What do you use to cellar wine?

[ctgm]

Passive - unfortunately the washing machine has to be down there and as my wife is a much cleaner creature than me, she turns it on far too often so the cellar is constantly at about 17ºc.

For the overflow, I put it in my father's cellar, which has one big drawback - when it rains heavily for prolonged periods, a stream runs across the floor. The frogs that appear out of nowhere are cute but the labels don't like it too much. It keeps wine fantastically well and one side of the cellar is bare rock.

[Mottmott]

Several people speak of keeping wine in a fridge. Isn't the 35-40f temp too low for storing wines, particularly reds?

[futronic]

Vintage Keeper 220 unit for me. I keep about 7 or 8 cases at my Dad's place in another VK220. Mine's almost full, so it looks like I'm going to have to pony up for another cabinet.

BTW mottmott, temperature controlled wine fridges keep the cabinet between 48-65 degrees, whatever you set it to. Mine's set to 55F.

[RobInAustin]

Central Texas, where I live, is a brutally un-wine-friendly region...freezing in winter and over 100 for months in the summer. When my customers ask me about cellar/storage solutions, I ask them some questions first, which I think anyone looking into this topic should consider:

1. Are you looking to store your wine "forever"? Are you looking to hold wine medium term to improve it's character? or are you just stocking up on everyday favorites?

2. How much wine do you REALISTICALLY foresee storing? Keep your investment budget in mind. Are you stocking up on lots of everyday stuff or saving up for a couple of expensive bottles of great wine for special occassions?

3. What kind of storage space do you have? be creative...I keep the bulk of my "medium term" wines (about 200 bottles) in my bedroom closet in wooden shippers under the shoes. The bedroom closet is an interior space, always temp stable all year round, a/c in summer and heated in winter. Admittedly, it is always in the high 60's to 70 all year, but I frankly find after doing this for 12 years with perfect results that I can age good wines in a shorter time than in a "perfect" cellar condition. It seems to take about half the "pristine storage" time, which is fine with me as I usually don't want to wait 15 or 20 years. The really best stuff I want to keep pristinely I keep in a controlled storage cabinet in the store.

4. Assess your storage budget. Does it really make sense to spend $1000 on a storage cabinet to keep $10-$20 a bottle wines? (don't laugh, I have more customers who have done this than you think...a high end storage system filled with Kendall Jackson Chard and Clos du Bois Merlot)

I strongly do not advise the use of old refrigerators, even turned up high, a. they tend to be too cold still, but more important, b. they are VERY low humidity, they suck the moisture out of the corks...

[Mottmott]

BTW mottmott, temperature controlled wine fridges keep the cabinet between 48-65 degrees, whatever you set it to.  Mine's set to 55F.

Thanks. My son & his family are staying with me now, so the basement fridge has to be kept cold enough to keep the freezer operative for the time being. When they finish renovating their house and move to it, I'll either reset (or replace) the basement fridge for wine.