Wine is one particular premium item that when competently cared for and kept for a precise length of time, will gain a level of maturity and condition that will be far better than its original form. Compared to coins or stamps that capture a point in time, wine offers a different kind of reward. There’s nothing more exciting for wine enthusiasts than to experience the flavors that they anticipated for a long time. That being said, wine collecting is a venture that would call for quite a bit of discipline and sensible judgment. The decision making often starts in deciding on which types of wine you’d like. Some wines are hardly ideal for long term safekeeping so you should know the difference early on. Regardless of which type of wine you decide on, however, a proper wine storage facility is highly recommended. Without an adequate custom wine cellar, there’s absolutely no way for your wine collection to age accordingly.
The Wine Cellar Room
Developing and creating custom wine cellars is never an easy task. There are specific environmental factors that need to be maintained for the wine to age according to plan. First, the ideal wine cellar temperature needs to be constantly cool, preferably, between 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Colder temperatures will considerably slow down the chemical reactions that normally occur in wines over a set period of time. Thus, you would either have to wait a bit longer for the wine to fully developed or consume the wine without the anticipated lively, fruity flavors. Warmer temperatures might accelerate those chemical reactions, but you will risk baking the wine. Wine naturally contains organic compounds that develop off tastes and unpleasant odors. High temperatures would accelerate these reactions as well. Second, a somewhat wet surrounding is essential, constantly within a range of 60 to 80 percent. Mold usually sets in above 90 percent. Humidity levels that are too low would dry up the corks, which may compromise the bottle’s air tight seal. This will likely allow the wine to evaporate faster, therefore permitting more air to seep in and risk oxidizing the wine. Third, and most importantly, the temperature needs to be relatively constant. Temperature fluctuations are particularly harmful because they throw the wine’s naturally coordinated chemical reactions out of sync. A wine cellar climate control unit should be installed to regulate this abrupt temperature shifts and keep temperatures ideally between 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Furthermore, the space has to be free from all kinds of vibrations, that might travel through and stir up sediments found contained in the bottle. These sediments add a bit of character and complexity to the wine but when the bottle is handled improperly, these sediments can interfere with the discreet nuances developing in the wine and produce rather unexpected bitter tastes. The space should be free from light, chiefly direct sunlight. Ultraviolet light is most harmful to wines.
Wine Cellar Management
Wine collectors commission custom wine cellars for different reasons. In addition to their passion for wine, some individuals build custom wine cellars to secure their investments while some do so solely for its aesthetic advantages. As a house owner, a fully customized wine cellar can add substantial value to your homes since a beautiful, fully customized wine cellar is surely a great decorative addition to your living areas. Even though offsite or 3rd party storage facilities have their own benefits, a custom wine cellar provides something that wine collectors prefer most, which is quick access to their wine collection. Vineyard owners and wine dealers, for instance, can use a custom wine cellar as an important promotional tool for their businesses. A very accessible custom wine cellar allows them to display their labels in a way that highlights all the good aspects of their wine and creates an aesthetically pleasing area where customers like to visit. A properly designed wine cellar also allows wine sellers to easily give tastings, which will help them sell more wine.
A custom wine cellar has its many benefits but it can also present lots of troubles when not correctly developed. The key is in the collector’s wine cellar management skills. One common problem in wine cellar design is underestimating the possible size of the wine collection. Either you construct a wine cellar that is a bit large, or regulate your collecting habits. With the former, it is far easier to manage and organize your collection when kept in a wine cellar with additional storage space. What’s more, the cost of creating a slightly larger room is much lower than the cost of expanding the size afterwards. Even operational costs decrease as the size of your collection increases since the wine cellar insulation and wine cellar climate control unit is meant for a much larger collection.
Another typical problem for wine enthusiasts is the different sizes and shapes of wine bottles. Followed by the sense of achievement of creating a customized wine cellar is the excitement of building up your collection. However, some formats can pose a lot of problems when not integrated into the wine cellar design early on. This dampens the fun of collecting. Large format and half bottles typically pose the most headaches. Often, you also come across wine bottles with very odd shapes and sizes. Many wine collectors fail to plan ahead and that’s why, a flexible wine storage design that can store various wine bottle types and sizes is highly recommended.
Creating A Flexible Wine Cellar Design
For custom wine cellars, thinking ahead to future additions is always a good approach. A good way to make your custom wine cellar versatile is to use wine storage styles that allow you to maximize storage space. Wine storage bins can store a fairly large number of bottles per cubicle. Furthermore, they can support virtually any type of wine bottle shape and size. With diamond wine storage bins, bottles are stacked in diamond shaped cubicles. This storage type also provides better cooling for your wine bottles. Since bottles are stacked on top of one another, heat is transferred from one bottle to another until it dissipates.
Rectangular shaped wine storage bins are better used for shelving wooden crates and boxes. Several wines, like Burgundies, are distributed in wooden crates and a few wine collectors also prefer to store their wine in them. One way to lower the impact large format wine bottles is through the use of lateral bottle holders. In this way, you’re not too dependent on the depth of you racks. All you need to do is display your bottles with the labels facing the viewer. Moreover, this type of storage configuration lets you display your top labels prominently while at the same time, keeping the corks continuously moist.
Another option for impulsive wine collectors are modular wine rack designs. A collection with less than a hundred bottles can at times grow quickly and before long, your wine cellar is stocked full of wooden crates and boxes. Modular wine racks offer numerous customization options that let you to increase storage space without compromising your wine storage’s homogeneously elegant appearance.
Finally owning a fully customized wine cellar is a very exciting part in the lives of wine enthusiasts everywhere. For vineyard owners and wine sellers, a superbly built custom wine cellar can significantly enhance the winery’s reputation among wine enthusiasts as it will reflect its quality on the wine itself. The physical requirements may differ for each person, but the most important aspect is the amount of work put into the wine cellar design phase to come up with a layout that is both efficient and easily adaptable. For wine enthusiasts who like to think big, a flexible wine cellar design is clearly the best way to go.
Coastal Custom Wine Cellars built a custom wine cellar for a high profile client in Lompoc California. Visit their website for a more detailed look on how they employed a flexible design to cater the needs of their client.