Turn A Closet Into A Mini Wine Cellar
When you are passionate about wine you begin collecting 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 against an outside wall into a wine cellar. The outer walls of your abode can be subject to wide fluctuations in temperature from season to season. Choose an internal closet where your wine can be stored in a more stable atmosphere.
The speed and the degree of the temperature change are critical elements to successfully storing and aging wine. A gradual change of a few degrees between summer and winter shouldn’t be a cause for concern. A similar change each day will hurt your wines and age them too quickly.
A major rule when storing wine is to avoid large (or quick) temperature changes. You’ll notice damage of this nature straight away from the sticky deposit that often forms around the capsule. Over a period of time the continual contraction and expansion 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, very small amounts of wine may be expelled along the edge of the cork (between the cork and the neck of the bottle) allowing air to seep in. Once air comes in contact with your wine the irreversible process of oxidation will begin and your wine will be ruined.
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 down the ageing process. Your wine will be irreversibly damaged if it is stored at a temperature above 82ºF for as little as 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! Don’t hesitate … get rid of all the present contents (one way or another) and start with a blank slate!
Cheap wine racks can be purchased 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 aesthetics than efficiency.
Individual racking is generally thought to be the most convenient way of storing and selecting your bottles. If you place 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.
