7 Tips for Choosing Wine Racks

When selecting or designing wine racks to store wine, quite a few things must be considered;

1. How many bottles do you want to store now and longer term?

Most wine enthusiasts have a magic number of bottles they want to cellar. It can range from a couple of hundred bottles through to thousands. Generally speaking, allow approximately 100 bottles per square meter of space. Also, once wine collectors have a wine storage solution, more wine is usually bought, so allow for growth in storage.

2. Is this for short term or long term drinking wine?

Wine racks are a good option for wine that is to be drunk in the short term, within 6 months or so. Longer term drinking wine really needs to be in a climate controlled environment (ie. a consistent low temperature of around 14 degrees Celsius and 65-75% humidity). In this case, offsite wine storage, a wine cellar or a wine cabinet should be considered.

3. Do you need single bottle storage, bulk storage or a combination of both?

If a wine collection is relatively young and has been bought as dozens, consider some bulk storage in the form of diamond bins or squares. As this wine is drunk over time, remaining bottles can be transferred to single bottle wine racks and replaced with newer bulk purchases.

4. Do you require storage for wooden cases?

Some wine producers sell their wine in wooden cases (usually 12 bottle cases with European producers and usually 6 bottle cases with Australian producers). EuroCave Modulorack is specifically designed for wooden cases and has roller mounted shelving for easy access.

5. Do you need to store ‘special’ bottles?

Wine racks generally cater for most bottle sizes although these won’t fit magnums or larger specialized Champagne bottles (like Dom Perignon, Krug or Taittinger for example). Some wine collectors like to keep a few empty bottles as a reminder of a particular occasion. Display Racking may be the way to go here, either in the form of shelving on the sides of the main wine racks or on the top of traditional ‘off the shelf’ wine racks.

6. Would you like to taste wine near your wine rack?

Consider having wine accessories such as decanters or glassware on hand for tasting. A sink may also come in handy.

7. What is your budget?

An allowance of up to $500 per square meter allows for most off the shelf wine racks. Many of these are modular so you can add to them should the need arise. Custom wine racks, depending on materials used, start at $500 per square meter and quickly go up from there.

Wine storage specialist EuroCave has been involved with hundreds of wine cellar projects throughout Australia. EuroCave works in conjunction with architects, designers and builders, providing technical and expert advice to help deliver the perfect solution for all types of wine storage, regardless of how large or small.

Please contact EuroCave on 1800 714 355 orinfo@eurocave.com.auwe’re happy to help.

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