Where to Store your Cabernet & Chianti? In the Card Catalog, of Course!
As you may have guessed, I learned the ideal environment in which to keep wine, is…you guessed it, a wine cellar, and preferably one that is located on the terrace or basement level where there’s a relatively stable environment, little fluctuation in temperature and humidity and virtually no movement.
Is a full out-and-out wine cellar just not in the old budget? No need to worry. While drooling over the gorgeous kitchens shown here at Houzz, I found lots of wonderful and very affordable wine storage options. Grab that glass of wine and come along for the tour!
Smaller wine coolers that hold approximately 12 bottles of wine, start in the $120 range. I had no idea they were so affordable! One thing to keep in mind when designing or renovating a kitchen that will include a wine refrigerator, it's best to buy a wine cooler that is vented in the front. If it's not vented in the front, you will need to design the space leaving several inches all the way around the unit to allow for air circulation.
A lovely bar area like this is always a convenient idea. If we opened up the doors, do you think we'd find bottles of vintage wines, all stored on their sides? It turns out, that's the ideal way to store all of your wine. It keeps the cork moist which ensures a good, tight seal, which in turn, preserves the flavor of the wine.
I have to share my favorite storage idea right off the bat. Is this not ingenious??? It must be the old librarian in me. Remember the days before the internet...if you wanted to find the answer to something, you had to get in your car, drive down to the library and look up the information in a book. But before you could find the book, you usually had to consult the "card catalog." The cards were always filed according to title, author or subject. Well, in this card catalog, the subject is always, WINE. What a wonderful new use for all those now obsolete card catalogs. I love that the drawers could even be labeled with the names and dates of the wine stored inside.
And when the wine is all gone, don't throw those bottles away. They will serve beautifully as candleholders in the center of your tablescape! :-)
Q