Convert A Closet Into A Mini Wine Cellar

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Convert A Closet Into A Mini Wine Cellar

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

When you are passionate about wine you start to collect it … and when you begin collecting it you need a place to store it.

A closet can easily be turned into a mini wine cellar to store your growing wine collection.

Before you begin converting your closet into a wine cellar consider the position of the closet relative to the rest of the house.

Avoid converting a closet situated against an outside wall into a mini wine cellar. The outer walls of your abode can be subject to wide fluctuations in temperature from season to season. Ideally, choose an internal closet where your wine will be able to be stored at a more constant temperature.

The degree and the speed of the temperature change are critical to successfully storing and aging wine. The gradual change of a just a few degrees between summer and winter doesn’t matter. A similar change each day will hurt your wines and age them too quickly.

The most important rule when you are storing your wine is to avoid large temperature fluctuations. You’ll notice damage of this type immediately from the stickiness that will often form around the capsule. Over time the continual expansion and contraction of the wine will damage the integrity of the cork. It’s just like having the cork removed and replaced every day. When this occurs, tiny quantities of wine can be pushed out along the edge of the cork (between the cork and the bottle neck) allowing air to seep back in. Your wine will be ruined once air comes in contact with your wine and the irreversible process of oxidation begins.

Stored at a temperature range of 55º to 58ºF the wine will age as intended, and develop fully. Higher temperatures will age wine more rapidly and cooler temperatures will slow the ageing process. Irreversible damage will be done if your wine is kept at a temperature above 82ºF for even a month.

The most difficult part of creating a wine cellar in a closet can be finding other places to store the original contents of the closet! Be tough … get rid of all the present contents (one way or another) and start with a blank slate!

Wine racks can be purchased quite inexpensively from a hardware store, online retailer or storage shop and you’ll have a simple but very effective mini wine cellar.

Wine rack designs vary in bottle density; price variations have more to do with appearance than efficiency.

Individual racking makes it easy to select bottles. If you have racks against only one wall of the closet you may still have floor or shelf space available for wines that you purchase by the case.