Subject: The Dos and Dont's of Starting a Cellar
Content: The Do s and
Dont' s of Starting a
Cellar *wineeducation.com
Do:
1) Figure out how much room you need for storage (you said
150+ bottles a year, and an average 5 years turn around =
750 bottles) and then TRIPLE IT!
You will always need more space than you think.
2) It is the fluctuation of temperature that damages wine.
If you do not, or can not have active temperature control,
insulate, insulate, and insulate some more.
I recommend the mylar/bubble wrap insulation that is
becoming more common. It has no nasty glass fibers to worry
about, and it gives a good R rating without taking up much
volume.
3) Balance - and above all, balance.
Make sure that most of your wine when you start is for
drinking, not aging, or the first year you will be stealing
from your future stocks.
Make sure that at least some of the wine in your cellar is
for guests. Not just wine for your own tastes.
Make sure that some of your wine is always ready to drink.
Keep a balance of maturity as well as variety.
4) Your tastes will change.
Make sure to leave room for whole new regions and styles of
wine. Do not stock too heavily in any one area. See rules 1
and 3.
5) Make sure you have a great deal of flexibility in your
racking.
Nothing worse than buying a case of magnums, or
Champagne, or half bottles; only to
find that your racks hold single
Bordeaux bottles exclusively. Keep
in mind that some wines, esp. Bordeaux is best stored in its
original wooden case (auction houses designate when a wine
is being offered owc - original wooden case). Make sure you
have someplace to put these.
Don't :
1) Don't put your wine near a water heater, or other source
of heat. This will bake your wines, even if the temperature
is constant.
2) Don't store your wine in cardboard cases.
The urge to do this is nearly overwhelming. The cardboard
draws moisture out of the air, not critical, but not
desired. The cardboard will also fall apart, and you can be
sure that it will do so while you are moving a case of your
favorite wine, and breakage will occur. Styrofoam shipping
containers will be the bane of your existence as you
collect. Save them, use them. While they do have cardboard
on the outside, the styro inserts will nicely protect your
finest wines.
3) Beware of off smells.
Greatly over looked in cellar design, off smells can in some
cases permeate the corks of your wine, and from there the
wine itself. Do not store paint, thinner or other chemicals
near your wine.
4) Beware of vibration.
When the rules of wine cellars were being formulated,
vibration was not an issue. No heavy trucks, or machinery
existed. Now a days it doesn't take much to find vibration
sources, esp. in a frame house. That laundry machine is a
likely culprit. While not disastrous, vibration will keep
the wine from aging well, as the process of long chain
polymerization will be interrupted.
5) Don't buy cases of wine you haven't tried first!!! Need I
say more?
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