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Wine credenzas and wine caves

What happens if you have no independent space to keep your bottles?

If you live in a house that has either a cellar or a separate area for your wine, count yourself between the lucky ones. If you live in an apartment, flat, condominium or so, you would not have it.

Options for storing wine
  • You could leave the wine in a friend’s or relative’s house - you assume they have adequate wine storage facilities and you trust them not to drink your wine.
  • You could rent storage space in a refrigerated public warehouse.
  • You could buy a wine cave –also known as a wine vault. A wine cave is a self contained, refrigerated unit that you plug into an electrical outlet.

Choose one of the first two options only if you don’t have any other alternative. Think that you won’t have instant access to your wine. You will find very tiresome having to make a trip every time you want to get your hands on your wine. Consider that an important part of the pleasure in collecting wine comes from looking at your collection, from displaying it in front of friends and acquaintances, or sampling it with them while you talk about its many virtues.

Wine caves are the best option. There are many varieties: wood, metal or a combination of both. Many of the nicest wine caves look like pieces of furniture; they resemble either vertical or horizontal wine credenzas. Some have glass doors and all of them can be locked.

Wine caves range in size and capacity from a tiny unit that holds a few bottles to the really large units that hold a few thousand bottles, with many sizes in between. There is sure to be one suited to your needs and available space.

If you are planning to build your own wine cellar or buy a wine cave, allow for growth. Try to build a bigger cellar than what you estimate you need. Buy the next size in wine credenzas. Your wine collection will invariably expand.