Wine should be in a cool dark space the opposite of being over a fridge which by design generates heat

Do not put it over the fridge, which will be hotter (ventilation path for fridge heat). The heat isn't good for wine - dark and cool is better.

I know pretty much nothing about wine (odd... considering how much I actually drink!) but I think over a hot fridge is about the worst place to store it! Even my boxed wine (!!!) is stored in a cool, dark place. :)

We had a space in our new build that was supposed to be a 10x 12 crawl space, but due to some drainage issues they raised the house 2 feet and it was only a few $100's to make it a full basement. We now officially call it our wine cellar!

Showing both my ignorance and forgetfulness - we also will have a dedicated wine fridge - I believe it runs about 50-60 degrees. So with that - do we even need additional wine storage at all ? ? ?

Red wine is generally served at room temperature. We have a space in our kitchen where red wine is brought up from the cellar to get to room temperature. We rarely drink white wine.

At 5'8" and DW at 5'2", I wouldn't want it stored over the fridge just for the peril of having to climb a ladder or rickety chair just to get a second bottle after finishing the first one! :)

I have a small under counter wine fridge. I rarely need to store extra except for holiday parties at which point I just keep it in the case from the store and tuck it in a closet. The space over the fridge is excellent deep storage for rarely used items since that cabinet is typically at least 27" deep.

"we also will have a dedicated wine fridge - I believe it runs about 50-60 degrees. So with that - do we even need additional wine storage at all ?"

You do if you have red wine, which is served at room temperature.

I would skip the wine rack idea altogether. I think it’s a dated look, not truly useful, dust collector, and not good for the wine.

Eliminated. We'll have a 15" under cabinet wine cooler in the island. Builder will leave me a 15" opening about 24" deep with a plug.

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I've always been curious just how much warmer things are above fridge and this thread reminded me to do my experiment. Our current house has a cabinet over the fridge and I've never noticed it any warmer there than anywhere else...

Inside A/C thermostat set to 75*

Used an laser thermometer. Took multiple readings.

Wine in a small countertop wine rack read 75* (36" from floor, 6 feet from fridge)

Set a wine bottle on it's side DIRECTLY on top of the metal fridge and left it for day. That bottle read 76.5* (6' from floor)

Wine in a wooden rack would be a couple of inches or more over the fridge and not in direct contact with the top of the fridge.

In my experience you will find 1-2 degrees of difference between the floor and ceiling of my house anyway. Both my current fridges vent their warm out at the bottom front - not the back.

After I re-engineered our HVAC ducts years ago I was able to get all rooms in the house to within less than 2 degrees of each other during peak summer heat and what I'll call normal usage.

Bottom line - while a countertop wine rack is not ideal - the temp difference over the fridge was not much worse - downright negligible. But at any rate - not going with that option - we'll just have a cooler built in.

"downright negligible."

I guess it depends on how long it stays there, and how much of a sensitive palate you have. Sort of like keeping spices next to the stove -- heat isn't good for spice storage, but only some people will notice the difference.