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.
It is preferable to not turn a closet built against an outside wall into a wine cellar. The outer walls of your house or apartment can frequently be subject to wide fluctuations in temperature. Ideally, choose an internal closet where your wine will be able to be stored at a more constant temperature.
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. The same change each day will harm your wines by ageing them too rapidly.
The major rule when in wine storage is to avoid wide fluctuations in temperature. 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 similar to having the cork pulled in and out again 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. 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. 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! Don't hesitate ... sell / give away / auction / move all the present contents and start with an empty space!
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.
Single racking is generally the easiest for selecting 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.
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