Wine Cellar design: Essential Features
You should learn all you can about wine cellars before you start your wine cellar design. Some guides make it seem like it is easy to make your own cellar at home when in reality the only easy part is assembling the wall mounted wine racks. The rest of it can be very difficult to get right and you have to get quite technical before you can get it right. You may be better off cellaring your wine at a facility that allows you to store your wine and then pick it up when you want to drink it.
Temperature
The ideal temperature to store wine is between fifty and sixty degrees fahrenheit. To keep wine at a contant temperature may be more difficult than you imagine. The home heating system will be the main obstacle in achieving this constant temperature. If your heater is on during the daylight hours the rising temperature will far exceed the ideal wine storage temperature.
In the evening your wine may be subject to a temperature drop and it gets cooler. The wine will have expanded and then contracted due to the temperature changes. Using your basement is the best way to get around this, which will be a great substitute for controlled climate environments.
Temperature fluctuations are not good for wine. If you have a boiler in your basement, you should make sure that the wine cellar is well insulated with quality insulating material.
Natural Lighting Effects
Since there is a low exposure to light, your basement is the best location for your wine cellar design to protect your wine collection. Light speeds up deterioration in your wines. Because red wines normally come in dark colored bottles that reduct the light exposure this type of problem will be less likely to occur.
White wine and champagnes on the other hand are very sensitive to light and this is heightened by the fact that they usually come in light colored bottles. So make sure wine cellar design allows for very minimal sunlight coming through.
Heavy Appliances
In you cellar design you should account for vibrations and movement. You wine should lay in a horizonal position. If there are any dryers or washing machines nearby your wine cellar this could cause a problem for your wine.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
