for the sake of filling the cellar. For most avid collectors, this will not be an issue as they will already have a substantial collection they have built over the years. But for the beginner, the high investment of a wine cellar could lead to poor purchasing of wine to grace the shelves simply for the sake of making the wine cellar look full. Plan your wine purchasing first, know your wine cellar capacity and the wine that you want to fill it with and get it delivered only when the cellar is completed.
2. STORE THE WINE PROPERLY
You need to think not just about the look of the cellar and it’s racking, but also the practicality of how the bottles are stored. Wine bottles ideally should be stored lying down and side by side, so consider racking that allows this. Often there are different styles of racking that can break up the monotony of the same design against a given wall for instance, but will providing for the best methods of storing your wine. Wines with corks should always be led down, screw cap wine can be stored upright. Consider non-standard bottle sizes such as magnums and above, also maybe a feature wall. However you do not want bottles stored in a way that could result in them moving or falling over and therefore disturbing the wine inside.
3. STORE THE WINE FOR THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF TIME
We often see owners who are very meticulous with their records of their wine, some that have been collecting and purchasing wine for many years and decades. There is a reason for this! Different wines age over different periods of time. You must take advice from your supplier if the wine you have purchased is ready for drinking, will age over 1 or 2 years or even 25 years! Opening wine too early can result in missing out on the many benefits of storing wine – not only taste, but also the financial investment.
4. STORE THE WINE IN THE RIGHT CONDITIONS
It is not just enough to create a superb looking cellar, it needs to maintain the ideal climatic conditions for your expensive wine collection. Think of it as a larger wine cabinet, a perfectly sealed room protecting your wine from the adverse effects of temperature fluctuation, poor humidity, inadequate ventilation and UV light (see below). Wine should be stored ideally between 12-15⁰C and humidity 65-75% to prevent corks drying, bacteria forming and to protect and ensure your wine ages perfectly and meets its full potential. In our experience there is only one way to ensure these conditions are met and that is by installing a climatic control system.
Also consider the effects that these ideal wine climate conditions may have on neighbouring rooms (to the sides, above, below). If you are constructing your cellar form new or converting an existing area, you need to install a vapour seal to the outsides borders of the walls, ceiling and floor of the room and use the correct thermal insulation to 100% guarantee no condensation will form on the internal structure of your building.
5. DO NOT LET LIGHT INTO THE CELLAR
Your wine cellar must be void of windows, or at least ensure windows block out sunlight, as together with UV rays from fluorescent lighting for instance, these will penetrate the bottle and affect the quality of the wine. Use lighting that is non UV and try to keep your wine in the dark as much as possible. Think of the classic French Chateaus with their underground cellars – perfect conditions for wine!
6. SECURE YOUR WINE!
Most customers know or have an idea what is in their wine collections, either through purchasing or monitoring records or via their wine supplier. What they may not be able to ever do is replace it if the wine is not available in the marketplace. Therefore the extra cost of an alarm system or more secure door entry system when compared to a standard door lock can seem insignificant in hindsight should your cherished wine collection ever be at risk from theft or vandalism. Often the cost of such systems pails into insignificance when compared to the replacement cost of the wine itself.
7. SELECTING THE CORRECT WINE TOO DRINK AND SERVING IT CORRECTLY
Every bottle of wine has a story to tell. It is obvious to us that most of our customers love wine, love sharing wine and enjoying it with friends and family. It is important not only to plan and select the correct wine for your intended use, whether food pairing or as a gift, but also to make sure it is served at the correct temperature. We often supply dual temperature wine cabinet(s) for our cellar customers so they can move wine ready for drinking and bring it to the ideal serving condition. This can be very subjective, but remember that chilling white/rose wines can kill the taste and red wine will normally warm a little when it hits the glass or is held in the hand. Each wine is different, reach grape variety has its own style and there are many useful guides readily available. It would be a shame to care for your wine over many years through investing in a wine cellar without putting a little thought into that final key moment – the tasting!
WineWalls.co.uk can assist you in your wine cellar design, installation, racking and temperature/climatic control systems. Please call us for further advice and information.
