A Wine Cellar In A Closet

When you are passionate about wine you begin collecting it … and when you begin collecting it you need a place to store it.

A closet can easily be turned into a mini wine cellar to store your growing wine collection.

Before you start your wine cellar construction it is important to pay attention to the position of the cupboard in relation to the rest of the house.

You should not convert a closet against an outside wall into a wine cellar. The outer walls of your abode can be subject to wide fluctuations in temperature from season to season. Select an internal closet where your wine can be stored in a stable atmosphere.

The degree and the speed of any change in temperature are critical elements in successfully storing and aging wine. A gradual change of a few degrees from winter to summer won't cause damage to your wine. A similar change each day will harm your wines by ageing them too rapidly.

The most important rule when you are storing your wine is to avoid large temperature fluctuations. You'll notice damage of this type immediately from the stickiness that will often form around the capsule. Over time the continual expansion and contraction of the wine will damage the integrity of the cork. It's just like having the cork removed and replaced every day. When this occurs, very small amounts of wine may be expelled along the edge of the cork (between the cork and the neck of the bottle) allowing air to seep in. Once the air is in contact with your wine the irreversible process of oxidation begins and your wine is ruined.

At 55º to 58ºF the wine will age with grace, enabling it to develop fully. Higher temperatures will age wine more rapidly and cooler temperatures will slow the ageing process. Your wine will be irreversibly damaged if it is stored at a temperature above 82ºF for as little as a month.

The most difficult part of creating a wine cellar in a closet can be finding other places to store the original contents of the closet! Don't hesitate ... sell / give away / move all the present contents and start with a blank slate!

Cheap wine racks can be purchased from a hardware store, online retailer or storage shop and you'll have a simple but very effective mini wine cellar.

Wine rack designs will vary in bottle density; price variations are more to do with aesthetics than efficiency.

Individual racking is usually considered the most convenient way of storing bottles. If you place racks against only one wall of the closet you may still have floor or shelf space available for wines that you purchase by the case.