You should be very proud of your wine collection. Even though most people might consider it a luxury, you assure that it’s something that you’re going to enjoy. It’s not just about having much wine, but also about taking care of it properly. You can easily do this with a wine cellar.
On this page, give a brief idea about the wine cabinet and wine cellar. It will discuss the following topics:
1. What is the wine cabinet and the wine cellar?
2. How do you select the proper type for your wine collections?
3. Two essential factors considered in making a wine cellar.
4. The basic knowledge of the bottle display in the cellar.
5. What factors should we consider when building a dreaming cellar
Let’s start one by one. Come with me:
Firstly: Start with the basic concept and weakness of the wine cabinet and the wine cellars:
Wine cabinet: A wine cabinet is a piece of furniture designed to keep the wine in its best condition. It provided the perfect environment to store wine bottles at a steady temperature. It maintains a high level of humidity. A wine cabinet will have an insulated space, which can help protect your collection from extreme changes in temperature and humidity. A regular wine cabinet will include racking to store wine, doors, lighting, and a cellar cooling system.
Feature:
- Small size,
- Storage Capacity: 10-30 bottles
- No special requirement on the installation space
- Weakness: With short-term life service, not a stylist and not customized.
Wine Cellar: A wine cellar is a room with unique environmental controls for storing wine bottles. It will have two types: active and passive. A dynamic wine cellar uses climate control to maintain the perfect conditions for its contents. A passive wine cellar doesn’t use climate control and instead relies on an underground location to reduce temperature swings. But here, we will talk about active wine cellar mostly.
Feature:
- The host and the site would determine the cellar size.
- Storage capacity: 30-300 bottles or more.
- Stylist and customized with functions.
- Special requirements for installation: such as ventilate, installation site, and so on.
Secondly: How do you select the proper type for your wine collections?
Nowadays, any opening area could turn into a closed space of constant temperature and humidity wine cellar.
For example, you could design a 3-sqm utility room under the downstairs as a well-spaced wine rack along the stair. When getting a 4sqms of the long and narrow corridor, you can choose a stepped wine rack.
Of course, if there is an individual villa, the brilliant idea is to build the cellar in the basement.
According to your area and the concept of the wine cellar you have, we could make a DIY wine cellar creative project. Please talk with us at info@uniregal.com for more details.
People usually built the wine cellar in the basement in the old days, a so-called passive wine cellar. It is so dimmed and humid. As time goes by, the modern wine cellar is not just for the wine collection. It is with the display function as well. Displaying the light plays an important role. Here will list some types for discussion:
- Lighting is the top priority of a wine cellar. It is better to select the cold light source.
- Incandescent light could indeed produce heat that can interfere with the cellar’s temperature. In contrast, fluorescent lamps have tremendous invisible ultraviolet that can damage the structure of the wine. Therefore they should not be used as lighting sources.
- Spotlights are the most popular in the cellar decoration; most use them for highlighting areas, like wine bottles.
Except for lighting, temperature and humidity control will be another highlighted and core function in the modern wine cellar design. For a wine cellar, the wine racks are not a complete cellar. The temperature and humidity control system, also known as cellar air conditioning and fresh air system, is the equipment for adjusting the temperature and humidity of the cellar. In theory, the cellar’s refrigeration principle is the same as traditional household air conditioning. Whereas the difficulty is that there is no specific rule for the cellar temperature. It says that it would be better from 12℃ to 17℃. There are two significant differences between the cellar air conditioning and the general household air conditioning. One is the temperature range. The minimum temperature of the available household air conditioning is at 17 ° C.
In comparison, must control the minimum temperature for wine storage at 12 ° C. Another difference is durability. As we know, the cellar air conditioning and fresh air systems need to work all of the clock, which is not possible for a typical household air conditioner.
Thirdly: The basic knowledge of the bottle display in the cellar
- 1. Displaying horizontal can ensure that the cork soaked in the wine to maintain the cork in a specific humidity;
- 2. If placed vertically, the cork will gradually shrink, and then air leaks, which would make the wine go wrong due to oxidation.
- 3. Meanwhile, we need to pay close attention to avoid shaking when collecting the wines. Because any shaking would accelerate the molecular motion of the wine and then make it more intelligent
Fourthly: What factors do we consider to build a dreaming cellar?
1. The humidity.
Typically, 550%~75% humidity is OK for wine storage. It could not be too wet or too dry. Because if it is too wet, it will rot the corks and the wine labels. If it is too dry, the pins would dry out and lose their elasticity. In this case, the humidity controlling project will be the most noticeable issue in the cellar building.
2. The light.
The natural lighting is very harmful to wine storage.
Natural light, especially direct sunlight, can easily cause wine disease (such as excessive protein caused by light). Natural light may also aggravate the wine oxidation process, resulting in wine tasting faint, getting turbid, changing colors.
In that sense, It is best to use artificial lighting in the cellar to control.
3. The vibration
Vibration interference is also easy to cause premature wine. For example, the wine cellars near the railway or earthquake source often degrade their wine quality. According to wine experts, the style of wine can change dramatically after shaking. There are a lot of “delicate” wines after transport shock, often need to “rest” for two weeks to restore the original style.
4. The temperature
There are harsh temperature requirements of wine.
The standard storage temperature of the wine is between 10 and 16 degrees C, and the maximum should not exceed 24 degrees C; otherwise, destroy the famous wine. But remember, the temperature must be constantly stable because the changing temperature caused heat expansion and cold shrinkage and let the wine seep out of the cork outside the wine to accelerate oxidation. The most important is that the temperature mutation will cause the wine to produce unwanted substances, resulting in flavor variation and even metastases.
As long as you can maintain a constant temperature of 5 degrees C to 20 degrees C, the wine grows slowly and takes longer to wait; the wine will mature too fast. Therefore, thermostat control is the key to cellar design. Therefore, thermostat control is the key to cellar design.
5. Fresh air
The purpose of ventilation is to maintain fresh air in the cellar. If too much alcohol volatility does not smooth air circulation, what is worse, it will form flammable gas accumulation. How dangerous it will be. Fresher air also helps the staff breathe and keeps the cellar dry. In addition, many wines live vigorously, and foreign odors can quickly enter the bottle through the cap of cork or hat—the liquor can absorb them. In particular, please note that items such as detergents, sauces, stinky tofu, and cheese, which give off a strong smell, should be prevented from entering the cellar.
Creating your wine cellar is not only an excellent DIY project, but it’s also a great way to show off your inner sommelier. The wine you’re consuming isn’t just for drinking; it’s for storing. The perfect cellar provides the ideal conditions to keep your bottles in peak condition for years to come.
In the last, enjoy your wine with a famous quote:
“Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing .” ― Ernest Hemingway
