Don't laugh, but this rather unassuming garden shed is my pride and joy - its the home for my cellar.
Its kept cool in summer by the shady hedge and is insulated with proper foam insulation panels so even in the frosts its never too cold either.
I've been cellaring since my early 20s - and my collection has had a range of homes. An old hollowed out gramophone cabinet; the bottom shelves of my wardrobe; and for a short and embarrassing time - under my bed. This has not always been ideal but like most people I haven't had the space or the money to do much better.
The thing is, that didn't stop me and it shouldn't stop you. If you are buying medium priced wine for cellaring in the medium term; as long as you are not going to move it round too much and you can keep it in the dark and a relatively even temperature (ideally between 10 -15 degrees C but up to 20 degrees.) - then you can cellar. Bottles with corks should be laid on their sides wherever possible and a little humidity can help prevent corks drying out. But with more and more wine under screw cap, even these conditions are not necessary.
That said, its certainly easier to store wine on its side and in a purpose built rack.
For mine I use these adjustable and customisable plastic racks from stakrax. Around $100 will get you started with a 30 bottle kit. Shop around online, prices vary considerably!
I like these racks because they are solid, can be pulled apart easily if you need to re-configure and can grow with your collection. All of this means you don't need to commit a large amount of money up-front and you don't need a large space to get started.
I have a couple of wooden racks too - and while they look nice they have a number of disadvantages. They are hard to clean, heavy and bulky. I can't change them round to fit into odd spaces and they don't hold the bottles as securely. I'm sold on the plastic fantastic from stakrax.
What you should avoid is storage is those trendy racks in your kitchen. They are fine for the bottles you plan to drink in the next few weeks - but for long term storage there is too much heat; too much light and too much vibration.
Once you've got all that wine racked up and in a safe place - you need to keep track of it.
I've been trying to keep tabs on my collection for years. I started by just writing a drink by onto my bottles - but as the collection grew, it was easy to lose track. A few years ago I set up a large database for a friend's collection. It was time-consuming - especially as I was searching for value and for drink - by suggestions and needing to cross-reference a number of sites to get accurate estimates. Even then my own knowledge of the wines sometimes told me that even quite professional sites can get it wrong with varieties or regions that are less familiar.
For a while now I've been looking at CellarTracker . I've tried a few different apps and along with most of the rest of the wine-collecting world, I'd agree that this is the best. I took the plunge and did the hard work of uploading my collection. The process is relatively simple - CellarTracker's database is so big, most wines can be entered by simply scanning the barcode. Add some details like purchase date and price; where you bought it and importantly, where it is in the cellar and its a brilliant tool.
What I love most is that it takes a lot of the hard work out of keeping track of my wine. There's drink by information for more than half the wines and by using the Tasting Notes posted by others in the community I can see how other people are finding the wine at various ages. This is not a precise science - but its certainly helping me make the most of my older wines.
I've also recently spent the money - $20 US is the starting point - and been able to access the premium parts of the app. This includes up to date valuation information - handy if you are looking at building longer term collection of better wines.
If you're thinking of getting started with cellaring; need some advice or have an established cellar but need some help getting it organised and tracked - those are just some of the services WilsonYourWineButler offers!.
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